Daring to Dream. 50 Years of Hipgnosis

Poster Browse Gallery Ausstellung: Daring to Dream. 50 Jahre Hipgnosis. Foto: Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here, © Pink Floyd Music Ltd

30.09. – 28.10.2018 (extended to November 11, 2018)

Photodesign  and Album Cover Art by Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson

curated by John Colton and Emily Smeaton in cooperation with Aubrey Powell

In 1917 Marcel Duchamps forever changed the understanding of modern art with his urinal "Fountain" and other ready-mades. His position, not the object is to be considered as art but rather the act of choosing, became the foundation of pop and conceptual art 50 years later. The thought also guided the creative approach of nowadays legendary British design studio Hipgnosis which was founded in London in 1968 by two young photographers, Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson.

During the next 15 years Hipgnosis designed some of the most iconic album covers in music history. With their radical, often surreal image compositions and innovative photographic designs they influenced generations of photo designers and created images which transformed album cover design into art, admired and loved by millions of people all over the world: Atom Heart Mother, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals (Pink Floyd), Houses of the Holy (Led Zeppelin), Scratch (Peter Gabriel), How Dare You (10cc) oder Love Drive (Scorpions) - to name only a few.

To the advent of Hipgnosis 50th birthday Browse Gallery presents a series of large format prints of  iconic Hipgnosis album covers and a number of black & white photo portraits of cult rock bands like the Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Paul McCartney and the Wings etc.. Some of these photographs have never been exhibited before.

Short texts along the images will provide insights into the creative process, idea and concept development in the art house Hipgnosis as well as the extravangant practices and logistical challenges of epic photography and complex photo design production processes before the invention of Photoshop. In a 16 min documentary video from 1975, the young photo designers Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson talk about their work and the history of Hipgnosis - often with a sense of self-irony and subversive dry humour - a feature which is often found in their creative works as well.

Exhibition dates: 30.9. – 28.10.2018 (extended to November 11, 2018)
Open: Tuesday - Sunday, 11 am - 8 pm
Location: Bergmannstr. 5, 10965 Berlin, 1st Floor (courtyard to the right)
Admission: free

Opening: 29.9.2018, 7 pm ( please register here)
Film and talk with Aubrey Powell: 30.9.2018, 6 pm
The documentary film (2015, length: 1:34 min.) tells the story of the acclaimed photo designer Storm Thorgerson (1944 - 2013).b Directed by Roddy Bogawa, interviews with Aubrey Powell, Storm Thorgerson, Peter Gabriel, David Gilmour, Alan Parsons, Peter Blake, Damien Hirst a.o.
Location: Bergmannstr. 5, 10965 Berlin, 1st Floor (courtyard to the right)

› More about Hipgnosis and their works
Blog article on reception of the exhibition with short video
› Blog article preview of the exhibition
› Blog article on album cover art of Hipgnosis 

Presented in the framework of European Month of Photography Berlin 2018

Europäischer Monat der Fotografie Logo 2018

PICTURES FROM THE EXHIBITION (SELECTION)

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