Who wants Marilyn Monroe when there’s our Hilda?

Sep 30 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

David Knopov with his Hilda Ogden prints _320

A FAMILIAR face in an unfamiliar guise will be greeting diners at one of the city’s best restaurants.

Ta-ra Chuck, three silk screen prints of classic Coronation Street character Hilda Ogden, is now brightening up the walls of 60 Hope Street, as part of the Independents strand of the Biennial.

The prints mark the 25th anniversary edition of David Knopov’s series of silk prints featuring some of the show’s most classic characters – and the artist says Lenny Henry, Bill Nighy and Elvis Costello are among the famous names who have bought a Hilda.

Knopov, from Sefton Park, said he had the idea to revive the piece after taking a look back on his favourite work spanning his career.

He studied at Liverpool Art College in the 1980s and came up with the Corrie idea while still a student.

At the same time, he was pursuing a second career as the singer with leading tribute act Perfectly Frank, which he still runs to this day.

“It’s very linear in here, it needed a bit of camp and kitsch,” he smiles, nodding to the usually sensible surroundings of the restaurant.

“It was a joke, like everything else I do in life, that I took to another level.

“It was an antidote to the whole Warhol, Marilyn thing.

“I wanted people to take them down and stick up Hilda and be proud of their cultural heritage.

“Even though the characters are not on the programme any more, they’ve still got a place in British people’s hearts.”