British Artist Morgan Howell’s Homage to Iconic Singles Have Been Collected into One Book
This Month Black Dog Press are launching Morgan Howell at 45rpm, brings together a series of 3D paintings from Morgan Howell’s cult favourite series of SuperSizepaintings of 7” singles, blown up to 70cm by 70cm. This book shrinks them back down to fit perfectly on a record shelf. A who’s who of the music world, this compendium is a list of the most must-have records of the last century.
Howell’s paintings are not perfect reproductions of the single artwork, but careful replicas of real-life albums, with the creases, rips and rubbed corners which happen to every truly loved record included to create completely unique pieces of art. As Howell says, “Many people come to me with a specific physical copy of a single from their past — it may have names scribbled, love notes, tears and price tags and l reproduce that precisely.” In doing so, what he is doing is not simply creating a painting, but “evoking something in them, sparking a memory.”
The artwork in the book includes such iconic pieces as the Rolling Stones Brown Sugar and The Clash’s single (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais, which appears alongside commentary from its creator Nick Egan, discussing his inspiration for the iconic image from old Jamaican singles and pop-artist Roy Lichtenstein.
During the in-depth interview with Morgan Howell by Domicin Mohan which opens the book, Howell explains his artistic process and what brought him to combine art and music in a fundamental way. Howell’s approach has gained him a huge following, and he has been commissioned by art lovers and musicians alike from Neil Diamond to Edgar Wright to the Stone Roses’ Ian Brown.
This edition, published by Black Dog Press, contains not only 95 of Morgan Howell’s pieces in high quality print, but also commentary to accompany the artworks, from musicians and fans of Howell’s work, from Johnny Marr of The Smiths to Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet and even composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as forewords contributed by Sir Peter Blake, English pop artist and co-creator of the artwork for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and British journalist Andrew Marr, who says that
‘You could argue that it is, pretty much, a history of the recent British imagination. Look closely and you’ll find all the big themes are here – the American-focused consumer exhilaration of the early 1960s, as the post-war years of austerity and rationing finally receded; the rediscovery of sex and the discovery of drugs during the first great teenage revolution; identity obsession and gender-bending in the slightly darker 1970s; street rebellion and punk radicalisation later in that decade; and into the strange mix of anger and urban celebration of the early 1980s.’
About Black Dog Press
Black Dog Press produces a broad range of illustrated books that respond to and showcase developments in contemporary art and culture. We are committed to delivering robust critical content, imaginative design and high production value in every title.
Our books are produced in collaboration with international artists and organisations, and we work with longstanding distributors to supply them to bookshops, galleries and organisations worldwide.
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