Focusing on the concept of sustainability in fashion and our lives more broadly, the NOW Gallery exhibition “Socks: The Art of Care and Repair” celebrates the everyday act of mending through darning.
Visitors are encouraged to bring their own socks to the gallery to repair and will be welcome to drop in and try their hand at darning, mending and stitching.
Created by London-based textile artist Celia Pym, who was awarded last year’s Fashion Commission. She has been exploring damage and repair in textiles since 2007 and has currently taken over will the gallery for her exhibition from until 9th March.
Visitors are encouraged to bring their own socks to the gallery to repair and will be welcome to drop in and try their hand at darning, mending and stitching.
NOW Gallery at Greenwich Peninsula is known for showcasing exciting emerging names across fashion, photography, design and art, and celebrated its 10-year anniversary last year, which has been marked with some special exhibitions.
Image by Suki Dhanda
Concluding the 10th anniversary programme is the Fashion Commission, which continues the gallery’s long-standing tradition of showcasing forward-thinking names in fashion. Past recipients include Matty Bovan, Robyn Lynch, Nicholas Daley, Mowalola, Molly Goddard, Charles Jeffrey and more.
Central to “Socks: The Art of Care and Repair” is a vibrant, colourful installation of 488 socks, each stitched and darned by the Surrey Square Primary School community in Southwark using industry “warehouse” waste socks.
Children, staff and families of the school learned and practised their darning and stitching skills on socks during a series of 26 workshops facilitated by Pym in early 2024.
In addition to the school’s mended socks, there is a map of socks belonging to Pym’s friends and family – people she loves and cares for – mended visibly by Pym herself, in order to record patterns of wear and tear, and in styles that are designed to suit the respective sock-owners’ personalities.
The idea behind “Socks: The Art of Care and Repair” is to encourage a feeling of resilience, to be able to mend something; to play creatively with colour and yarn, and to foster a sense of care for ourselves, our clothes, the environment and the people around us.
Pym’s commission has transformed NOW Gallery into a creative workshop space, with mending materials and socks to inspire the community to learn the art of darning.
Image by Michele Panzeri
Visitors are encouraged to bring their own socks to the gallery to repair and will be welcome to drop in and try their hand at darning, mending and stitching.
Pym’s interactive videos and step-by-step guidelines will invite all to create a unique “visible mend” to either take home or put on display in the gallery. You will also be able to book darning workshops at NOW Gallery facilitated by experts during the exhibition run.
Celia Pym says: “It’s a small act of care to mend a hole in your sock or the sock of someone you love. It has a ripple effect. Caring for something or someone is expansive; it sets in motion something you can’t anticipate – a gift in return.
“Mending builds on what is left behind, it is an action that adds to the thing in front of you. It doesn’t erase damage but makes the story more interesting. A spot of bright colour, or a scar line, indicates an act of care. I’m so pleased to be able to bring this to NOW Gallery and to share some skills for all to learn and take with them through life.”
Kaia Charles, curator at NOW Gallery and Greenwich Peninsula, says: “Celia Pym’s ‘Socks’ is a space for connectedness, respite and co-creation. Celia Pym has created a joyful, inclusive exhibition exploring the art of repair.
“NOW Gallery is inviting everyone in our local community, in particular schools and young people located in Greenwich Peninsula, to get involved and get mending.”
Dates: Until 9 March 2025
Tickets: Free
NOW Gallery, The Gateway Pavilions, Peninsula Square, Greenwich Peninsula, SE10 0SQ
www.nowgallery.co.uk/exhibitions/socks-the-art-of-care-and-repair