It is of course very sad to note the death of David Bowie; 69 is too young, particularly for such an important figure in the pop cultural landscape with an evident abundance of creative contributions still to make to our lives.
I am minded of something Mick Jones, The Clash/BAD guitarist, said to me on the night Malcolm McLaren died: “I’ll miss all those ideas, that great intelligence.”
Surely it is this which accounts for the outpourings of grief over Bowie’s death; we collectively recognise that we have been robbed of a singular and – to a lot of people – illuminating worldview.
Music aside, from advertising, art, club culture and individual expression to fashion, film, media, performance and sexuality, there is little in our everyday lives in the West which isn’t touched in some way by the hand of Bowie.
I encountered the man a handful of times and twice interviewed him, having been an avid fan throughout the 70s (and was particularly spellbound by the 1976 Wembley Empire Pool and 1978 Earl’s Court live stints).
In person Bowie struck me as genuinely gentlemanly (having interviewed thousands of people over 35-odd years my BS radar is highly attuned). It seems to me the courteous, quirky, witty persona Bowie adopted in public became the essence of his true character.
This was marked by a generosity not typical of the megastar. Bowie made my first wife’s year when he rang and thanked her at a printer’s while she was handling production of the poster for his Minotaur exhibition in central London in the mid-90s (he subsequently signed a copy for her, me and our dog). He also readily and helpfully contributed to Nine Lives, my book with Goldie in the 00s.
I know that my book The Look, which has a section dedicated to his working relationships with designer Kansai Yamamoto and tailor Freddie Buretti, has a place in the Bowie archive and I gathered that, behind-the-scenes, he approved of Kevin Cann’s mighty Any Day Now: David Bowie A London Life 1947-74, which I formatted and edited.
Last month Bowie sent a message to Derek Boshier congratulating him on Rethink/Re-entry, the monograph I also edited.
On Saturday, from the thousands of objects I keep in storage, I plucked a framed scrap of the so-called “Lucian Freud wallpaper” Bowie contributed to the limited edition box created for the 1995 War Child event Pagan Funwear.
Yesterday I added it to one of the walls of my office. It is behind me as I type. The fact that this shred depicting the great and serious artist Freud uses as its base a quintessentially English Laura Ashley print makes it funny, and, somehow, for me, very, very Bowie.
Jacqui Moore
January 12, 2016 at 3:40 amHello Paul,
Like you I’m very sad at the news of David’s passing. From 1993-1998 I was head of communications at Laura Ashley in London and it was me who handled the production of his wallpaper designs for his Afro/Pagan exhibition. I even had the dubious pleasure of informing Mr Bowie (his people, not the man himself of course) that it would be inappropriate for Laura Ashley to produce a wallpaper featuring the giant penis of a minotaur and would he mind terribly adapting the design to something more… er… palatable for the conservative British company. I even managed to score an invite to the private view in Cork Street. What a night that was.
I have to say the experience is one of the highlights of my career – I dine out on the story still to this day. Before I left I managed to salvage two rolls of the wallpaper from going into the garbage. I think it’s time to get some of it framed don’t you.
Cheers, JM.
Paul Gorman Author
January 12, 2016 at 7:56 amHi Jacqui
Thanks for your note and memories; loved to have seen LA go for it with the Minotaur’s penis! I thought the show was great – he had one a few months previously about Minotaurs which used early art computer programmes which I think were designed for children and suggested to him by BE.
I do indeed think it’s time you got them framed; in fact I have also received a mail from someone in Germany who reminded me of another roll which featured his ‘Satan’ artwork in the style of the Freud one. Do you have that?
All best
Paul
Jacqui Moore
January 12, 2016 at 8:38 amHi Paul,
I was tempted to let the penis go ahead because it was rather marvellous, but I enjoyed my job at the time and didn’t want to prematurely end my contract!
I have a roll of Satan (green background) and a roll of Lucien Freud (purple background) . I need to think of a way to do them justice.
Cheers
Jacqui
Paul Gorman Author
January 12, 2016 at 10:07 amHow about papering a favourite room? Any ideas for how Jacqui should preserve and display her wallpaper rolls gratefully received.
Yannic Franz
January 14, 2016 at 8:08 amHello Jacqui and Paul,
I am the one who contacted Paul about the wallpaper the day before yesterday. First of all thank you so much for your reply Paul. That was quite a surprise on such a sad day. As I already told Paul in my mail I didn’t even know what those wallpaper rolls actually were just two days ago. They were given to my by my host as a parting gift after I spent a couple of months in the UK. He’d just told me that they had something to do with David Bowie, knowing I was quite fond of him. Since I couldn’t find anything about them on the net or anywhere else I just took it for a practical joke and almost forgot about them until I saw this post.
I would recommend you paper the most stuffy thing you own with it – think old china cabinet, gaudy dresser and the likes. What I came to love about the idea is just that: It is wallpaper…by David Bowie. David Bowie designed wallpaper. One of the most eccentric geniuses of the last decades put his design on the most boring, stuffy thing there is: Wallpaper.
Or you could just wait a couple of months, sell them and retire. The price on everything Bowie related should skyrocket within the next year (just kidding).
I think I will cut the ones I have into smaller pieces and divide them among friends who were also fans of his work. Although just thinking about coming anywhere near them with a pair of scissors feels like a sacrilege already. I wonder how many complete rolls are still left out there. Jacqui’s might even turn out to be the last ones (the ones I have are a bit short to be complete, maybe 4-5 meters). How many of them were there to begin with? And how come you can find next to nothing about them anywhere? Do you happen to have any more information on that matter?
Cheers to the two of you,
Yannic
Jacqui Moore
January 23, 2016 at 7:41 amHello Yanic (and Paul)
It is strange there isn’t more information available on the story of how David Bowie came to ask Laura Ashley to give him access to their wallpaper archives and print production facilities – I know there was a tonne of press coverage about it at the time in newspapers all over the world. But a Google search these days delivers very little.
All I can tell you is that I was directly approached by DB’s art curator who was helping him stage his first solo exhibition. She asked for our help in making one of his balmy, genius ideas a reality. The irony of DB approaching a conservative company like LA wasn’t lost on me. I thought it was hilarious and too good an opportunity not to be involved – I really thought it might help the business loosen up a little: you know, have a laugh at itself. I showed the curator a few of our heritage prints and DB selected the one he felt best fit the bill.
We had a wallpaper printing facility in Wales, so after DB chose the base design (for the life of my I can’t remember what it was called and it is no longer in production) he gave us the artwork for ‘Satan’ and ‘Freud’ to overprint on the LA pattern. A minimal amount was produced – maybe less than 10/15 rolls. I have two complete rolls and there is no way I’m cutting them up or wallpapering a room in a home I may one day sell. Maybe there is a serious collector out there who might want them, but it has given me a quiet thrill to know that for more than 20 years I’ve had a piece of a legend like DB hidden in my cupboard and I’m not sure I could part with them. Maybe I should give them to a museum?
Cheers
Jacqui
Yannic Franz
January 25, 2016 at 7:31 pmHello again
The lack of information on the wallpaper and its curious story is really surprising. Nevertheless I managed to come across this gem (via a – lo and behold! – German message board with people who are obsessed with collection Bowie related press releases…we sure are a strange bunch):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0UmGeEiUfk&index=22&list=PL15F9F327DD7000D2
The interesting part starts around 5:00 and continues into part 4. Just look at him! He looks genuinely surprised that someone would actually have a piece of his wallpaper and that’s just a year after it was printed.
The “David Bowie is” exhibition seems to have a piece (or roll) of the Lucien Freud wallpaper. Maybe they are interested in your two rolls, especially the Minotaur one, which is mentioned literally nowhere.
Cheers
Yannic
Jacqui Moore
February 5, 2016 at 4:04 amOh Yannic – that is incredible! Thank you for finding and sharing that link with me. I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner – I’m just not in the habit of making comments on blogs. But just today I was listening to Bowie while I worked and it reminded me to check in with our conversation. And what a brilliant surprise. I feel so honoured to have been a little cog in the wheel of that particular passage of Bowie’s life.
He is of course wrong about the erection – we made him take it off – hahahaha!! Wish I could send you a snap of it but there’s no facility to upload images here.
Thanks again. I’ve really enjoyed your updates.
Best wishes
Jacqui
Helena Spak
February 10, 2016 at 6:47 pmI so much enjoyed this “thread”. Who wouldn’t like to have DB wallpaper.?So curious about the minotaur with the erection. Just give it to me ?
Jacqui Moore
February 19, 2016 at 2:51 amCheck out my instagram page @mooreconcepts – I just posted a picture 🙂 I feel it is time to come out in the open !
Cheers Jacqui
Yannic Franz
February 25, 2016 at 10:00 pmNargh! Forgot to check the comments myself for a while. I am glad you enjoyed the video, it is a fun watch, especially if you know a bit about the background of the wallpaper.
I just read your article on the Laura Ashley blog, Paul. Thank you for mentioning me as well. Perhaps we should start a support group…”I own a piece of David Bowie wallpaper and have no idea what to do with it.”.
Best wishes,
Yannic