Throughout the last fifty years Carnaby Street has had a colourful history and the exhibition at number 50 Carnaby Street, Carnaby Street: 1960-2010, goes some way to bring to life the mod, punk and hippie influences that have brought the area to life.
The first thing that you notice about the exhibition is that it’s a lot smaller than you expected. It’s pretty much all contained in one room and made up of a 3D historical collage, a film, a few dresses from back in the day and a collection of photographs by Phillip Townsend.
By far the bast part of the exhibition is the video, which is class. Set to a kitsch 60s song called Carnaby Street, it’s got loads of clips from the sixties, including a bizarre one of Liberace in a Carnaby Street shop in his full regalia flicking his cigarette into a military helmet.
The 3D Carnaby Street throughout time collage is OK, but it runs backwards, which is a bit annoying, and it’s quite fiddly. It’s got loads of good facts though, if you take the time to read it all, like one about Paul and Linda McCartney meeting at the old Bag O’Nails club in Soho around the corner from Carnaby Street.
The dresses and the Townsend photos are cool, but on the whole the exhibition is just a bit too small to be all that impressive. Although, it’s a good one to nip in on for half an hour or so.
Carnaby Street exhibition 1960-2010 review: 3.2/5
