A collection of homages to Dr Feelgood as part of Thames Delta, Focal Point Gallery, Southend.
As part of the exhibition ‘Thames Delta’ at Focal Point Gallery in Southend, artist Lucy Harrison invited Dr Feelgood fans to contribute their homages to the band, including photographs, home-made ephemera and written or recorded recollections. She also designed a risograph poster for the campaign to rename Southend Airport after the band’s lead singer Lee Brilleaux, which was given away to visitors to the exhibition.
Lucy Harrison’s interest in Dr Feelgood and their fans began after her art project ‘Canvey Guides’, on Canvey Island in 2006, when she found out how important the band was to local people. Since then she has continued to visit the island regularly and attended the annual Lee Brilleaux Memorial walks.
The Thames Delta exhibition brought together a wide range of media, from contemporary artworks by practitioners such as Mat Do, Rick Buckley, Lucy Harrison and Scott King, to original archive material, including photographs, album sleeves, collages, posters and paintings, the latter of which included a portrait of Dr Feelgood’s legendary front man Lee Brilleaux. Musical instruments and other relevant artefacts were also displayed, such as a Greenop banjolele, manufactured at Norton Greenop’s banjo factory in Leigh-on-Sea, and Chris Copping’s original bass amp that went round the world with Procul Harum. ‘Thames Delta’ was supported by Arts Council England and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.