ART POP. THE ARTIST AND THE RECORD SLEEVE 1956 – 2013.

1 Apr–5 Oct, 2014

The title of the exhibition is taken from Lady Gagas latest album from 2013, the cover of which is the result of a collaboration between the infinitely popular and controversial American singer and the artist Jeff Koons.

“Art Pop” is not an isolated event. Neither is it in any way a new idea. Ever since musicians discovered the aesthetic value of the record sleeve, an artwork in itself if you will, bands and singers have been inspired by artists. And, of course, vice-versa.

With Absolut Art Collection as a starting point, we have searched for those moments in the history of modern music when music and art have overlapped. The result is a journey from Andy Warhol’s early drawings for the covers of jazz records from the mid-1950s right up until today with Lady Gaga’s “ArtPop”. Along the way, you will encounter some truly iconic collaborations, many of which are etched into our collective pop-cultural memory, but also other more unexpected connections and common threads that we hardly knew of ourselves before we started digging deeper.

The sudden insight – and feeling of – “wow, what?” did he do that cover as well?” and “has she really worked with all these people?” is probably the most lasting and unexpected sensation that the exhibition “Art Pop” leaves us with.

Andres Lokko (music journalist and guest curator of Art Pop)