More than a quarter century after his death, graphic
design genius Barney Bubbles remains a powerful
influence on contemporary artists. Bubbles is perhaps
best known for the legendary record album covers and
posters he created for Hawkwind, in styles ranging from
Art Deco to Constructivist to black light/acid trip. His
art also graces the covers of albums by Billy Bragg,
Elvis Costello (the stampeding elephants on ''Armed
Forces'' are his work, as is the camera-wielding
Costello of ''This Year's Model''), The Damned, Depeche
Mode, Ian Dury and Nick Lowe, and he designed as well
for Sir Terence Conran and underground magazines ''Oz''
and ''Friends.'' When the first edition of ''Reasons to
Be Cheerful'' was released in 2009, reviewers pronounced
it ''joyous, playful and rich in meaning'' and ''Mojo''
named this marvelous compendium its Book of the Year.
This first edition quickly sold out, making this reissue
a welcome opportunity to see Bubbles' work anew. This
new and expanded edition contains hundreds of rare and
previously unpublished images, photographs, working
sketches, notebooks and original artwork. It includes
more than 50 new images, for a total of over 600 in all,
as well as fresh interviews, exclusive facts and
information, writings by Peter Saville and Malcolm
Garrett and an introduction by Billy Bragg. |
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