Surrealism

The Surrealist art movement works of the power of imagination, creating dream like imagery and obscure perspectives. The bizarre pieces that have emerged from the movement have inspired me as they focus on breaking away from the norms of artistic traditions and can convey political and topical subjects. The artists in the movement that have inspired me the most include Salvador Dali, Vladimir Kush, Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso.

Elements of surrealist pieces that stand out to me the most;

• abstract themes
• irrational placement of objects
• natural colour palettes
• objects taken out of their true environment
• deeper meanings

Storm Thorgenson 

Many artists in modern music design have taken inspiration from the surrealist movement, the most notable being Storm Thorgerson and his company Hipgnosis. He has worked with artists such as Pink Floyd, Yes and Styx. His work with Pink Floyd is his most influential to me, and has created a whole art style in its self. He takes real world landscapes such as fields, deserts or industrial sites and adds elements that normally would not appear naturally. Examples include a pig flying over a power plant on the cover of Animals, a man without a face and an invisible body on the inside cover of Wish you were here and an infinite row of beds on a beach on the cover of A momentary lapse of reason. 

These were some of my first rough sketches. I attempted to manipulate some existing Hipgnosis covers by replacing elements with bananas to practise placing the banana in strange landscapes.

This was my first digital attemped at my surrealist cover. The man on the beach can be seen to be using a giant peel as a kite. 

This is my second attempt at my banana cover. I worked with a warmer colour scheme, and conveyed the banana as more of a magestic being. A boy can be seen to be staring out at the ocean at the banana which is floating in the sky and reflecting on the water below. I named this single after thepink floyd song ‘One slip’, which is on the album ‘A momentary lapse of reason’ that has a cover that is also based on the beach.