IMAGINE LENNON

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Few artists have become absolute icons of the popular culture. John Lennon is one of them and he’s always been one of our all time heroes. This strange year has marked two important anniversaries – what would have been his 80th birthday anniversary as well as the 40th of his tragic passing – and we wish to remember him with a prestigious exhibition, at the moment only a virtual one which you’ll be able to visit clicking here. You will get to see all the photos and, clicking on each one of them, will find all infos re sizes, editions and prices. All this from your home, possibly spinning one of his albums on your record player.

We are delighted to feature in “Imagine Lennon” many iconic images spanning the whole of Lennon’s career – from the Beatles’ early days in Hamburg in 1960 to just a few days before his passing -, taken by some of the photographers who were the closest to him. You will surely remember most of them as they are now part of the collective memory of all Beatles and Lennon fans.

Let us introduce them, starting with German Astrid Kirchherr who captured Lennon and the Beatles at the beginning of their extraordinary career, during their sojourns in Hamburg in the early Sixties and then at the height of their success. Her portraits are very existentialist if not pre-punk and have contributed to defining not only the group’s aesthetics (including their famous mop-top haircut which Astrid invented), but those of the whole early rock scene. Her lifelong friendship with The Beatles allowed her to photograph the band (along with her colleague Max Scheler) on set during the filming of “A Hard Day’s Night”. Her romance with Stu Sutcliffe, the Beatles original bass player, was immortalized in the film “Backbeat”. Her photos have been exhibited in galleries and museum all over the world and are part of the collection of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She has published quintessential books such as “When We Was Fab”, “Golden Dreams” and “Liverpool Days” (with Max Scheler) and “Hamburg Days” with Klaus Voormann.

Robert Whitaker has been one of the key photographers of the Swingin’ London of the Sixties. He not only documented the music scene (his famous photos of Cream were used on the cover of the “Disraeli Gears” album and in books such as “Cream In Gear” and “The Lost Scottish Tour”), but also the whole culture (don’t miss his book “In The Company of Dalì”). Whitaker captured the Beatles at the “toppermost of the poppermost” between 1964 and 1966, shooting a great deal of their official pictures and record covers including the provocative “Butcher Cover” for “Yesterday And Today” as well as the back covers of “Revolver” and “Oldies But Goldies”. He then travelled with the group during their final world tour: those photos are featured in his books “Eight Days A Week” and “The Beatles in Japan 1966”.

Whitaker also published two more great books: “Unseen Beatles” and “With The Beatles: Inside Beatlemania”.

Jim Marshall, quite likely the greatest music photographer of all time, ha immortalized the Beatles’ final concert which took place at Candlestick Park, in San Francisco, in August 1966, documenting forever the end of an era. Marshall is universally known for his unprecedented access to artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, Rolling Stones and so many others. Always in the right place at the right time, Marshall documented many Newport Festivals, the Monterey Pop Festival where history was made when Hendrix set his Strat on fire and Otis Redding scored his biggest triumph, and of course Woodstock. Marshall has shot over 500 album covers and his photos too are in museums and private collections all over the world.

Bob Gruen has documented the music scene of the last 50 years from the inside, photographing David Bowie, Debbie Harry, the Clash, Patti Smith, the Ramones. The New York Dolls, Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols and many more. Right after Lennon’s arrival in New York in 1971, Gruen became his and Yoko’s persnal photographer, documenting their life and work together, particularly in the years of his fight with the US immigration. In 1974 Gruen took the iconic portraits of Lennon in front of the Statue of Liberty and wearing a “New York City” T-shirt. His photos appeared also on the cover of Lennon’s albums “Walls And Bridges and “Live In New York City”.

Among Gruen’s books “Rock Seen”, ”John Lennon. The New York Years” and “Right Place, Right Time: The Life of a Rock & Roll Photographer”.

Allan Tannenbaum took the most intimate and poetic photos of John and Yoko, mostly shot just a few days before Lennon’s tragica passing and the release of his and Yoko’s new album “Double Fantasy”. At the time chief photographer for the “SoHo Weekly News”, Tannenbaum managed to capture delicate and essential images of the couple’s dynamiccs. His photos of John and Yoko naked, barely covered with beautiful Japanese kimonos, in a room of their apartment at the Dakota Building, are world known.

A well seasoned photo reporter, Tannenbaum has travelled around the world. His photos have appeared in many books and are regularly published in “Newsweek” (they have been used for five covers!), “Time” (three covers!), “Rolling Stone”, “Paris Match” and “Stern”. In 1989 he won the World Press first prize in “Spot News Stories” with a photo of the Palestinian Intifada.

Represented by the J. Blatt Agency LLC, his archive is considered one of the most seminal documents of the 1970s New York City culture. Among his books “New York In The 70’s”, “New York”, “John & Yoko. A New York Love Story” and “Grit & Glamour – Street Style, High Fashion and the egendary Music of the 1970s”.

“Imagine Lennon” also features two historic posters and it couldn’t be otherwise considering our passion for the poster art of the Sixties (check out ur “Stone Free” exhibition from 2017). We picked the “Psychedelic Lennon” by Richard Avedon, taken from the famous portfolio that appeared in “Look” magazine in 1967, and Alan Aldridge’s “There’s A Place” taken from his famous “Beatles Illustrated Lyrics” books. This poster is sik-screened, signed and numbered by Aldridge in 1981 as a commemorative tribute to John Lennon right after his passing.

All the images in this exhibition are available upon order emailing us at info@wallofsoundgallery.com, meanwhile you can see them in the exhibition brochure.

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