Double, Double Helpings
By Stevie Cannell
It’s a neighbourhood effort. Previous BEAST cover stars Gilbert & George have teamed up with their East London neighbours, The Canvas Café, to combat homelessness and hunger within the Tower Hamlets community, by creating special edition plate sets that will raise funds to provide free meals to the homeless and families in need.
The Canvas Café, a small-scale social enterprise that provides large-scale humanitarian aid, has overseen an increase from 150 to 500 meals a week being made and distributed to the homeless and children at risk of holiday hunger this past year, thanks to the café’s founder, Ruth Rogers.
Back in 2020, Gilbert & George and The Canvas Café collaborated on the design of two unique plates – ROSY & ON THE BENCH. Both plates featured composite images from Gilbert & George’s ‘The Paradisiacal Pictures’.
Following the success of last year’s release, the partnership’s 2021 special edition ‘Double, Double Helpings’ plate sets treat us to a ceramic second serving, coinciding with their new exhibition ‘The New Normal’ showcasing at the White Cube Gallery in Bermondsey. Manufactured and hand-finished by Duchess China 1888, ‘Double, Double Helpings’ introduces BEARDLIGHT & BEARDTOAST. The second collaborative design certainly doesn’t disappoint – true to Gilbert & George’s distinctive style, this pair of plates is just as vibrant as the last.
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All 12” plates are made of fine china, screen-printed with up to 17 colours and are numbered according to their specific double-edition number on the rear. Complete with a piece of writing by the artists and a photograph by East London photographer, Nick Dolding – the editions are limited to 50 of each set, costing £500.
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