City Of Bod - A Tribute To Hull

So many words have been written about the City of Hull, most of them defamatory, most of them written by people who have never been here and most of them focusing on the past.

List after list has been produced exclaiming Hull to be one of the worst places in the UK to live, again usually compiled by people from the South who have never been here.

I'm not going to pretend that Hull is paradise, nor am I going to pretend that we don't have our fair share of problems. But the good of Hull far outweighs the bad, and the people that inhabit it are proud, fiercely loyal and above all else could not give a shit what anybody thinks of us.

We have produced some of the world's finest actors, inventors, artists, musicians, scientists and the occasional sports star. So I thought I would create a piece of art that celebrates this, rarely documented, fact.

The reality of Hull is that we have been forgotten by those in the capital that are supposed to look after us, and that has taken its' toll on the economy. So the backdrop for this piece is a typical Hull street, a neighbourhood, a place where they all know each others' names and will lookout for each other - unless you wrong them. And then you're fucked!

Then I've tried to pack the streets and houses with those from Hull that have made an impact on people both near and far. There are so many great people that did not make the cut, and perhaps they will come in part two - if there is to be a part two.

If you don't know some of the people in the piece, that's okay. However, I would encourage you to find out more about them as their stories are inspiring and they owe much of their success to the City Of Hull.

Featured (left to right, as much as possible):

• Humber Bridge

• Norman Collier

• Roland Gift

• John Venn

• Lilian Bilocca

• Reece Shearsmith

• Mick Ronson

• Yankee Burger Pink Car

• The Housemartins

• Cosey Fanni Tutti

• Clive Sullivan

• Banksy

• Dead Bod

• Hull Fair

• Spencer Tunick

• William Wilberforce

• Amy Johnson

• The Bonus Arena

• The Adelphi

• Philip Larkin

• Ronnie Pickering

• The Toads

• The Deep

• Everything But The Girl

• Lucy Beaumont

• City Of Culture

• Luke Campbell

• Bob Carver

• Maureen Lipman

• Dean Windass

We are proud of every single one of them.

This blog accompanies my art work City Of Bod - A Tribute To Hull, which can be seen here.