Pall Mall Barbers is Officially a Work of Art

A rainy Monday morning I wouldn’t have thought would be a particularly creative time, but here at Pall Mall Barbers we welcomed one of the most decorated British Artists to the shop. Whilst our barbers were cutting the hair and shaving the beards of a number of regulars, Mark Wallinger and his team were setting up their camera to capture the “hypnotic state” of the barber shop and in particular it’s swirling red and white pole.


For those of you who are not au fait with Mark Wallinger here’s a little bi-og of the man and his work;

Mark Wallinger (born 1959) is a British artist, best known for his sculpture for the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, Ecce Homo (1999), and State Britain (2007), a recreation at Tate Britain of Brian Haw's protest display outside parliament. He won the Turner Prize in 2007. In October 2010 he and 100 other leading artists signed an open letter to the Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt protesting against cutbacks in the arts - he created a new work, "Reckless", for the protest.

Ecce Homo in Trafalgar Square 1999

I spoke with Mark about his idea for this current barber piece and though it is still a work in progress his inspiration was the symbol of the barber pole and the routine of the barber. After getting his idea for this piece he started to keep his eyes peeled for the perfect location and that’s when he came across Pall Mall Barbers. It’s no surprise he found us as we sit right next door to one of the most prestigious art galleries in the world, The National Gallery, but it wasn’t convenience that Mark liked about our shop. In his opinion we have a beautiful shop front, with not only the traditional décor but also the history of the Blue Plaque of St. Mortimer Wheeler. When you “pan back” from the shop, you also see it sandwiched between a café and massage parlour giving it a wonderfully urban visceral feeling.

Personally I think it is very understandable that Mark was inspired by the barber pole, it has a fascinating history. The origin of the barber's pole appears to be associated with his service of bloodletting. The original Barber pole had a brass basin at its top representing the vessel in which leeches were kept and also represented the basin which received the blood. The pole itself represented the staff which the patient held onto during the operation. The red and white stripes represented the bandages used during the procedure, red for the bandages stained with blood during the operation and white for the clean bandages. The bandages would be hung out to dry after washing on the pole and would blow and twist together forming the spiral pattern similar to the modern day barber pole.

The blood stained bandages became recognized as the emblem of the barber-surgeon's profession. Later in time, the emblem was replaced by a wooden pole of white and red stripes. These colours are recognized as the true colours of the barber emblem. Red, white and blue are widely used in America due partly to the fact that the national flag has these colours. Another interpretation of these barber pole colours is that red represents arterial blood, blue is symbolic of venous blood and white depicts the bandage. After formation of the United Barber Surgeons Company in London, a statue required barbers to use a blue and white pole and surgeons to use a red pole. In France the surgeons of the long robe placed a red pole with a basin attached to identify their offices.

I can’t tell you what the final piece will look like beyond that it is a recorded piece of artwork; I personally am really excited about seeing the final piece. If Mark’s previous work is anything to go by I know it will be an extremely skilful piece of work with a provocative undertone. I will keep you posted on when and where it will be exhibited. I am told it will be shown in a gallery in Newcastle as well as on “Random Acts” on Channel 4.