Pauline Forster
Encyclopedia
Pauline Forster is an English Artist, Performer, Musician, Designer and Landlady of The George Tavern
in the East End of London. She is best known for her Dog On performance, a mirrored Ford Capri outside the Tate Modern on its opening day, 8 May 2000. Pauline Forster is also known for Handmade by Pauline Forster and transforming The George Tavern in Stepney into a thriving arts, music and performance venue with an international reputation.
, daughter of Jack Forster and Meg Arbury, the fourth of six siblings. They lived a feral
, poverty stricken life until Pauline was 9 when they moved to Gloucestershire
. Enterprising from an early age Pauline had her first market stall at 6.
Leaving home at 16 Pauline went to Gloucester College of Art and was later initially excepted into Falmouth College of Arts
. However her statemented dyslexia
prevented her from gaining the necessary grade in English and the place was subsequently refused.
Pauline settled in Stroud
and went on to marry and have five sons. After her divorce she started an Access programme in Art in 1998 and went on to study Fine Art at Cheltenham College of Art in 2000. In 2003 she bought The George Tavern. Pauline was diagnosed with breast cancer
in 2004. She currently lives and works at The George Tavern, Stepney.
to the Isle of Wight Festival
and always sold out. The business grew over time and her products were stocked by Harrods
and were included in the Queen's Christmas cracker
s as prizes for many years. Pauline sold Handmade by Pauline Forster in 1994.
which Forster slept in for three nights outside the Tate Modern
starting on the day of its grand opening. The work courted much media attention with features in most of the daily newspapers. The work was to challenge the YBA/Brit Art scene that was dogged by elitism. On the night before the Queen was visiting the Tate Modern Pauline was woken up by MI5
, who threw her onto the streets with no shoes or money and impounded the car as the piece was considered a "security risk". Branded as an "art terrorist" Pauline was adamant; "I am not an anarchist, I'm an artist", she told one paper.
Forster has gone on to create an untitled performance where she walked through the streets of Cheltenham
dusting the trail and herself in flour; the film was shown in Leicester Square
as part of an Arts Festival. In 2002 Pauline squatted a Balti house in Brick Lane
and opened an exhibition entitled London's Burning where she laid out hundreds of carbonized bagels and loaves. In 2003 Forster took her Capri onto the streets of London on the day the congestion charge was brought into effect. She had the car pulled by six women from east London to Trafalgar Square
while rose petals and the dawn chorus came from the interior.
The nature of Pauline Forster's work has led it to be labeled by some of her critics as publicity stunts.
!Date!!Name!!Type!!Location
|-
|2000||Dog On||Site specific performance||The Tate Modern
|-
|2000||One Woman Show.||Performance||Cheltenham Art Centre
|-
|2000||Mummy has to go to bed - she needs to sometimes.||Performance||Cheltenham College of Art
|-
|2000||Untitled (flour performance)||Performance||291 Gallery
|-
|2001||The Boat Performance||Sonic performance||Trinity buoy Wharf
|-
|2001||Photographic Exhibition||Photography||Sweden
|-
|2002||London's Burning||Installation||Brick Lane
|-
|2002||Last Performance.||Multi-media||Stroud Slad Farm.
|-
|2003||Escamping||Performance||Red Gate Gallery
|-
|2006||The Recovery Room with Toby Penrose||Drawings||The George Tavern
|-
|2006||Bar Orchestra||Sonic performance||The George Tavern
|-
|2006||Golden Organic Fucking Rocks||Sonic performance with Toby Penrose and Selfish Cunt||100 Club
|-
|2007||Dragging The Plank||Performance||City of London
|-
|2011||" Dog On" || Joe Rush's Mutoid Waste Company Group show "The Unfair ground"|| Glastonbury 2011
in 2003. The Georgian public house (formerly The Halfway House) is situated in the East End of London in Stepney and is a Grade II listed building. Pauline has built up The Georges reputation as a top music, performance and art venue, and a location for film and advertising.
Acts that have played at The George include John Cooper-Clarke, Evan Dando, Pete Doherty, Snow Patrol, Duran Duran and Nick Cave.
The George Tavern recently launched a campaign to stop a development attached to the historic building. The campaign featured friends of The George Tavern including Amy Winehouse
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article744883.ece, Kate Moss
http://www.nme.com/news/tabloid-hell/33991, Sir Ian McKellanhttp://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23480055-details/Gandalf+conjures+up+support+for+campaign+to+save+the+George/article.do and John Cooper-Clarke. In early 2009 the Planning Inspectorate refused planning permission for the development.
Pauline was deeply upset by the death of a friend and opened The Mark Blanco Theatre at The George Tavern in March 2007.
George Tavern
The George Tavern is a famous East End pub and music venue located at 373 Commercial Rd, London E1. It was formerly known as the Halfway House.A Grade II listed public house in the heart of the East End, owned and run by artist Pauline Forster...
in the East End of London. She is best known for her Dog On performance, a mirrored Ford Capri outside the Tate Modern on its opening day, 8 May 2000. Pauline Forster is also known for Handmade by Pauline Forster and transforming The George Tavern in Stepney into a thriving arts, music and performance venue with an international reputation.
Early life and education
Pauline Forster was born in Carlisle 1949, the Lake DistrictLake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
, daughter of Jack Forster and Meg Arbury, the fourth of six siblings. They lived a feral
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
, poverty stricken life until Pauline was 9 when they moved to Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
. Enterprising from an early age Pauline had her first market stall at 6.
Leaving home at 16 Pauline went to Gloucester College of Art and was later initially excepted into Falmouth College of Arts
University College Falmouth
University College Falmouth is a British university college in Falmouth, Cornwall. Founded in 1902, it had previously been the Falmouth School of Art and then Falmouth College of Arts until it received taught degree-awarding powers in March 2005...
. However her statemented dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
prevented her from gaining the necessary grade in English and the place was subsequently refused.
Pauline settled in Stroud
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Stroud is a market town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture...
and went on to marry and have five sons. After her divorce she started an Access programme in Art in 1998 and went on to study Fine Art at Cheltenham College of Art in 2000. In 2003 she bought The George Tavern. Pauline was diagnosed with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 2004. She currently lives and works at The George Tavern, Stepney.
Handmade by Pauline Forster
After the disappointment of not being allowed to carry on her art education Pauline was penniless and had to turn to her enterprising abilities. She collected old scraps of leather and created Handmade by Pauline Forster in 1969, a clothing and accessory label. She took her hippy-style products from Kings RoadKings Road
King's Road or Kings Road, known popularly as The King's Road or The KR, is a major, well-known street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both in west London, England...
to the Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place every year on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally held from 1968 to 1970. These original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited...
and always sold out. The business grew over time and her products were stocked by Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
and were included in the Queen's Christmas cracker
Christmas cracker
Christmas crackers or bon-bons are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They are also popular in Ireland. A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of...
s as prizes for many years. Pauline sold Handmade by Pauline Forster in 1994.
Guerilla Art
While at Cheltenham College Forster created the first of her notorious performance art pieces. Dog On was a clamped, mirrored CapriFord Capri
Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three different automobile models. The Ford Consul Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964. The Ford Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Europe from 1969 to 1986...
which Forster slept in for three nights outside the Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
starting on the day of its grand opening. The work courted much media attention with features in most of the daily newspapers. The work was to challenge the YBA/Brit Art scene that was dogged by elitism. On the night before the Queen was visiting the Tate Modern Pauline was woken up by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
, who threw her onto the streets with no shoes or money and impounded the car as the piece was considered a "security risk". Branded as an "art terrorist" Pauline was adamant; "I am not an anarchist, I'm an artist", she told one paper.
Forster has gone on to create an untitled performance where she walked through the streets of Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
dusting the trail and herself in flour; the film was shown in Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
as part of an Arts Festival. In 2002 Pauline squatted a Balti house in Brick Lane
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...
and opened an exhibition entitled London's Burning where she laid out hundreds of carbonized bagels and loaves. In 2003 Forster took her Capri onto the streets of London on the day the congestion charge was brought into effect. She had the car pulled by six women from east London to Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
while rose petals and the dawn chorus came from the interior.
The nature of Pauline Forster's work has led it to be labeled by some of her critics as publicity stunts.
Exhibitions and Performances
{|class="wikitable sortable"!Date!!Name!!Type!!Location
|-
|2000||Dog On||Site specific performance||The Tate Modern
|-
|2000||One Woman Show.||Performance||Cheltenham Art Centre
|-
|2000||Mummy has to go to bed - she needs to sometimes.||Performance||Cheltenham College of Art
|-
|2000||Untitled (flour performance)||Performance||291 Gallery
|-
|2001||The Boat Performance||Sonic performance||Trinity buoy Wharf
|-
|2001||Photographic Exhibition||Photography||Sweden
|-
|2002||London's Burning||Installation||Brick Lane
|-
|2002||Last Performance.||Multi-media||Stroud Slad Farm.
|-
|2003||Escamping||Performance||Red Gate Gallery
|-
|2006||The Recovery Room with Toby Penrose||Drawings||The George Tavern
|-
|2006||Bar Orchestra||Sonic performance||The George Tavern
|-
|2006||Golden Organic Fucking Rocks||Sonic performance with Toby Penrose and Selfish Cunt||100 Club
|-
|2007||Dragging The Plank||Performance||City of London
|-
|2011||" Dog On" || Joe Rush's Mutoid Waste Company Group show "The Unfair ground"|| Glastonbury 2011
The George Tavern
Pauline purchased The George TavernGeorge Tavern
The George Tavern is a famous East End pub and music venue located at 373 Commercial Rd, London E1. It was formerly known as the Halfway House.A Grade II listed public house in the heart of the East End, owned and run by artist Pauline Forster...
in 2003. The Georgian public house (formerly The Halfway House) is situated in the East End of London in Stepney and is a Grade II listed building. Pauline has built up The Georges reputation as a top music, performance and art venue, and a location for film and advertising.
Acts that have played at The George include John Cooper-Clarke, Evan Dando, Pete Doherty, Snow Patrol, Duran Duran and Nick Cave.
The George Tavern recently launched a campaign to stop a development attached to the historic building. The campaign featured friends of The George Tavern including Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article744883.ece, Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
http://www.nme.com/news/tabloid-hell/33991, Sir Ian McKellanhttp://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23480055-details/Gandalf+conjures+up+support+for+campaign+to+save+the+George/article.do and John Cooper-Clarke. In early 2009 the Planning Inspectorate refused planning permission for the development.
Mark Blanco
Mark Blanco was to star in a Pauline Forster production of The Accidental Death of An Anarchist, directed by Toby Penrose, at The George Tavern in December 2006. Mark died in suspicious circumstances the week the play was to open at a party attended by Pete Doherty http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23377433-details/Did+he+fall+-+or+was+he+pushed+Questions+surround+Doherty+and+the+party+death/article.do. The case gained international attention and after an initial police investigation revealed conflicting evidencehttp://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/content/towerhamlets/advertiser/news/story.aspx?brand=elaonline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsela&itemid=WeED31%20Oct%202008%2016%3A47%3A51%3A370 the coroner ordered a full reinvestigation in 2007.Pauline was deeply upset by the death of a friend and opened The Mark Blanco Theatre at The George Tavern in March 2007.