EXHIBITION DATES:
3/12 - 4/23/11
ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY C2
2525 MICHIGAN AVE
SANTA MONICA, CA 90404
OBEY GIANT ART X SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS X ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY ARE PROUD TO PRESENT REVOLUTIONS, A PROJECT FEATURING THE ALBUM COVER ART OF SHEPARD FAIREY. ON EXHIBITION FROM MARCH 12TH THRU APRIL 23RD AT ROBERT BERMAN'S C2 GALLERY, WILL BE OVER 80 PIECES OF PUNK, ROCK, NEW WAVE, JAZZ, AND HIP-HOP INSPIRED ARTWORK BASED ON THE 12" RECORD COVER FORMAT. TO MARK THIS OCCASION, TWO SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION ALBUM COVER PRINT BOX SETS WILL BE RELEASED FOR THE EXHIBITION.
"LONG BEFORE I KNEW ABOUT ART GALLERIES OR EVEN STREET ART, I WAS EXCITED ABOUT ALBUM COVER ART, IF ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE VISUAL COUNTERPART TO THE MUSIC ON THE RECORDS I LOVED. ALBUM COVERS CONJURED A EUPHORIC ASSOCIATION WITH THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE. MOST OF MY EARLIEST HOME-MADE TEE SHIRTS WERE STENCILS BASED ON PUNK ALBUM COVERS. I'VE HAD SOME VERY MOVING ENCOUNTERS WITH ART IN MY LIFE, ESPECIALLY IN THE STREET, BUT ALMOST NOTHING CAN COMPARE WITH THE FIRST TIME I HEARD THE BOOTS MARCHING AND FIRST CHORD OF THE SEX PISTOLS' HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN, OR THE AIR RAID SIRENS LEADING INTO "TOO BLACK, TOO STRONG" ON THE INTRO TO PUBLIC ENEMY'S IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK, OR THE OPENING GUITAR SCREAM OF BLACK FLAG'SRISE ABOVE. THOSE SONGS DID, AND STILL DO, MAKE MY ARM HAIRS STAND UP. MUSIC IS VISCERAL AND ACCESSIBLE, BUT ALSO HAS THE ADDITIONAL POWERFUL LAYERS OF THE LYRICS, WITH THEIR CONTENT AND POLITICS, AND THE STYLE, POLITICS, AND PERSONALITIES OF THE MUSICIANS THEMSELVES. NO MATTER HOW MUCH I LOVE ART, OR TRY TO CONVINCE MYSELF OF ITS RELEVANCE IN SOCIETY, THE FACT REMAINS THAT MUSIC IS A LOT COOLER AND WAY MORE ABLE TO REACH PEOPLE'S HEARTS AND MINDS' BUT I'M A POPULIST AND I LOOK AT THIS WAY: I MAY NOT PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, BUT I'M GONNA ROCK IT HARD AS NAILS ANYWAY. WITH MY ART I TRY TO CAPTURE THE SAME ENERGY AND SPIRIT THAT MAKES MUSIC SO POWERFUL AND DEMOCRATIC. REVOLUTIONS IS A CELEBRATION OF ALL THE GREAT MUSIC AND ACCOMPANYING ART THAT HAS INSPIRED ME OVER THE YEARS."
- SHEPARD
The 295th Exhibition
Ian Anderson / The Designers Republic Come Home
The Designers Republic (TDR) gained a wide following around the world beginning in the 1990s with its music-related artwork, including album covers for the Warp record label, and other striking visuals that reinterpreted or reconstructed familiar corporate logos, symbols and katakana characters in ways that strayed from their original meaning.
Japan was hardly immune to the phenomenon. Indeed, TDR had an enormous influence that extended even beyond the realms of music, fashion, games, and graphic design. TDR founder Ian Anderson, whose designs often incorporate Japanese pop culture elements, was deeply influenced by the swirl of consumerism he discovered in the youth culture hot spot of Shibuya—a Blade Runner world of clamorous neon. Though committed to working primarily from Sheffield, the group called Tokyo something of a second home, even opening a TDR store called The Peoples Bureau for Consumer Information in Harajuku’s shopping paradise in 2002.
When the UK design blog Creative Review first ran reports of TDR’s dissolution on 20 January 2009, the news instantly reverberated among designers around the world. It was a shocking event that left many feeling a kind of stunned resignation, but Anderson insisted from the start that TDR would be back. He continued pursuing his own work and before long, though without fanfare, again under the TDR name. One could say, perhaps, that the current event in Tokyo, TDR’s home away from home, marks the beginning of its next chapter.
TDR design—communicating with others through the questions and dialogue generated when preconceived notions are overturned—is alive and well. At last, the world of TDR, and the pleasure of expectations betrayed, descends upon ggg.
ginza graphic gallery (ggg)
Friday. February 4 – Monday. February 28, 2011
DNP Ginza Bldg., 7-7-2 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Tel: 03-3571-5206
11:00am – 7:00pm (Open until 6:00pm on Saturdays)
Closed on Sundays and holidays. Admission free.
Gallery Talk: Ian Anderson is scheduled to give a talk sometime during the exhibition period. Further information will be provided on our website once all the details have been confirmed.
Note: ggg Books 96: The Designers Republic will be published in conjunction with the exhibition.
Note: TDR-related events will be held and products sold throughout Tokyo during the period of the exhibition. Additional details will be posted to the website as they are finalized.
