Hugely acclaimed ‘pop’ artist Morgan Howell, best known for his extraordinary, giant, hand-painted 3-D facsimiles of classic paper sleeve 45s, is to exhibit a selection of his original works here at Nintronics. Morgan commented that “Nintronics are masters of the art of sound, so the idea of hanging my work above their sonic masterpieces was music to my ears. Hopefully many will take pleasure in being taken to an aural nirvana through their state-of-the-art systems while in the company of my art”.
ABOUT MORGAN HOWELL FRSA
Known for his giant, hand-painted 3-D facsimiles of classic paper sleeve 45s Morgan creates a one-off unique supersized painting of each single. The natural wear incurred by the treasured disc is duly rendered in paint, making for a desirable artwork and consciousness portal for vinyl junkie music heads everywhere. Howell's attention to detail is fastidious, down to the authentically distressed and creased canvas that doubles as up-scaled paper sleeves and the tiny imperfections round the edges of the labels of the 27” vinyl records. He additionally offers prints and also takes commissions as long as the song hasn’t already been painted.
Howell’s original paintings are attracting a cult following amongst musicians and music industry moguls. His painting of David Bowie’s 'The Jean Genie' sits proudly on the wall at Sony Music, 'Yesterday' by The Beatles was displayed at the iconic Capitol Building in L.A. and famous owners include Ozzy Osbourne, Neil Diamond, Lord Lloyd Webber, Norman Cooke, Don Letts, Jerry Dammers, Ian Brown of The Stone Roses, The Kinks Ray Davies, Elvis Costello, Blur’s Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon, Hans Zimmer and Johnny Marr. Jude Law and Edgar Wright.
Examples of his work are a permanent feature of the Radio 2 Green Room alongside Elton John’s piano, and when the BBC interviewed The Rolling Stones in London’s Dorchester Hotel in the run up to their concerts at the 02 in November 2012, three of his supersize Rolling Stones singles formed the backdrop.
Howell’s passion has always been his art. In 2005, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art and in 2018 he exhibited at The Royal Academy’s 250th Summer Exhibition curated by Grayson Perry.
BROWN SUGAR BY THE ROLLING STONES
CANVAS, PAPER AND A VINYL DISC. 81X81CM
This piece was painted in 2012 and was one of three pieces to be used as backdrops during the BBC interviews with the band ahead of their 50th anniversary tour. The other two pieces were signed by Mick and Keith. This piece was left leaning against the wall. It was recently bought back from a private collection and is now offered exclusively for sale. ‘Brown Sugar’ is the opening track and lead single from the Rolling Stone's 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 5 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of all time. Though credited to the singer/guitarist pair of Mick Jagger and Keith Richard, the song was primarily the work of Jagger, who wrote it sometime during the filming of Ned Kelly in 1969. He later attributed the success of the song to it having a "good groove".
WHEN DOVES CRY BY PRINCE
CANVAS, PAPER AND A GROOVED VINYL DISC. 81X81CM
‘When Doves Cry’ was Prince's first Billboard Hot 100 number one single, staying there for five weeks, and was also a worldwide hit. Prince wrote and composed the song after all the other tracks were complete on Purple Rain. In addition to providing vocals, he played all instruments on the track. The song's texture is remarkably stark. There is no bass line, which is very unusual for an '80s dance song. The music video, directed by Prince himself, was premiered on MTV in June 1984. It opens with white doves emerging from double doors to reveal Prince in a bathtub. The video sparked controversy among network executives, who thought that its sexual nature was too explicit for television.