Jason Allen-Paisant poems inspired by Dandy Style

In 2023, Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Art Gallery co-commissioned Jason Allen-Paisant to create a trio of exquisite, sensual and playful poems inspired by paintings and garments in the gallery’s collection and recent Dandy Style exhibition.

Jason performed ‘Boasty’, ‘Dreaming of silk wescuts’ and ‘Sir Gregory Page-Turner’ for the first time at an intimate event at Manchester Art Gallery on 14 October 2023. He also discussed fashion and style, identity and fluidity, poetry and language, the Black male body and its presence in a compelling conversation with host Malika Booker. These films capture Jason performing his poems in the gallery in Autumn 2023 alongside the objects that inspired them.

‘Boasty’

Performed alongside the ‘wool waistcoat with a red, white & black check’ that inspired the poem.

‘Dreaming of silk wescuts’

This film is interspersed with footage of the ‘Embroidered court suit 1770-85’ and ‘Figured silk suit C1700’ that inspired the poem.

‘Sir Gregory Page-Turner’

This film captures Jason performing ‘Sir Gregory Page Turner’ in the storage room of Manchester Art Gallery in Autumn 2023. The featured painting is ‘Portrait of Sir Gregory Page-Turner’ by Pompeo Batoni and the featured suit is by designer Samson Soboye.