A year in publishing 2024: Our curatorial team’s highlights
We sat down with our curatorial team to take a look back on some exciting moments in publishing from 2024.
Join us in this interview to learn about the rare posters we released from our archive including head turning campaigns from iconic fashion brand Fiorucci, Pablo Picasso’s lithographs in the historic Imprimerie Arnéra Archives, as well as our biggest project of the summer – the Team GB collection – where we worked in collaboration with some of Britain’s leading contemporary artists.
Q: This year we worked with the Morgan Art Foundation to create a licensed collection of posters by Robert Indiana. Could you tell us about Indiana and his work?
A: Robert Indiana was a leading figure in the New York Pop Art scene of the 1960s, working alongside his contemporaries Andy Warhol, Ellsworth Kelly, James Rosenquist, Agnes Martin and Jack Youngerman. He was celebrated for his bold and colourful style, drawing inspiration from signs, billboards and commercial logos and using bold letterforms to convey simple yet powerful messages that still resonate today. Indiana’s most iconic piece, LOVE, was originally created in 1964 as a Christmas card for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), but quickly became a cultural phenomenon.
Our worldwide exclusive collection of Robert Indiana posters are proudly produced in collaboration with the Morgan Art Foundation, who look after the artist’s estate.
Q: The biggest project the team have worked on this year was of course our Team GB collection of commemorative posters and limited edition prints. Can you share any insights into the process of seeing this project into being?
A: 2024 was a huge year for Team GB, and we were so excited to play a part by bringing together some of the UK’s most prominent artists to capture and support their efforts on the Olympic stage. Each of the nine artists, who included Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Harland Miller and Rose Wylie, were thrilled for their work to commemorate the much loved event, and some created new Olympics inspired pieces especially for us. Corbin Shaw hand-embroidered his subversive slogan onto a pair of boxing shorts before photographing them for our print. Philip Colbert choreographed his iconic lobster into a competitive scene inspired by the history of the Olympic games. Marc Quinn overlaid the fingerprints of several Team GB athletes to create his layered print, evoking their shared commitment to success.
Julian Opie filmed eight Team GB sprinters on a running track, capturing their movement before interpreting the footage into frame by frame drawings. Inspired by the ancient Greek origins of the Olympics, Opie imitated colours from ancient Greek pottery with cut and layered card to create his running figures. Lastly, Fiona Rae created a painting which spells out the Team GB Olympics slogan for Paris 2024, ‘Everyday Extraordinary’, incorporating shapes and brush marks that resemble the Olympic rings, the Paralympic logo and the Olympic flame.
Q: We worked with contemporary artist Hormazd Narielwalla to produce two new signed limited editions from his Architectural Blocks series. Narielwalla often looks to personal heroes in art as the inspiration for his works, who were behind this beautiful set?
A: Yes, we are always thrilled to work with Hormazd Narielwalla, and the inspiration behind these collectible works were the two British Sculptors, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. The dashed and dotted line patterns that can be seen throughout the works are reminiscent of the pioneering artist’s sculptures. These vibrant works were the first in a new direction of experimentation for Narielwalla, where he explores colour and texture.
Q: A new artist that we introduced to the collection earlier this year was London based photographer, Adrian Houston, who captures the majestic nature of trees. What drew the team to Houston’s work?
A: Adrian Houston is a renowned photographer, who, after his early career working in London on campaigns capturing the likes of The Rolling Stones, went on to photograph an array of celebrities including Stevie Wonder and the Dalai Lama, while also travelling the world capturing breathtaking scenes of impressive nature.
This collection of fine art giclée prints that we produced with Adrian capture and celebrate the majestic beauty of ancient trees, and a percentage of all sales from the collection go towards the work of The Tree Council.
Q: We worked with our museum partner the V&A to introduce two collections of historic photography. Could you share a little about the history and provenance of the works of Curtis Moffat and Harry Hammond?
A: These were two very exciting launches, both Curtis Moffat and Harry Hammond are extraordinary and fascinating figures in the history of photography, and we’re extremely pleased to be able to present their works as fine art prints.
Curtis Moffat (1887-1949) was an American photographer who spent time in Paris moving in the same circles as Man Ray, Ezra Pound and Jean Cocteau, which is where he first experimented with photography. He then moved to London, where he set up his own photography studio, capturing portraits of the ‘Bright Young Things’ of the roaring twenties, including Cecil Beaton and Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel.
Harry Hammond (1929-2009) is widely regarded as the founding father of music photography. The V&A’s collection comprises over 9,000 images by Hammond, which chronicle the British popular music scene in the 1950s and 60s. From this extensive archive we, alongside the V&A team selected 23 to be a part of our exclusive collection, including portraits of British and American musicians Little Richard, Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Jane Russell.
Q: This year, we have worked with the fabulous Liz West to release a new collection of limited editions alongside original artworks, plus a range of festive pieces as part of our new K&M Design Room collection. How has it been to work with Liz again to produce these collectible works?
A: We feel incredibly honoured to work with Liz West and are so proud of the work we have produced together this year. The new ‘Striped Concertina’ limited editions series are framed in 3D and carefully assembled by hand, which is an exciting process for us. Inspired by West’s original artworks, these 3-dimensional prints feature thoughtfully juxtaposed stripes of vibrant colour which intertwine and create reflected hues and captivating shadows within the frame.
This winter has been a very exciting time for West. Not only has she opened a spectacular solo show in the historic Chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park titled ‘Our Colour Reflection’, she has also launched an installation at Granary Square in London. ‘Fluorescence’ draws inspiration from the light and joy that define the festive season, interpreting these themes through a contemporary, 10.7-metre tetrahedron structure. The bold stripes of fluorescent neon colours inspired the new decorations in our K&M Design Room collection, which have been a pleasure to create together.
To mark West’s exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, we also collaborated with the museum to produce an exquisite limited edition print from one of Liz’s preparatory drawings titled ‘Pick and Mix’. This print captures West’s playful love of colour, and her joy in finding new colour combinations to inspire her installations.
Q: This year we’ve released two collections of original Fiorucci posters dating back to the height of the fashion brand in the 1970s-80s. Can you tell us what makes these posters so special?
A: Fiorucci is known for its groundbreaking and provocative ad campaigns, which revolutionised the fashion industry. The vintage posters in our collection were originally designed to be hung inside iconic Fiorucci concept stores around the world. These daring and playful advertisement posters shocked and surprised audiences, in what was at the time a conservative market.
These outrageous marketing campaigns propelled Fiorucci to global success, and the opening of the iconic New York store on East 59th Street in 1976. The store became a cultural hive, where shoppers were encouraged to dance in the window displays, a place where Studio 54’s disco loving crowd could hang out during daylight hours, where musicians would perform and artists like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring would frequent. Our collection of rare Fiorucci posters are lasting tokens of this vibrant history.
Q: In April we released a new selection of rare lithographs from the Imprimerie Arnéra Archives. Are there any stand-out pieces in the collection?
A: This collection from the archives of Imprimerie Arnéra is full of special posters by Pablo Picasso advertising his ceramics and print exhibitions in the French town of Vallauris. These unique pieces document Picasso’s diverse oeuvre, from linocuts and lithographs to ceramic editions made at the Madoura Pottery workshop.
Equally precious are the original linocuts by French artist André Verdet, a great example being 'La Prêtresse’ (The Priestess). A good friend of Picasso, Verdet was encouraged by the artist to create lino prints at the renowned Imprimerie Arnéra studio. The resulting original linocuts in our collection are beautifully executed in multiple colours of ink that sit richly on the paper, giving the prints an exquisite tactility and sense of the printmaker’s hand. These unusual, rare pieces are an undiscovered jewel in the collection.
Q: Our Original Hollywood Film Stills are a big hit with cinemaphiles. Can you explain a little about the history of these photographs and how the team preserve them so that they can be admired for many more years to come?
A: Our Original Film Stills are vintage photographs captured on the sets of classic movies from the 1950s to the 1990s. Created originally as ‘publicity stills’, they were designed to be sent inside promotional press kits to newspapers, magazines and cinemas. During their lifespan these prints may have been displayed in a theatre lobby or reproduced for a multitude of media before being returned to the film studio, making them brilliant pieces of cinematic history. To preserve these highly collectible prints for posterity, they are framed to conservation standards by our specialist framer using archival methods.
Q: What’s on the horizon for 2025?
A: We can’t wait to unveil our next exciting projects – but for now you can expect to see more rare film gems, exciting new contemporary artists, cherished museum collections and other exciting collaborations to be revealed!
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