New works by Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood to be exhibited for a limited time
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‘Logical Absurdity’presented by TIN MAN ART
9 Cork Street, London W1S
29 November –14 December 2024
Following two acclaimed, sell-out exhibitions in 2023, Thom Yorke (b.1968) and Stanley Donwood (b.1968) are returning to TIN MAN ART for a fourth time with brand-new works that further build upon ideas born from their collaborations.
‘Logical Absurdity’ will feature over 20 works, including screen prints, linocuts, lithographs, paintings by Donwood, a painting by Yorke, and paintings and tapestries made by the pair working together.
Previous joint works were connected to the creation of The Smile’s first three albums and blossomed in their own unique direction. Importantly, these new pieces continue the artistic journey that Donwood and Yorke have been travelling together since the 1990s, from digital-inspired dark figuration to analogue constructions of the natural world.
Working side-by-side, the pair created large-scale paintings in an outdoor studio in Oxford. The images were topographical and the artists embraced old-fashioned materials and the historic technique of tempera paint on gesso, layered on linen.
In considering how physical land is represented, they turned to works held in the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, from 17th-century Persian nautical maps to military charts from the 1960s. Moving away from traditional notions of mapping, the works eventually emerged as magical landscapes, pulsing with colour and light.
Topography continues to be a focus in this new output. In two new paintings by Donwood - Dark Forces (2024) and A Lesser Evil (2024) - clusters of denuded, purple tree trunks, like spikes, are set into pale umber earth. In the background are great white mountain peaks, while Fauvist-like colours of yellow and ultramarine blue swirl to create lakes across the landscape.
‘Logical Absurdity’ will also chart the magical nature of repetition, and how a decades-long collaboration changes and responds to outside influences. The pair have worked in tandem for 30 years, creating a vast archive of visual material for Radiohead’s album covers, books and internet projects. But it’s only fairly recently that Donwood and Yorke’s collaborative work has involved painting together, at the same time and in the same space, responding to canvases as they saw fit, building work simultaneously. Originally, their artwork incorporated album lyrics, but has evolved into large-scale landscapes of layered paint as seen in ‘The Crow Flies’series, shown with TIN MAN ART in 2023. This new exhibition will include linocut prints that have become, in Donwood’s eyes, a “mutated continuation” of previous images.
One such quasi-medieval rendering is Rattus Volcanicus (2024), its maze-like structures appearing to extend at the edges beyond the visual space. Preoccupation with environmental catastrophe is also present, as rats scurry between volcanic eruptions. The remarkable colour palette of vivid IKB (International Klein Blue) was specifically chosen by Donwood while in Paris at the same Montparnasse shop where the iconic pigment was first created in the 1960s.
Medieval inspiration in Yorke and Donwood’s work continues with the incredible Flemish tapestries that replicate original paintings with thousands of interwoven threads. Three of these will be on display: Goom Threads, Threaded Membranes and Somewhere you'll be there In Stitches (all 2024).
A new small work by Yorke will also be on display; if i ever get out (2024) is a mixed media painting made using found materials. The piece was used as the record cover for Yorke’s soundtrack to Daniele Luchetti’s ‘Confidenza’ (2024).
James Elwes, TIN MAN ART Director, says: “’Logical Absurdity’ promises to be an exciting and important continuation of a critically acclaimed artistic partnership. Common themes that have been pursued for decades, such as technological opportunities and dangers, the natural world and the extinguishing of the environment, anxiety and psychology in the 20th and 21st century, as well as art-specific questions around image sustainability and legacy, will be presented in new ways.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES FOR MEDIA USE CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE
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‘Logical Absurdity’ is presented by TIN MAN ART
9 Cork Street, W1S 3LLPublic Opening Hours:
• Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 6pm. Entry is free
For enquiries visit: www.tinmanart.com
Thom Yorke (b. 1968) is a musician, artist, composer and activist. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter of Radiohead; the group has won several Grammy and Ivor Novello Awards and has released critically acclaimed music. Radiohead’s work is widely regarded as some of the most celebrated and influential of recent decades. The band has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and their work sits in the US Library of Congress. In addition to his work with Radiohead, he has released three solo albums, formed Atoms for Peace with Nigel Godrich, Flea, Joey Waronker and Mauro Rofosco, created the original soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 remake of Suspiria, and most recently, released work as The Smile, with Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner. In 2021, he co-created the ‘KID A MNESIA’ exhibition, with Stanley Donwood and producer Nigel Godrich, an interactive audio-visual experience with music and artwork drawn from the Radiohead albums Kid A and Amnesiac. Yorke and Donwood also released two books, KID A MNESIA and Fear Stalks The Land. The former celebrates the process and artwork created for Kid A and Amnesiac, the latter compiles notes, lyrics and sketches from that period.
Stanley Donwood (b. 1968) was born in Essex, England. He studied English Literature & Fine Art at the University of Exeter where he first met Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. The lifelong collaboration between band and artist was initiated when Yorke asked Donwood to contribute art for Radiohead’s original My Iron Lung EP (1994). Donwood’s paintings, drawings and prints address socio-political issues, often employing an element of satire. He has been the official artist of the Glastonbury music festival since 2002 and has won two Grammys for his artwork for Radiohead’s albums Amnesiac and In Rainbows. Donwood's art has been the subject of a book, There Will Be No Quiet (2019), published by Thames & Hudson. He has written and illustrated several books of short stories, including Humor (Faber, 2014). He has exhibited at galleries and museums internationally.
The artists are represented by TIN MAN ART. Founded by James Elwes in 2021, the TIN MAN ART team works closely with collectors at every level to connect them with exceptionally talented artists. The gallery has a flexible approach to exhibitions, which are held in central London, across project spaces and internationally. This is complemented by a strong online presence and a programme of dynamic talks and events. Collaboration and transparency are integral to the gallery’s approach, as is the belief that collecting art should be a source of joy and open to everyone.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, INTERVIEWS AND IMAGESTracy Jones, Brera PR - tracy@brera-london.com / 01702 216658 / 07887 514984
