//George Hardie’s design for card announcing the opening of Universal Witness at 167 Fulham Road on November 17 1970//
Here’s another treasure from the trove of Design magazines given to me by the designer Paul Walters; the invitation for the opening of Paul Reeves’ west London boutique Universal Witness in November 1970.
//barneybubbles.com//
The all-new Barney Bubbles website has been launched as part of the celebration to mark what would have been the graphic genius’s 80th birthday this year.
A Box Of Bubbles is the special edition of the forthcoming book The Wild World of Barney Bubbles.
My next book, The Wild World of Barney Bubbles, is published around the world this summer by Thames & Hudson.
This is the enhanced and revised third edition of my monograph of the late graphic artist, who died in 1983 and would have been 80 this year.
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_
//Musician Sam Parkin sports the Teenburger Designs t-shirt//
Infused with the personal freedoms and camaraderie experienced on a trip to San Francisco, the graphic artist Barney Bubbles (born Colin Fulcher 1942; died 1983) took occupation of the three-storey building at 307 Portobello Road in 1969 and transformed it into a creative commune at the heart of the Notting Hill counterculture.
With musicians rehearsing in the basement and a shifting set of unusual and interesting inhabitants and collaborators, Bubbles established his Teenburger Designs studio on the ground floor of 307 and set about servicing all manner of clients from livery for posh grocer Justin de Blank to record sleeves and posters for such rock, raga and prog groups as Brinsley Schwarz, Cressida, Gracious!, Quintessence and Red Dirt.
//Bubbles checks Justin de Blank artwork at Teenburger Designs, 1970//
//Teenburger Designs letterhead, March 1969//
Bubbles styled his Teenburger letterhead as a square wrapper with one side featuring a composition of Letraset fragments arranged in the form of a hamburger.
From today, this very limited edition shirt is available in S, M, L + XL and celebrates the brilliance of Barney Bubbles, evoking his wish for “a groovy scene… with lots of hard work and fun play”.
Order yours from daniel@somethingelse.gg
//Window display for Impresario at the New Museum, Sept 16 – Nov 20, 1988. Image from the New Museum Digital Archive//
//Introduction to the show. Image from the New Museum Digital Archive//
My biography of the late Malcolm McLaren will now be published in April 2020, exactly 10 years after his premature death at the age of 64.
//Hawkwind’s Space cut-out-and-keep 21-card “Galactic Tarot” pack arranged in the shape of a hawk in IT 117, November 18 – December 2, 1971. Design: Barney Bubbles//
//The cards arranged in rows of seven as recommended by the instructions//
In November 1971, design legend Barney Bubbles produced a typically audacious promotional item for Hawkwind’s recently released album X In Search Of Space.
//Front page, IT 117//
//Wild youth: Scenes of abandon from Twist Drunk/Drunk Twist in Ark 33. Photos: Keith Branscombe//
//Cover, Ark 33, Autumn 1962. Photography: Keith Branscombe//
The publication of issue 33 of the Royal College of Art’s magazine ARK in the autumn of 1962 hit the moment in terms of the turbo-charging of contemporary youth culture.
//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.
| Paul Gorman is a writer. This is his blog: art, books, conversation, cults, dancing, design, encounters, environments, events, film, galleries, groups, individuals, invitations, magazines, music, opinions, performance, photography, places, press, privacy, spaces, style, thoughts + views. |
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