Stonch lives in London, where he runs a pub.Hogarth revisited
As part of the campaign to disassociate pubs with "binge drinking", two complementary artworks have been produced at the behest of the Society for Independent Brewers (SIBA).
It doesn't take a genius to spot the inspiration behind "Pub Street" and "Binge Lane". They're latter day reworkings of a pair of engravings produced by William Hogarth in 1751.
The "Gin Craze" of the mid 18th century caused concern among the chattering classes, as the poor got absolutely blotto on cheap hooch. Hogarth's contrasting images of a happy and harmonious "Beer Street", as opposed to a brutal and decadent "Gin Lane", are probably the most effective pieces of pro-beer propaganda ever produced. Framed copies are displayed in countless pubs and homes to this day.
As evidenced by Hogarth's original work, concerns over public alcohol consumption are nothing new. As SIBA chairman Peter Amor says, “the gin of the 18th century may have been replaced by a whole trolley of cheap drinks, but the message is the same".
14 comments:
Those are really quite clever - I like them
listen this is all well and good but what we want is build up to the Rome trip, waheeeey, will Doc Gibbles be there with his cock and balls turning stomachs?
I can confirm that Doc Gibbles will indeed be on the Rome trip. Can I also point out that it's my birthday on Thursday - and the 365 day countdown to my 30s will begin.
Last night I laughed when Ian Beale made a reference to Denis Healey. I feel old already.
The art is good, but it strikes me as moralising.
I agree with the point about moralising but just like the pictures - can they be purchased anywhere? Happy Birthday in advance, by the way
I like moralising. It's healthy to moralise!
Doesn't excessive moralizing lead to blindness?
Dunno ... Isn't there something just a bit weird about this pub? It seems to contain a pair of French intellectuals, a girl who's had a disastrous collagen implant, a sleazy Tory MP, and James Joyce performing a bizarre masonic handshake with a carpenter. I'm not sure I'd make a beeline for the Barleymow myself.
Mind you, I've always found Hogarth's Beer Street a little odd too -- especially the monstrous fellow who likes to drink, smoke, and wave a leg of ham in the air simultaneously.
Those pictures are great. They're even possibly going to a modern good cause.
I think the drinker/smoker/ham waver symbolises that if you drink beer (over gin) you will be prosporous and wealthy, hence able to afford tobacco and plenty of food. Presumably, through not being quite so hammered as those in gin lane.
Did anyone feel that earthquake? Shook my whole bloody house.
I see the epicentre was in Market Rasen.
God's angry at something...
I love the Hogarths and these updates are funny and relevant. Worry about over boozing has been part of British life for centuries - it is not a new phenomenon.
Let us hope that HMG realises that the problem that they want to fix is to deal with insanely cheap powerful off-sales and not price people out of pubs.
But then, being English has involved being pissed and fighting people for millennia. Hard to see how you can legislate against the national genetic and social heritage!
I hope this isn't SIBA's best shot.
Witwoud, I'd noticed that - and have just posted my (entirely serious and not in any way tongue-in-cheek) thoughts.
Post a Comment