Art Sleeves: Album Covers by Artists

by DB Burkeman

Overview

Like a well-made playlist, the album covers in this volume combine to create a portrait of cool and culture desired by art, music, and record lovers alike.

Art Sleeves is a time capsule of visual art and music culture as shown through the most important record covers designed by visual artists and graphic designers in the past forty years. This tightly curated collection of covers chosen includes works with significant cultural impact as well as collaborations that themselves created cultural fascination.
The eclectic roster of visual artist-musician collaborations presented spans art and musical genres as well as generations, including Ryan McGinley for Sigur Rós, Kara Walker for Arto Lindsay, Peter Saville for Joy Division, Barbara Kruger for Growing Up Skipper, Jeff Koons for Lady Gaga, Tauba Auerbach for Glasser, and Stanley Donwood for Radiohead, to name a few. From postmodernist paintings and minimalism to collage and photography, as well as New Wave, emo, pop, and punk, the albums chosen present a bright and rich visual and cultural history.
This inspiring volume celebrates this long creative tradition of visual artist-musician collaborations and, just like a perfect album, it will be treasured by art, music, and record lovers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780847868872
Publisher:	Rizzoli
Publication date:	03/23/2021
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

DB Burkeman is a creative director, art consultant, author, and influential DJ. Born and raised in London, he lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

"Art Sleeves explores some of the most influential, groundbreaking and controversial covers from the past forty years. 'This is not a 'history of album art' type book, said the book's author, DJ and arts writer DB Burkeman over email. Instead, he says the book is a 'love letter' to visual art and music culture." —CNN

"Yes, don’t judge a book by its cover. But do judge an album. This book celebrates the best album covers created by artists, and reads like a guide to the most infamous artistic collaborations, from Peter Saville for Joy Division to Jeff Koons for Lady Gaga." —HYPEBEAST.COM

"Art Sleeves: Album Covers by Artists sidesteps redundancy by eschewing covers of ancient classics for albums mostly released over the past three decades and showcasing covers solely for their intrinsic art value rather than the music contained inside. Not that there aren’t some classics included: editor DB Burkeman included such well-known items as The Pixies’ Doolittle, The Breeders’ Pod, New Order’s Power, Corruption, & Lies, and Radiohead’s Amnesiac. But Art Sleeves is unique because its visual artists are often more familiar than its musical ones." —PSYCHOBABBLE.COM

"A time capsule of visual art and music culture, Art Sleeves: Album Covers by Artists showcases some of the most important record covers designed by visual artists and graphic designers in the past forty years. A roster including Ryan McGinley for Sigur Rós, Kara Walker for Arto Lindsay, Peter Saville for Joy Division, Barbara Kruger for Growing Up Skipper, Jeff Koons for Lady Gaga, Tauba Auerbach for Glasser, Stanley Donwood for Radiohead and more. From postmodernist paintings and minimalism to collage and photography, as well as New Wave, emo, pop, and punk, the selected albums will provide for lots of visual candy and worthy of your book shelf." —DEFY NEW YORK

"Art Sleeves is a testament to Burkeman’s lifelong obsession with music, but first and foremost, an ode to the artists and designers who created album covers that are as good as treasured pieces of art." —MONSTER CHILDREN

From the Publisher

12/01/2021

This "love letter to art and music" is not an inclusive history. Unable to get permission to include some of his favorite LPs, CDs, and cassette visuals, writer/DJ Burkeman points to them in his introduction, which outlines the scope of the book (post-punk to present) with an eye to both "obscure and artisanal, hand-embellished sleeves." An essay by pop culture critic Carlo McCormick provides a quick overview of how and when the LP cover concept originated, and the years of creativity "cojoin[ing] sight and sound" that followed. Interviews with the artists seem somewhat hit-or-miss. No matter; it's the album art that readers will want to see—over 180 pages of it beautifully reproduced here. Aficionados will recognize many names (Jamie Reid, Peter Saville, Tauba Auerbach, etc.), but so will general audiences (Damien Hirst, Kiki Smith, Jeff Koons). VERDICT For music and art fans alike, a look at a stunning array of high-concept packaging.

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