Barney Bubbles

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Barney Bubbles (born July 30, 1942 in Whitton , Middlesex (now Greater London ) as Colin Fulcher , † November 14, 1983 in London ) was an English graphic artist and designer . He was best known for his record covers and posters for numerous rock bands and musicians of the 1970s.

biography

After studying design at Twickenham College of Technology, Fulcher worked for various companies from 1963. From 1965–66 he organized happenings, parties and other events with fellow students under the name “A1 Good Guyz”.

Early work

In 1967 he first used the stage name Barney Bubbles when he was running a light show whose projection effects were reminiscent of colorful soap bubbles. The lightshow was used at rock concerts by bands like Gun and Quintessence when they performed at the Roundhouse , Middle Earth Club and other hangouts of the underground culture of Swinging London . He also took on design assignments with fellow students, such as the redesign of Motor Racing magazine and the design of the 12th issue of Oz magazine , known as The Tax Dodge Special and published in May 1968.

In 1969, Bubbles and a few colleagues founded the design studio "Teenburger Designs", which mainly worked for the music industry. He designed his first album cover in 1969 for the LP In Blissful Company by Quintessence. More record covers followed, for example for the bands Brinsley Schwarz , Red Dirt, Cressida, Gracious! and Dr Z.

Hawkwind

After Teenburger Designs ended in 1970, Bubbles worked for Friends magazine (later renamed Frendz ). He created a number of album covers for Hawkwind , including X In Search of Space (1971), Doremi Fasol Latido (1972) and Space Ritual (1973). In addition, he created posters, advertisements and stage decorations for the band, which he helped to create a consistent visual appearance. In 1972 he designed the lavish triple album Glastonbury Fayre .

From 1973 onwards, Bubbles worked increasingly anonymously or under pseudonyms. The bands and musicians he has now worked for include the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver , Kevin Coyne , The Edgar Broughton Band , Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers , the Kursaal Flyers and Michael Moorcock and the Deep Fix .

In 1976 his collaboration with Hawkwind ended. In 1978 there was another joint project, Hawklords, otherwise Bubbles only stayed in touch with saxophonist Nik Turner .

Stiff, Radar and F-Beat

In 1977, Bubbles began working as a designer and art director for Stiff Records . His clients now included The Damned , Elvis Costello , Ian Dury and Wreckless Eric , for whom he designed record covers and advertisements.

When Stiff co-founder Jake Riviera moved to Radar Records in late 1977, Bubbles went with him. The two stayed together when Riviera founded his own label F-Beat Records in 1979. In this context, Bubbles created designs for artists such as Elvis Costello , Nick Lowe , Carlene Carter and Clive Langer & The Boxes. Bubbles also remained freelance and created record covers and other material for numerous labels, managers and artists.

Music videos

Barney Bubbles has directed several music videos, including Ghost Town by The Specials , Is That Love and Tempted by Squeeze , Clubland and New Lace Sleeves by Elvis Costello, and The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum) by Fun Boy Three .

Other work

In 1978, Bubbles was responsible for the redesign of the music magazine New Musical Express . In 1979 he designed the catalog and poster for the “Lives” exhibition at the Hayward Gallery . In the early 1980s, Bubbles designed furniture, some of which were featured in 1981 in The Face magazine. In 1982 he and Nik Turner designed the album Ersatz , which was released under the name "The Imperial Pompadours". He also began to paint more intensely.

death

Barney Bubbles was struggling with increasing problems. Drafts were rejected, tax authorities asked for back payments, and he suffered from bipolar disorder . On November 14, 1983, Barney Bubbles committed suicide by exhaust fumes.

Aftermath

In 2001 the first exhibition of Barney Bubbles' works took place at the Artomatic gallery in London, organized by the art design team Rebecca And Mike.

In 2008 the biography Reasons to be Cheerful: The Life & Work Of Barney Bubbles by Paul Gorman was published, which was named "Book Of The Year" by the British music magazine Mojo . A revised new edition was published in 2010 for the exhibition Process: The Working Practices of Barney Bubbles in the London gallery Chelsea Space; the exhibition was organized by Gorman.

In January 2012, BBC Radio 4 aired the documentary In Search Of Barney Bubbles , written and produced by Mark Hodkinson.

In the summer of 2012 Gorman presented The Past, The Present & The Possible 250 of Bubbles' works within the exhibition "White Noise" at the 23rd "International Poster & Graphic Design Festival" in Chaumont, France. The French magazine Étapes dedicated a 10-page article to Bubbles on the occasion, "Génération Bubbles!" as well as the title page.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Julia Thrift: In search of Barney Bubbles (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d Roy Carr: Barney Bubbles, 1942-1983 : Obituary for the New Musical Express , November 26, 1983 (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m John Coulthart: Barney Bubbles: Artist and Designer . Overview with many images
  4. ↑ Alice Rawsthorne: Judging an Elusive Artist by His Distinctive Covers . In: New York Times , January 6, 2009 (English)
  5. ↑ In Search of Barney Bubbles . BBC Radio 4, January 2, 2012 (English)
personal data
SURNAME Bubbles, Barney
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fulcher, Colin (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English graphic artist and designer
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Whitton , Middlesex (now Greater London )
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1983
Place of death London