Album Cover Hall of Fame Quickie News Update – June 21, 2019
By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Welcome to the first day of Summer (assuming that the “new” Summer includes days like the ones we’re having here – high temp of 65, with rain forecast for the next several days). It’s days like these that make me happy to be able to report that the works of the people who make your favorite album cover images are included in a whole host of exhibitions on display now/soon. In addition to the details of these current/ongoing shows, you’ll also find interesting tidbits about new books, prints and other collectibles now available, along with a story or two that I thought you might want to read, and so, without any further delay, here’s a quickie update, provided as a tease to the regular end-of-the-month summary due in 10 days or so…
Exhibitions/gallery shows –
1) NEW SHOW OPENING 6/21 – Having wowed the crowds in Los Angeles last year with a huge show in Chinatown that drew thousands of fans, street art/graffiti art fans in the NYC area can now traipse on over to a new show called Beyond The Streets that opens to the public this weekend in a large space (over 100,000 square feet!) of its own in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. According to the show’s advance PR, “BEYOND THE STREETS celebrates society’s most pervasive mark makers and rule breakers with unprecedented purpose and scale. The exhibition explores the collective urgency of using the street as a canvas for expression”…and features “enlightening panel discussions hosted by legendary street art icons and presentations by contemporary artists who are continuing to redefine and reshape the art form.” Album cover art fans will see examples of work from many of their favorites, including Cey Adams, J-M Basquiat, Martha Cooper, Shepard Fairey, Glen E. Friedman, Keith Haring, Takashi Murakami, Mister Cartoon and Kenny Scharf, among others.
The show runs thru August, 2019 and is located at 25 Kent Ave, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The entrance is on North 12th between Wythe and Kent Avenues, right next to the Wythe Hotel, William Vale Hotel, and Brooklyn Bowl. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am – 8pm. Closed Monday & Tuesday. Gen admission is $25, kids 6-11, $12. https://beyondthestreets.com/pages/visit
My friend Rocky Bucano from the Universal Hip-Hop Museum (www.uhhm.org) toured the show with some friends of his and was kind enough to share some of the photos. Thanks, Rocky – you definitely have some of the coolest friends…
LL Cool J by Rocky Bucano, UHHM.org
Cornbread Retires @ Beyond The Streets by Rocky Bucano, UHHM.org
Art @ Beyond The Streets, Rocky Bucano, UHHM.org
2) NEW SHOW OPENED 6/14 – Recently opened at the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland is a show whose history began almost 20 years ago when the curators from London’s Victoria & Albert Museum put on a show called The Art of Selling Songs: Graphics for the Music Business 1690 – 1990 that dug deep into the museum’s impressive collection of music-related graphics to show how graphic design was used to promote and sell musical performances and products. The updated version of this show now on display in Belfast presents an “A side” – artwork from “the olden days” thru the introduction of pop music – and a “B side” of more recent work, featuring works from artists and designers including Julien Opie, Peter Saville, Andy Warhol, Albert Watson and many others. A bonus show called Overtones: Irish Music Art celebrates artwork created by Irish artists/designers and works for Irish acts including Ash, Snow Patrol, Them, U2 and others. Here are a couple of recent articles – one in the Irish Times– https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/great-irish-album-artwork-goes-on-display-at-ulster-museum-1.3924937 and one on the Irish News.com site – https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/06/14/news/sgt-pepper-and-alternative-ulster-star-in-striking-new-exhibition-of-album-artwork-1641599/ – that serve to provide overviews of the show, with the second one also including a short video interview with the exhibition’s curator, Anna Liesching, curator of art at National Museums NI.
The displays are available for your enjoyment from now through the 15th of September, with more info available on the museum’s site at https://www.nmni.com/whats-on/the-art-of-selling-songs
3) ONGOING (INCLUDES NEW IMAGES FROM GALLERY) – In last month’s summary, I wrote about the gallery show featuring photographer Bob Gruen’s work now on display (through July 6th) at the Brian Liss Gallery in Toronto, Canada, and now I’m happy to provide you with a small selection of photos of the gallery’s exhibition, as provided by the nice people there.
Bob Gruen @ Brian Liss Gallery, Toronto – used by permission
Bob Gruen @ Brian Liss Gallery, Toronto – used by permission
You’ll recognize some of Mr. Gruen’s “greatest hits” – his photos of John Lennon in NYC (one wearing his “New York City” t-shirt and the other with Lennon flashing a peace sign in front of the Statue of Liberty), his photo of Led Zeppelin in front of their tour plane, etc. – along with others from his 40+ year portfolio compiled while covering the rock scene for many publications and television shows. Of course, we’re very appreciative of the album covers he’s produced, such as Dressed To Kill for KISS; John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band’s Sometime in New York City and Raspberries for the Raspberries, among others.
Visitors to the gallery will find, in addition to a fine selection of fine art prints for sale, that they’ll also have copies of his 2011 career retrospective book Rock Seen for you to take home as well. http://liss-gallery.squarespace.com/bob-gruen
Artist News and Interviews
1) OH, YES! – Famed fantasy artist Roger Dean’s daughter Freyja is quite the artist herself, with some album art credits on her resume as well. Here’s a recent interview with the artist as shown on the Japan Times web site – https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2019/06/08/people/freyja-dean-art-mythology-prog-rock/
2) NOT QUITE A KNIGHT – Early on in his career as a British photojournalist, Terry O’Neil had access to the music business elite at the time, with his portfolio including shots of The Beatles, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, The Who, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and many others. His photographs of Bridget Bardot, Audrey Hepburn , Sir Laurence Olivier and super-model Jean Shrimpton beautifully captured each in their prime. O’Neill was also invited to shoot portraits of civic and world leaders, as well as the British Royal Family, and his reputation as a result of these sessions grew accordingly.
Now 80 years old, Mr. O’Neil received a Royal honor, being awarded the CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his career’s contributions to photography, so here’s a pictorial run-down of his celeb and music-industry shots in The Mirror – https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/gallery/terry-oneills-legends-stories-behind-16522861
That’s all for now – stay tuned and be on the lookout for timely news alerts on our news feed –https://www.facebook.com/AlbumCoverHallOfFame – we’ll be back when we can with another monthly summary for you.
Unless otherwise noted, all text and images included in this article are Copyright 2019 Mike Goldstein and AlbumCoverHallofFame.com – All Rights Reserved. All of trade names mentioned in these summaries are the properties of their respective owners and are used for reference only.
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