Nº69: Thomus DaCosta
The London-based gallery director shares some Mayfair gems, riffs off the Diddy scandal and calls out the capital’s haters.
We’re back with Thomus DaCosta. Read on to find out what he’s into, and if you’re new here, hit subscribe for secret recommendations every week.
Thomus DaCosta is the Director & Founder of @Shipton__
☞ PLEBS IN MAYFAIR: One of my favourite places in the borough (kind of) is Paul Rothe & Son on Marylebone Lane. It’s a small, family-run café with an array of spreads and a retro seating area perfect for scheming over a reasonably priced coffee and sandwich. After belly-flopping my AS exams, I was politely asked to leave school and found myself at a sixth form college down the road affectionate dubbed Druggies, Losers & Dropouts (I was a Late Bloomer, thank you). If it wasn’t for the long lunch lines at Paul Rothe & Son I probably would’ve been chain-smoking outside the bookies instead of on the iconic ‘Steps’ of the Hinde Street Methodist Church talking shop with Ayo Fagbemi. Now, for those who take pride in drinking the Soho galleries dry on a Wednesday or Thursday evening, I recommend Delfinos on Mount Street. For a late night boozer, you really can’t go wrong at The Tent at the End of the Universe on Little Portland St, if they let you in…if they don’t The Social is an excellent substitute.
☞ MY CELEBRITY CRUSH: Cash Me Ousside, How Bout Dah?
☞ SHOWER THOUGHT: I want to be a young father.
☞ SHAKESPEARE’S STILL RELEVANT: Watch the Coriolanus movie adaptation starring Ralph Fiennes and Gerard Butler. Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays, so it's perfect to bring up in conversation to signal that you’re erudite and cool. In Act 3, Scene 3, Coriolanus stands up to the citizens of Rome and it’s tribunes who in earlier scenes were begging for him to reveal the wounds that he had collected in battles defending the great city. In his famous monologue, the protagonist is venomous as he calls out the people’s fickleness and the corrupt system that they live in—a moment that marks his ultimate demise. Coriolanus was a child soldier who became a great Roman leader, but those same qualities that roused lions spurred jealously from challengers in the political arena. His refusal to ‘play the game’ leads to public outrage amplified through manipulation by tribunes, Brutus and Sicinius. In his speech, Coriolanus condemned the instability of public opinion and criticising a political process that rewards pandering and punishes honesty; his refusal to humble himself results in banishment.
☞ UPCOMING SHOWS AT SHIPTON:
October Surprise - October 12th
By Any Means Necessary - November 8th
Vigil: Dreams and the Afterlife (Shipton x Semester9 ) - Nov 21st
God Willing curated by Isabella Greenwood - December 6th
☞ ADVICE: One of my favourite writers is Charles Bukowski (yes, thank you for the collective sigh) on his epitaph is written, “Don’t Try”. Often misinterpreted, this iconic philosophy is not in the vein of Homer Simpson’s ‘trying is the first step to failure’. Instead, what Chuck is pointing to is authenticity; don’t try, just do—channel your inner Shia LeBeof.
☞ ACCIDENTAL REDPILL: Your algorithm will never be the same: @1984cellectuals, @mostly.peaceful.memes, @the_typical_liberal, @jaysanalysis, @fakenewsnetwork, @grapejuiceboys, @gregreese_, @wallstbets. Please note that the rabbit hole gets deeper and wider.
♪ LISTENING TO: I’m obsessed with DMX and 50 Cent at the moment. I’ve been running around the gallery for weeks barking at my studio mate, Joe Munro, shouting, ‘G-Unit, Ruff Ryders in the house!’ Both brat-pack rap icons have had their run-ins with Diddy and as his secrets slip out daily, I thought that I’d go back in time and listen to albums from the turn of the millennium to see if I could find any clues as to what we may learn in the forthcoming trials. What I didn’t expect to uncover was an overlap between devotion to God and devotion to ‘The Thug Life’ and how both artists developed a strong, internal sense of a greater purpose over the course of their discography. At 29 years old, I’ve also developed a taste for religiosity in part as a reaction against the satanic agenda propagated by Hollywood and the music elites but also because I’ve got a group show at Shipton in December called God Willing curated by Isabella Greenwood and my research into the subject—specifically Saints, Augustine & Teresa of Avila)—has been enlightening and profound.
☠ HATES: Too many of you are gleefully slagging off London and it doesn’t sit right with me. If it doesn’t stop soon I may just run for mayor. My campaign slogan? London isn’t boring, you are.
Thanks Thomus! Follow Thomus here!
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