Pearl Alcock

Pearl Alcock was an artist, born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1934, but later moved to London in the 1970s. During the day she worked in the dress shop she owned in Brixton, but at night, she ran an illegal shebeen (sort of like a club or bar) in the basement. 

The shebeen, simply named “Pearl’s”, became very popular with the gay community of Brixton. Alcock herself identified as bi. In her later life, Alcock began experimenting with her artwork, inspired by her spirituality and Jamaican culture. Sadly, the only mainstream recognition of her work Alcock would live to see was the “Outsider Art” exhibition, held at the Tate Modern in 2005, the year before her death.