Today I’ve launched a page on this site for the Estate of the late radical graphic artist and designer Barney Bubbles.

//Ridiculous Roadshow mask, 1973. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

I represent the Estate and its hundreds of original artworks. We have some exciting activity coming up, including the loving recreation of one of Bubbles’ most striking designs for a very special reissue on Record Store Day this year.

Then there is a new enhanced edition of my monograph Reasons To Be Cheerful: The Life & Work of Barney Bubbles, to be published by a leading international imprint. We are also planning a companion limited edition box of Bubblesiana, including high quality reproductions of his build-your-own paper and card designs.

In recent years the Estate has collaborated with a number of top-flight partners, including Universal Music, BMG Music, Paul Smith, Fred Perry and NOAH Clothing, and produced limited edition t-shirt, poster and postcard ranges with artist/dancer Stacia Blake and specialist printer Something Else.

//Johnny Moped Lightbulb 1977.© Barney Bubbles Estate//

//John Cooper Clarke, 1979. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

Read Barney Bubbles’ biography on the Estate page here.

//Still from Barney Bubbles-directed video for Ghost Town by The Specials, 1981//

//Letterhead for Teenburger Designs studio, 1969. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

//4D Man, 1982.© Barney Bubbles Estate//

//I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass, 1978. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

//Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, 1978. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

//Cracking Up, 1979. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

For licensing and reproduction inquiries, contact paulgormanis@btinternet.com. PDFs of available artworks on request.

Follow the Estate’s Instagram account: @_barney_bubbles_estate_ 

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//Left: DJ figure; right: Music press ad, January 1979. Image: Brooklyn Vegan//

Thanks to my FB friend Vadim Kosmos for alerting me to this (I am not keen on Star Wars so avoid media coverage): a reference in the latest film in the franchise, The Last Jedi, to the Barney Bubbles/Jake Riviera advertising campaign for Elvis Costello And The Attractions’ 1979 LP Armed Forces.

In The Last Jedi Benicio del Toro plays an opportunistic hacker referred to as “DJ”; for some time there has been speculation as to what the initials stand for.

Now director Rian Johnson has revealed they represent “Don’t Join!”, the slogan used in British music press ads for Armed Forces which featured in my Bubbles’ monograph Reasons To Be Cheerful.

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Tags: Armed Forces, DJ, Don't Join!, Elvis Costello And The Attractions, Jake Riviera, New Musical Express, Phil Szostak, Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Vadim Kosmos

The countdown is on to this years’s most exciting street-style collaboration: the limited edition Barney Bubbles x Fred Perry collection.

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Tags: 4000 Weeks' Holiday, Armed Forces, Billy Bragg, Cracking Up, Depeche Mode, Do It Yourself, Elvis Costello And The Attractions, Hawkwind, Henrietta Street, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Ian McLagan, Nick Lowe, Rob Tufnell, Rolling Stones, Sir Peter Blake, Small Faces, The Faces, The Specials

//Left: The Ian Dury Cocktail Cabinet. Right: The AC/DC Desk//
 
//Left: The Rebel, signed ‘Sal ’81’. Right: The Tree Of Drawers//

//Practical Styling bookcase. Lithographically printed and faux marble. The top section enclosing two adjustable shelves, above three doors enclosing a further three shelves. 87in (223 cm) high; 74 in (188 cm) wide; 20 in (51 cm) deep//

Four extraordinary works by the late Barney Bubbles are to feature in Christie’s Out Of The Ordinary sale, the annual event which is fast becoming one of the highlights of the auction calendar.

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Tags: Practical Styling

// 5 x Barney Bubbles designs, 1981/2. Photo above: Nina Sologubenko//

Last week I had an exciting encounter with the rare and adventurous furniture designs produced by the late graphics master Barney Bubbles in the early 80s.

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Tags: Dave Fudger, Marius Cain, Memphis, Nina Sologubenko, Paul Jones, Paul Smith, Practical Styling, Thames & Hudson, Tommy Roberts

//Left: Poster, 30 x 20″, one of a series of four, for Generation X residency at The Marque, Soho, London, September 1977. Right: Poster, 60 x 40″, one of a series of five for Stiff Records package tour of UK, October/November, 1977. Design (c) Barney Bubbles Estate//

//Installation view of Making Music Modern dominated by Bubbles’ Costello poster. Also note his Do It Yourself sleeve and Generation X poster. Photo: John Wronn//

New York’s Museum Of Modern Art is featuring seven works by the late graphics maestro Barney Bubbles in the current exhibition Making Music Modern: Design For The Eye & Ear.

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Tags: Almost Blue, Billy Bragg, Colin Fulcher, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Generation X, High FIdelity, Ian Dury, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Johnny Moped, Making Music Modern: Design For The Eye & Ear, MoMA, Museum Of Modern Art, Philip Johnson's Architecture & Design Galleries, The Marquee