Rock ‘n Roll artists

Creativity transcends disciplines – so perhaps it is not surprising when famous musicians dabble in art – and vice versa?

Two giants of 1960s Swinging London are certainly proving their worth when it comes to discipline swapping.

Peter Blake stars on his first album cover

After years designing other people’s album sleeves, including Monograph exclusives Gettin In Over My Head for Beach Boy Brian Wilson, for the first time Peter Blake is actually appearing on an album cover.

Blakewhose most famous cover is The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, is to appear on the front of a special edition Madness record.

The artist had already designed the cover for the band’s tenth album, entitled Oui, Oui, Si, Si, Ja, Ja, Da, Da, and will now feature on the repackaged disc in person.

He appears on the cover dressed as Moses, in tribute to one of the discarded suggested titles the band considered for the album: The Ten Commandments.

Members of Madness joined him to dress up as other characters representing ‘Rake’s Progress’, ‘Man Of Steel’, ‘Dial M For Madness’, ‘Circus Freak’ and ‘Deolali’.

Ringo Starr is to be the subject of an American exhibition, Peace & Love this summer

While Peter Blake is starring on his first album cover, former Beatle Ringo Starr is the subject of a new exhibition which includes his own art work.

The GRAMMY Museum, will debut Ringo: Peace & Love on 12 June 2013. This one-of-a-kind, limited-run exhibit will offer visitors an unprecedented in-depth look at all aspects of Starr’s musical and creative life – as a musician, artist, actor.

The exhibits span Ringo’s early life growing up in Liverpool, from Raving Texans turned Rory Storm, from The Beatles, to becoming a solo artist and then to the All Starrs with whom he is on tour now.

This unique collection brings together diverse artifacts, rare and never before seen photographs, documents, personal letters and footage.

Money and public art

OLD FLO AND SLAVE LABOUR: MONEY IS THE PROBLEM

The recent furore regarding the removal and possible sale of Banksy’s Slave Labour has many parallels with the proposed sale by Tower Hamlets Council of Henry Moore’s Old Flo. In both cases the initial focus was whether it is morally right to sell an art work, but it did not take long before the ownership of the works was being questioned.

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