
About Jonny Hannah: Darktown Turbo Taxi
Artist Jonny Hannah was born and bred in Scotland and now lives by the sea in Southampton. However, he also resides in Darktown, a mysterious coastal town not found on any map and peopled by pin-up girls, jazz artists and tattooed sailors.
In 2015–16, Hannah invited visitors to take a stroll down Darktown’s Main Street, the artist’s largest exhibition to date. This vintage-inspired homage to the independent trader was made entirely from the artist’s 2D and 3D artworks, on display throughout YSP Centre.
This alter-reality hinterlands, where Monsiueur Hulot runs the Hotel de la Plage, and Slim Gaillard is the proprietor of the second-hand emporium McVouty’s, was created as a response to the lack of individuality on the modern UK high street, and became a regular retreat for the artist.
The artist helps makes sense of his fantasy popular culture with Greetings from Darktown: An Illustrator's Miscellany, a monograph published in 2014, and a series of artworks inspired by the town’s characters and locations. Darktown becomes a place you feel you could actually visit. And perhaps now you can, in the Darktown Turbo Taxi!
Hannah purchased a second-hand Saab 9-3 and customised it in his studio. One week later, the taxi was ready to take fares in and around Darktown. It’s been taking Jonny and Sharon (the Queen of Darktown) and their Cakes & Ale Press to print fairs and gallery events across the UK ever since. The Turbo Taxi acts a mobile advert for some of the emporiums and establishments that can be found on Main Street, luring the public in and hoping people will find Darktown as inspiring and exciting place to visit as the artist does.

You might also like
- News
Tune Into Nature Music Prize reveals 2025 winner
3 March 2025 Learning Through Drawing
OngoingAn exhibition of children's artwork, curated by pupils from Thornhill Primary School in Rotherham and Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham who helped to select artwork from the National Arts education Archive (NAEA)- Profile
Melanie Tangaere Baldwin (Ngāti Porou)
YSP and Te Tuhi New Zealand-UK Residency Award - Art Outdoors
Willem Boshoff: Flagstone
Willem Boshoff’s Flagstone is a sculpture and a seat, positioned here overlooking Upper Lake to provide a space for rest and contemplation. In summer 2018, Boshoff spent a month at YSP, researching and meticulously recording the flora and fauna. Each day he walked the paths around the Park and became particularly fond of the areas around the Lakes. The residency was followed by an exhibition in Upper Space and the subsequent gift of Flagstone as a permanent work for YSP’s landscape.