Ian Berry's Secret Garden at Garden Museum London

A magical urban secret garden crafted from denim to delight kids and adults alike. Walk through the denim garden path and find roses, cacti, wisteria and dangling vines made with layers of recycled denim jeans and discover a brand new pond with koi and waterlilies all hand cut from shades of jeans.

Ian Berry’s Secret Garden has been show around the world in Musuems and galleries and this is the first time a site specific, stand alone installation has shown in the UK and will be exhibited in the Garden Museum’s central Nave space which is open and free to the public.

Ian Berry in the Secret Garden at the Garden Museum by Sam Hockley

Transforming denim which comes from cotton, a material made from plants, back into a new vegetal form, the installation will explore themes of sustainability in the textile industries and the importance of access to green spaces in the city for young minds.

As you wander through you will begin to discover some of the artwork from the young children that Ian Berry worked with in Kirklees in West Yorkshire with Shape North and find their drawings of their hopes and dreams for the future intertwined into the installation.

a part of the all denim pond by Ian Berry at Garden Museum

The Secret Garden will be viewable 13 July – 8 September, as well as during a number of family and community events at the Garden Museum throughout the summer. This will include the museum’s free community open day Neighbours Day on 14 July and the Festival of Fairytales on 11 August. An accompanying programme of activities and workshops for all ages inspired by the installation will be offered free of charge, including textile flower collage, denim rag rug, clay and felt cacti making and cyanotype printing.

Ian Berry: The Secret Garden and accompanying events are made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England.

Garden Museum - 5 Lambeth Palace Road - London SE1 7LB

16 July - 8 Sept 2024

Free Entry

About the Garden Museum

The Garden Museum explores and celebrates the art, history and design of British gardens and their place in our lives today.

Visitors will discover the stories of great gardeners through a permanent collection of artefacts and tools from gardening throughout history alongside botanical art, photography, and paintings exploring how and why we garden. Exhibitions, events, and community projects delve into art, architecture, plant science, food, sustainability, well-being and more, all through the lens of gardening.

Housed in the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, the Garden Museum contains the burial place of John Tradescant, an early gardener and plant hunter. To preserve his tomb, the Garden Museum was founded by Rosemary Nicholson, an admirer of Tradescant, in 1977. At the heart of the Museum is a sheltered courtyard garden designed by Dan Pearson as an ‘Eden’ of rare plants.

Ian Berry X NUDE at Stolenspace Gallery

Sat/Sun - 28-29 September

BEN EINE / IAN BERRY / REMI ROUGH / NOMA BAR / DAVID SHILLINGLAW / DESSY / SI SCOTT / PENNY / ROB DRAPER / GÉRALDINE GEORGES

Ian at the opening

Ian Berry has collaborated with Nude to be their tenth artist, and as it’s the tenth year anniversary of their art series, there will be an exhibition in London. Featuring works by ten prominent artists and celebrating the 10th release of the 'Nude Collaboration Series' of Limited Edition works created with the simple brief of ‘Nude’. For the first time ever, all ten pieces are being displayed together alongside new work by the artists at StolenSpace Gallery in Brick Lane, a venue famed for showcasing leading urban and contemporary art. 

For Ian’s series, he made the Garden installation with the flowers layered by Tonello of the previous artists work marking the special occasion and providing an opportunity to look back over the decade of the Nude Series.

Limited edition pieces for sale as well as 10 beer can with each artists work on. All profits from the show will be donated to the charity, Shelter, which aims to end bad housing and homelessness.  

For updates, follow @tenoftenbynude on Instagram

open til 6:00 PM

StolenSpace Gallery, 17 Osborn St, Shadwell, London E1 6TD, UK 

Ian Berry X Cone Denim

Written by Ian Berry

There can be no denying the last couple of months have not been easy for Cone. This famed historic Denim Mill announced it would close it's White Oak plant in North Carolina. Why should this be news? All the rest have, and factories are closing down all over the western world. Yet this mill is the last with a denim factory that was a 112-year-old shrine to jeans and the last major manufacturer of selvage denim in the United States. Yes, the last one in the U.S of A.

I know people that have visited and cried when walking in white Oak, walking on the Maple Wood floors that added that something unique to the mystique and texture of the fabric. Micheal Williams (the founder of the influential men’s wear site A Continuous Lean) said it was 'denim done the right way — not mass-produced on modern looms (although the plant has plenty of those too), but painstakingly made on clanking 1940s American Draper X3 shuttle looms that churn out denim featuring a tighter weave, more interesting textures and of course, the de rigueur selvage stitching on the inside seam that jeans lovers proudly reveal by rolling their cuffs.'

It is an end of an era, most will think of the US when thinking of denim, certainly the history, and now they are not, they are not, making it. Its bad news for the over 200 strong staff in Greensboro, so called, 'Jeansboro'. Its not good news for the American Denim industry, nor the tag, All American made, but, whats to blame? 

'Cone Denim - A True Original'

As someone who grew up in a textile town in the north of England, you see the past civic pride, the buildings, the community - and the decline. But this is a worldwide wider issue. Of cheaper labour and production in other countries. The consumer has been demanding cheaper products and the High Street has been offering it. To be able to offer a Selvedge for $25 and commoditise the market was never going to be possible to produce in the US or anywhere in the western world. Consumer perception of what a good pair of jeans should cost has changed. Fast Fashion became what it is. Lets have lots cheap than less at quality and craftsmanship, with authenticity and heritage. The denim industry may mourn, but were they buying enough fabric? Perhaps everyone should have a look at why, and perhaps even see what is best for the industry moving forward.

I'm very much on the fringes of this great industry, but surprisingly small industry, where everyone seems to know one another. It may be fanciful but looking in from the outside, how good would it be for some kind of council of denim heads. A united body of industry figures that can also protect or rally in support of an issue. It's a debate for another time, but it would be good to have a body that could certify the sustainable values of a brand or mill, so the consumer knows. They all can make nice mission statements...

I won't pretend to know all the ins and out of the industry, but always one to look at something another way. Should Cone be attacked for the closure, or should they be be given a little well done for being the last one battling to stay open with declining sales of White Oak stock. Now, I'm not going to pretend words here can make any difference in the face of families that now have bread winners out of work. But Cone is a mill brand with an un rivaled history and it is this history that I love in the denim story. The routes of the early miner and worker beginnings that then developed and followed that of pop culture. Cone has been there all along, once the worlds largest mill, and if you have never heard of it - they were the ones that supplied the material for the 501.

The hipster craze over the last decade of selvedge jeans (I got the Telleson and special Cone 501 myself.. but also the Japanese brands) waned and as people tighten their belt, they can now get selvedge in the same place they buy their groceries. Fast fashion reigns, not a good place to be in slow fashion. I bought some of mine knowing I would wear them for a decade, not a night out.

I saw it in my university town where the furniture industry bombed. Any industry would with Ikea in every home. We may say that Jeans are democratic, but do we all want the same, do we all want it cheap - and at what cost - to the workers, to the environment? And of course with a good selvedge, the jeans become unique to the owner with ever fade and evolution. I may be looking at this from an artist point of view, but I respect and value craftsmanship, knowledge, heritage, authenticity.

Do well all want to buy cheap art from the final section in a blue a yellow boxed building, yes, it makes art affordable and accessible to more, but at what cost to original creators? What hope do young un found artists have to sell an original piece when someone compares it to a mass produced print?

Back to Cone, In an official statement it was said

“For more than 125 years Cone Denim has defined American denim and authenticity with the White Oak mill representing the essence of Cone’s heritage,” said Kenneth T. Kunberger, President & CEO of Cone Denim and International Textile Group. “We truly regret having to take this action to close the mill, and we deeply appreciate the loyalty and dedication of all current and former employees of the White Oak mill. Their talent, effort, innovation, dedication, and customer focus all combined to create a White Oak brand, heritage, and legacy that will forever be the heart of the Cone Denim business.”

The biggest shock that this wasn't on the major networks or papers. Yes, its been in the fashion and denim press, but 'No more American Jean' didn't get a mention. Interesting in a time when I see all the mills wanting consumer knowledge of their names, the one with the biggest brand asset and history didn't even make the mainstream news. It's a sad loss for America and more importantly, the North Carolina community and economy. 

But it is this history that I love and I'm honoured to have used some of the last denim from the mill for this installation in New York and cant thank the kindness of Kara Nicholas at Cone enough for the support in pulling off this piece. For my first New York show, it had to be American Denim. I can only thank them for allowing that opportunity. I hope I did the roll of 7180 Beckett proud.

At this point, they can only be proud as a company, the workers in N. Carolina, that they were able to bring White Oak and it's magic to the world for as long as they have.  It is so disappointing that timing has run out - but this should make a even more determined effort to keep the spirit alive and to pay tribute to the very special place In Greensboro. The beauty of White Oak is that it has been making denim since 1905 and the history of denim in the US and the history of White Oak are intertwined. The biggest challenge was that it has been making denim since then and has almost 1 million square feet with all of the buildings.

A unrivalled history at Cone Denim

We can mourn the loss, but celebrate that we had it. The outpouring from the denim community showed how much this place was loved. I wish them only the best. I wish all those very very skilled workers the best and heartened to read of stories of others picking them up, and of job fairs put on for them. But in every bad story, springs some hope and a new beginning. The evolution of the jean is not just a famous American fabric, but now a global beast. Ubiquitous, universal, yet people crave difference. You have seen it with Denim before, with whiskey, with Gin now, with micro breweries. What will sprout up from this?

And I'll leave the final message from Cone itself, that through the hard news, they are as Cone, are very much still in business.

“From the crafting of authentic, vintage styles to the development of new innovative
technologies, Cone Denim continues to master the art and science of denim with its newest
collections focused on authenticity, sustainability and revolutionary denim performance. We believe that only this passion-filled heritage combined with unparalleled industry knowledge and technical expertise can create the most beautiful denim fabrics in the world.

Cone Denim - a true original.”

We'd like to thank Cone Denim for supplying the denim to work with at the Childrens Museum of the Arts installation of the Secret Garden that is open until April 2018 at 103 Charlton Street.