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Simon Thackray was born in Ryedale, North Yorkshire in 1960. He left school at seventeen to work in the family business of agricultural engineers and held his first one-man show of ink drawings at York University in 1978. He went into his shed in 1987 to make sculpture, paintings, drawings and prints. In 1992 he photographed his shed door and founded The Shed. The Shed is a pint-sized arts venue on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors, renowned for presenting world-class music and poetry - from Katia Labeque to Carol Ann Duffy, Les Murray to Lau - and Simon Thackray's own unique live-art events that are the 'essence of Shedness': The Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race ®, The Fish and Chip van tour, and Lol Coxhill in a skip are just a few of his 'weird and wonderful' gigs entertaining audiences from across the UK. He conjured the words, music and participatory knitting spectacular, 'HAT', (written and performed by Ian McMillan and Billy Jenkins) and invented the knitted Elvis wig (now a world-wide accessory worn by artists in New York and bin men in Wakefield). Simon's special projects have toured to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Union Chapel and Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and venues in Halifax, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Gateshead, Sheffield, Belfast and Cork. "He's a strange'un alright, but the art world could do with more of his kind of far-reaching woolly thinking." Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph.
"His enthusiasm seems
to light up the street. I muse on the idea of future cultural
historians citing a shed door as the fulcrum of a rural arts
renaissance." "He could, if he chose, make a bigger splash in the art world than he does here - which acts more as an extension to his shed." Yorkshire Post
Simon Thackray co-founded the Pied Piper Project with Sarah Derbyshire MBE in 1997 to bring professional musicians and poets to North Yorkshire to work with young people in youth centres, village halls and schools. Annie Whitehead, Jan Kopinski, Gwyneth Herbert, Snake Davis, Jackie Kay and Ian McMIllan are all former Pied Piper workshop leaders. The Shed (with Pied Piper) is supported by Arts Council England and Ryedale District Council.
Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race Photo
© Tony
Bartholomew "For the past 18 years, The Shed, near the market town of Malton, has been responsible for some of the smallest and most inspired art events in the country" Alfred Hickling, Guardian
Lol Coxhill in a skip Simon put the maverick saxophonist Lol Coxhill in a skip. Lol Coxhill in a skip was the launch event of FuseLeeds06, broadcast on Jazz on 3 and Pick Of The Week on BBC Radio 4.
Mrs Boyes' Bingo Mrs Boyes' Bingo featuring Mark Sanders was premiered at The Shed in 1999. It was performed at FUSELEEDS04 and recently as part of The Shed's Greatest Hits. Mrs Boyes' Bingo and the Fish and Chip Van Tour (see below) entertained delegates at the international art and science conference 'Rules Of Engagement' at the National Centre For Early Music in 2005. Mrs Boyes' Bingo was invited to perform at Belfast Festival in October 2009.
Fish and Chip van tour "Intrepid arts explorer...
pioneer of improvised arts events" Simon propagated the rare species of Yorkshire pudding flower and invented the knitted Elvis wig for the first North Yorkshire Elvis Bus Tour. Knitted Elvis wigs are appearing across the world - from Wakefield allotments to the 'Day Of Dada' parade in New York City!
Knitted Elvis Wigs "I muse on the idea of future cultural historians citing a shed door as the fulcrum of a rural arts renaissance" Ian McMillan
Ian McMillan - HAT - "soon it'll be like Woodstock:
people will pretend they were there - people will want to say,
'I was there when it all started'"
Home Of The
Small White Bird 1989 wood / steel / toy elephant Photo ©
David Sample
'Untitled' 1989 Carved stone
/ found objects H. 600mm Photo © David Sample
Tom's New Beginning -1990 Oil on canvas (Private collection) Photo © Simon Thackray
The Shed media success: Simon's creations have been featured
on Front Row, Sky News, Big Breakfast, Channel 4, BBC 1, BBC
2, ITV, Channel 5, ARD (Germany), BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and BBC
Radio Scotland, BBC Radio York, Humberside, Sheffield, Newcastle,
Cleveland, Leeds, Minster FM, BBC North FM, Yorkshire Coast Radio,
Armed Forces Radio, Newsbeat, Newsround, Three Counties Radio,
Steve Wright in the Afternoon, Mo Dutta, Wogan, Sarah Kennedy,
Classic FM, Brian Hayes, Take A Break, Guardian, Daily Telegraph,
Independent, Dalesman, Daily Express, TES, Independent On Sunday,
Yorkshire Life, Vogue Knitting International, BBC Music Magazine,
Richard and Judy Show, Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post,
Yorkshire Evening Press, Gazette & Herald, Ryedale Mercury,
Scarborough Evening News, Radio Times, Northern Echo, Children
In Need, The Week and Sunday Times...and Pick Of the Week!
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Trade Marks
and Copyright Address: The Shed, Brawby, Malton, North Yorkshire
YO17 6PY |
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| The Shed is supported by Arts
Council England and Ryedale District Council. |
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