Where Is My Mind? The work of Vaughan Oliver and The Pixies

  • 26th Feb - 8th Apr 2016
  • TBC
  • Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Project Space

 

First major exhibition celebrating the long-standing collaboration between legendary Art Director and designer, Vaughan Oliver and cult American band the Pixies. Please note: closed Easter bank-holiday weekend (Fri. 25th – Mon. 28th March)

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There are layers and then there are layers of layers. There are layers where images and text mix and layers where image becomes writing and layers where text becomes image or object. And then there is the sound, another layer an immense gigantic layer.

You can appreciate and love the music and the images separately but together they create one of the most celebrated artistic collaborations of the last thirty years. When the creative output of one of the most important music groups, I avoid the words ‘rock band’ as they were so much more than that, intersects with the visual genius of a hugely influential designer working in collaboration with a team of highly innovative photographers and illustrators the results can only be described as epoch defining.

From ‘Come on Pilgrim’ to ‘Indie Cindy’ and beyond the combination of Vaughan Oliver’s art direction and the Pixies unique sound has resulted in a sonic and visual partnership, a synthesis of music, image and text that combine to create a strange, surreal and wholly beautiful body of work.

There are two parts to the exhibition; the first part, located in The Gallery, is a retrospective of the artwork emanating from the Pixies six studio albums, associated releases and rarities. As well as final artwork the exhibition will feature original work up material exploring Vaughan Oliver’s creative process. Organised around a linear chronology the exhibition presents a comprehensive overview of the designs that emanated from this remarkable alliance.

The second part of the exhibition, in the Stockwell Street Project Space, is a collaborative installation between Vaughan Oliver, Creative Lead of Graphic Design in the Department of Creative Profession and Digital Arts, and Nic Clear Head Of Architecture and Landscape at the University of Greenwich. The installation is based upon the Pixies Minotaur limited edition box set and incorporates a range of text, image, video and objects organised as a series of layered spaces to create an uncanny labyrinthine environment.

Nic Clear 2016

 

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