About
We are Garudio Studiage, the atypical brand where high art meets low humour (or should that be the other way round?). Founded in 2004 in Camberwell, South East London, by Chris Ratcliffe, Anna Walsh, Laura Cave, and Hannah Havana, who had recently graduated from MAs at Camberwell College of Arts and the RCA, we were itching to use our collective creative skills of screen printing, drawing, painting and jewellery.
The appropriately glamourous and unpronounceable name is derived from the words ‘garage studio’ which is exactly where the venture started out in an old garage loaned to us by ‘Jimmy’, Chris and Anna’s landlord (Hannah and Laura lived next door). Chris and Laura were given the chance to purchase a screen-printing bed and selection of equipment, by a tutor at the RCA, and working amongst sand, stray cats and broken car parts we started making screen printed objects to sell, and so the mighty Garudio Studiage was born!
Our shared sense of humour, studio space and desire to go against the grain led to us working on collaborative projects as well as individually and in 2005 we ‘upgraded’ to Peckham’s Bussey Building (then known as CIP House). Here we spent 14 glorious years developing our brand of wry humour crossed with a love of kitsch, by making handmade, quirky and out of the norm jewellery, home accessories and prints.
Anna, Chris & Dante in the current Garudio
Anna, Laura, Hannah & Chris with Stephen Jones at the V&A 2008
Working among the kebab meat warehouses, sweat shops and churches of a pre-gentrified Peckham was of paramount inspiration, and heavily influenced our lo-fi aesthetic. Our iconic Peckham Palm Tree t-shirts and bags were staples on the streets of Peckham and beyond; our subversive wildlife of London tea towel was the first of what has become a growing collection of unique and alternative London souvenirs, which have been sold in the likes of the Museum of London, the V&A, Selfridges as well as dozens of small boutiques.
The original Garudio Studiage sign, Copeland Road, Peckham
Fast forward to today and Garudio Studiage is still going strong! As Hannah and Laura took a back seat due to other commitments, it is now mainly run by Chris and Anna and their dog Dante from their Second Floor Studios and Arts (SFSA) studio in Deptford/New cross borders, where they moved in 2019. Here they hope to stay and continue making and designing well into their dotage.
We still make work for exhibitions and events, but mainly focus on making products which are distributed by the fantastic Turnaround Gifts (how we came to be working with them is another story!) to shops like the Museum of London, the V&A , the South London Gallery and many more. Our online shop has been a fundamental presence from the early days, long before the likes of Shopify and squarespace and you can buy directly from us here.
All Garudio Studiage products are designed in-house, and most of them are handmade or printed by us in our studio also. Anything we can’t do ourselves is sourced out to other small uk based companies. Because we make them ourselves, every piece is important and we work hard to ensure that everything we make is of the quality and uniqueness you expect from our brand - the quality of the humour might be questionable, but the quality of the product is undeniable!
The original Garudio Studiage, in Oswyth Road, Camberwell
As well as making props, displays and products we have taken part in a wonderfully bizarre array of exhibitions and events. We have worked with cultural institute heavy weights such as the V&A, the Southbank Centre and the Barbican with the Lucky Skip; curated exhibitions and events to promote the work of other independents and artists as well as ourselves; created and installed props and window displays for the likes of Paul Smith and public art pieces such as the Peckham Peace Wall with Peckham Space.
The current Garudio Studiage, in Moulding Lane, New Cross