One
For those who haven't heard of Aldridge, he was one of the key graphic designers of the mid-century and during the Sixties & Seventies it would have been an extremely difficult mission to escape his kaleidoscopic, vaudervillic (is that a word? if not, it's being coined right now) creations. His CV is simply ridiculous; he was made Art Director of Penguin books, bringing surreal, pyschedelic sensibilities to their Science Fiction titles, he famously won a drawing competition with a slightly manical Savildor Dali whilst waiting an airport, and to top it all off, designed artwork and lyric books for the likes of The Beatles, The Who & The Rolling Stones. Phew.
We first discovered Aldridge's work a few years back upon buying The Beatles' illustrated lyrics book (if you don't own, you must!) and recently, Lauren invested in The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes as a gift for James' Christmas, completely unselfishly we might add.
Two/Three
His style is an illustration of the Sixties, defining the age through an LSD fuelled carnival of surrealism, imagined dystopias and fantastical explosions of colour! Leading visually rather than textually, Aldridge's work tells a multitude of stories. It takes intertextuality to the extreme, toying with perspective and layering reference over reference, to the point where it bends your mind and hurts your eyes. At once, both graphically bold and artfully intricate. Just how we like our art!
Five/Six
So yeah, it's safe to say that we successfully brightened up & revitalised our studio with a little help from Aldridge's prints, and just in time for Twee Towers' year anniversary!
Seven
Much love,
L&R xx
2 comments:
Twee Towers' year anniversary, when? We're celebrating this, right?! Loving the art, by the way. xxx
Crikey, I remember these designs from when they were first around (just). Given that I was (fairly) young they must have had quite an impact, which says a lot for their quality.
Thanks for the memories!
Grey Fox - a man searching for style in middle age.
http://www.greyfoxblog.com
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