Ian Dury, Dany Bubbles + Barney Bubbles
//Dany Bubbles, 1963-66. Pencil and acrylic, 29" x 20" (framed)//
I sourced one of the paintings which is in More Than Fair, the exhibition of Ian Dury’s artworks which opens at his alma mater, London’s Royal College of Art, next month.
Dury gave the ultra-Pop Dany Bubbles to his friend and designer Barney Bubbles in the late 70s during their spell of collaboration which resulted in a series of triumphs: single sleeves such as Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, What A Waste and Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, the 28 wallpaper covers of the album Do It Yourself, the Blockhead logo…
“Barney was easily the most incredible designer I’ve ever come across,” Dury told his biographer Will Birch in 1999. “He didn’t have the faults or the ego, and that made me feel second-class. I wanted his approval in a strange way.”
Dury’s insights were practical, since he had himself worked in the 60s as what was then known as a commercial artist (the exhibition includes his cover for the November 6-12, 1965 issue of listings magazine London Life).
//Dury illustration for front cover, London Life, November 6-12, 1965//
More Than Fair: Ian Dury Paintings Drawings + Artworks 1961-72 is curated by Jemima Dury with Kosmo Vinyl and Jules Balme.
There is a Kickstarter fund-raiser to cover costs of mounting what will be Dury’s first ever solo show. Contributions start at £5 with rewards and prizes for supporters – visit here for more details.
Read about Barney Bubbles’ work for Dury in particular and his important body of work for the music industry in general in my book Reasons To Be Cheerful and over at the Barney Bubbles Blog.