The Best Guide for the NN12 Area

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, the home of the largest collection of shoes in the world, hosted Jim, AKA Vic Reeves, and his wife Nancy Sorrell as they welcomed guests to experience a unique preview. As well as the works created specifically for Northampton, focusing on shoes, the exhibition also features his well-regarded bird artworks as well as more surreal and humorous pieces.

The free exhibition, ‘Daisies, Romans, Ones and Twos’, is named as such because Jim, loves cockney rhyming slang. He explained that his wife and in laws are from the East end of London and they often talk in the dialect. He said: “Daisies is for ‘Daisy roots or boots, Romans for Roman candles or sandals and ones and twos for shoes.”

At the newly refurbished Central Hall, the accomplished artist and well-known comedian, who has loved shoes since he was a boy and whose favourite shoe is a working man’s boot or a brothel creeper, talked through various pieces, including a number of different types of shoes in watercolours. He explained how he and his agent approached the museum to host his collection because of his love of shoes and his fascination with the large collection housed there.

The gallery welcomed the suggestion and turned around the idea to exhibition in a matter of weeks.

Jim Moir said: “It’s absolutely magnificent that the museum has set up and hung the art so brilliantly and quickly. It’s a dream come true. I have always wanted to come to the shoe museum. I was talking to my agent and said I have been painting shoes and I fancy going to the shoe museum to have a look for some more ideas.

“We then said why don’t we do a show or put up a few paintings there, and bingo! As quick as you like here we are in! It’s fantastic and it’s a great place.”

His message to potential visitors to the museum was: “Come and have a look at this fantastic shoe collection here and when you have done that, have a look at some of the shoes I have painted. Everyone wears shoes. Most people have a car and there is not a lot of difference between a car and a pair of shoes. You get in it and you travel and then look good. If it’s a good looking car or a bad looking car you can reinterpret it as a shoe.”

Councillor Adam Brown, Deputy Leader of West Northamptonshire Council and Cabinet Member for housing, culture and leisure, said:

"We are absolutely delighted that Jim Moir chose the museum to exhibit his work and we would encourage other artists to come forward with ideas if they have an exhibition in mind. We want to put Northampton on the map; in the minds of artists and art lovers alike.”

All of the works in the exhibition are for sale.