Painting the Natty Cupboard with Lubaina Himid

In the corner of the sitting room of the Kettle’s Yard house, next to Christopher Wood’s Le Phare and the iconic lemon on a pewter dish, is an unassuming cupboard. Affectionally known as ‘the natty cupboard’ by Jim and Helen Ede, it was used by the Edes to store their vacuum hoover when they lived at Kettle’s Yard. Artist Lubaina Himid was invited to paint directly inside the cupboard, one of only a few artists to stage such creative ‘interventions’ in the Kettle’s Yard house.

Himid has created two small paintings inside the cupboard, depicting two hanging textiles, referencing Kettle’s Yard as a domestic space. The artworks are in conversation with the Kettle’s Yard house, with the bright yellow of the smaller painting reminiscent of the adjacent lemon and Joan Miró‘s Tic Tic.

The patterns on the painted textiles are inspired by East African Kangas in Himid’s collection of textiles. The artwork asserts an African presence in the house, connecting to the many Moroccan rugs throughout the Ede’s home, and their time in Tangier, before settling at Kettle’s Yard.

Saving it for Later, as the paintings are titled, is part of a series of interventions created with the artist and printmaker Magda Stawarska alongside their exhibition Another Chance Encounter. These include a sound work – The Sharp Sweet Taste of Limes – by Stawarska in the cottage kitchen, a space which is rarely seen by visitors. You can also discover artworks within some drawers in the house, and a large painting (Magic Carpet) which hangs in the extension. All interventions will be on display in the Kettle’s Yard house for the duration of the exhibition – open until 2 November 2025.