The Lowry in Salford hosts a celebration of art, pop music and the life of one of Britain's most influential and best loved artists. Peter Blake and Pop Music runs from Saturday 10 November 2012 to Sunday 24 February 2013, showing music-inspired work spanning more than half a century.

Of particular interest to Factory Records and Joy Division fans will be a special collaboration with renowned rock and roll photographer, Kevin Cummins. The legendary NME photographer gave Blake permission to use an iconic, black and white image of Joy Divison's Ian Curtis, taken in the band's rehearsal room in 1979, to create a new piece of work using diamond dust.



Of the collaboration Cummins says: "The gallery that represents me is also Peter's and they approached me to see if I'd allow him to use one of my pictures. I didn't really have to think about it, with an artist like Peter Blake you're not going to say no, so I handed the photo to him to do as he wished.

"The collaboration is quite unusual as I'm used to my pictures being used in a clean way. I don't usually allow people to crop or edit them, so I was really pleased to see the results and find that Peter's use of the image was so respectful. He said that he found the image so strong that he could only put diamond dust around the edge of the photograph, rather than affect the focus of the image."

Also included in the exhibition which marks the 80th birthday of the Godfather of Pop Art, are props used on the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, a portrait of The Beatles themselves, artwork for the 2006 Oasis retrospective Stop the Clocks and Paul Weller's Stanley Road album plus much more.

Peter Blake Pop Music
The Lowry
Pier 8
Salford Quays
Greater Manchester
M50 3AZ

Tel: 0843 208 6000

The Love Will Tear Us Apart artwork is available to buy in a limited edition of 75 copies priced £1,200 direct from Atelier, Rose and Gray in Ramsbottom.

Labels: art, events, exhibition, Ian_Curtis, Joy_Division, Kevin_Cummins, Peter_Blake, photography

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