Welcome to Paint the Town in Sound, an online exhibition exploring the timeless relationship between art and music and the direct links forged between musicians and artists.
The exhibition has been curated in collaboration with Mercury Prize nominated Sunderland band Field Music and takes their own collaborations as a starting point to explore wider themes.
The artworks in Paint the Town in Sound, are drawn from the Arts Council Collection and offer a fascinating insight into the musical heritage of our region providing a route to examine our own cultural identity and its relationship to class, politics and place.
Scroll down to enjoy the exhibition – make sure you hover over each pink square and click to read more – by clicking another page will open, telling you more about each artist and artwork.
You can let us know what you thought of the exhibition by using #PaintTheTownInSound hashtag on social media.
The virtual experience enables you to explore the physical exhibition as if you were there, at any time, remotely on a digital device.
“We all borrow elements of music culture – clothes, hairstyles, language – as a way of expressing ourselves to the outside world. What we choose and why we choose it feels like a fundamental part of human expression.” (Field Music)
To read more please tap on images
The Gender Song, 2014
The Gender Song, 2014
(born 1988)
Composite Picture 3 Diversified Cultural Worker, 2008
Diversified Cultural Worker 3, 2008
Diversified Cultural Worker 4, 2008
Composite Picture 3 Diversified Cultural Worker, 2008
Diversified Cultural Worker 3, 2008
Diversified Cultural Worker 4, 2008
(born 1978)
The Uses of Literacy, 1997
The Uses of Literacy, 1997
(born 1966)
Punk Portraits, 1977-8
Punk Portraits, 1977-8
(born 1956)
Parade, 2003
Parade, 2003
(born 1964)
There’s a Hole in the Sky Part I, 2016
There’s a Hole in the Sky Part I, 2016
(born 1970)
The Gender Song, 2014
(born 1988)
HD video, running time: 2 minutes 32 seconds
Evan Ifekoya is an interdisciplinary artist working across text, sound and video. Their work seeks to provide a voice to marginalised communities through the redistribution of resources and information to challenge existing power structures.
The Gender Song is an up-tempo call to topple limiting gender associations and categorisations. The artwork borrows conventions from dance and hip-hop music videos to shine a light on longstanding gender myths.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. © the artist
Composite Picture 3 Diversified Cultural Worker, 2008
Diversified Cultural Worker 3, 2008
Diversified Cultural Worker 4, 2008
(born 1978)
Iain Hetherington’s paintings challenge negative stereotypes and blur the lines between different sections of society. Choosing to paint fashion items often associated with gang culture, including baseball caps and gold chains, the artist reveals damaging perceptions commonplace throughout society. Hetherington asks us to consider how we would view these same items if worn by politically correct policy makers such as museum workers.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London
The Uses of Literacy, 1997
(born 1966)
Mixed media installation
The Uses of Literacy is an installation made up of drawings, paintings, poetry and printed material contributed by young fans of the Welsh rock band, Manic Street Preachers.
Jeremy Deller placed ads in the music weekly Melody Maker and handed out flyers seeking contributions for a one-day exhibition due to be staged in Norwich. Deller chose Manic Street Preachers because of their interest in art, literature and philosophy, and how these interests spilled out into their record sleeves, merchandise and live shows. He noted ‘I suspected that their fans would be interested in similar things.’
Referencing Richard Hoggart’s seminal 1950s study (of the same name) exploring working class culture, Deller reveals the complex relationship between audience and performer and the ability to unite individuals displaced both socially and geographically.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund. © the artist
Punk Portraits, 1977-8
(born 1956)
14 silver bromide prints
Steve Johnston attended Carlisle Art College in 1973 where he discovered his passion for photography. After completing his course Johnston moved to London and worked freelance for teen magazines which led to him working with Vogue in 1977.
He developed the ‘straight up’ style of photography characterised by head-to-toe photographic portraits capturing people in real and imaginary situations. These portraits launched the first issue of i-D magazine in 1980 and became the catalyst for street style photography as we know it today.
The Punk Portraits on display here were captured on King’s Road in Chelsea, London between 1977 and 1978 and document the iconic music subculture and alternative fashion of the time.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist
Parade, 2003
(born 1964)
Mark Leckey’s films and performances draw upon a range of urban cultural references, including fashion, dance, music, architecture and art.
In Parade, a continuous passage of images move across a screen in front of which the artist is positioned; the shots vary from close-ups of fashion models, snaps of electrical goods stores and pawnshops. Parade mixes the sensuous with the mundane as a means of making sense of life in the city.
Mark Leckey writes: ‘Parade arose out of a desire to compose a self-portrait, where the self is constructed from devices, surfaces and exteriorities […] In essence an examination of the notion of the Dandy as a self producer.’
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella and Brighton Photo Biennial. Supported by Arts Council England
There’s a Hole in the Sky Part I, 2016
(born 1970)
HD video, running time: 19 minutes 6 seconds
Helen Cammock explores history and storytelling through layered, fragmented narratives. Using video, photography, installation, print and performance, she interrogates the ways in which stories are told, and acknowledges those who are rendered invisible.
Cammock’s own story also impacts on her work. Having worked as a social worker before becoming an artist, she remains conscious of the oppression and inequality experienced across communities. There’s a Hole in the Sky Part I was captured in Barbados, and asks questions about human worth and cultural value. In the video, Cammock interacts with workers from two sites: one of the last sugar factories in Barbados and a tourist sugar grind and rum plantation. Through prose and song, the dialogue between the artist and workers develops a disconnect between what is seen and what is heard.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. © the artist
Listen to the Paint the Town in Sound Spotify playlist, specially curated by Field Music to accompany the exhibition.
“Pop music can’t really be untangled from pop imagery, and that can blur the lines between fact and fiction. Sometimes we want to be swallowed up by an entertaining vision rather than search for a mundane truth, but perhaps to tell the whole story you need both.” (Field Music)
To read more please tap on images
Although Janis Joplin… (Idiot Board), 1997
Although Janis Joplin… (Idiot Board), 1997
(born 1962)
Leg Chair, 2011
Leg Chair, 2011
(born 1978)
Untitled Wall Painting (Gold Rush), 2019
Untitled Club Painting, 2015
Untitled Garden Painting (Ramones), 2019
Untitled Wall Painting (Gold Rush), 2019
Untitled Club Painting, 2015
Untitled Garden Painting (Ramones), 2019
(born 1979)
Beach Boys, 1964
Beach Boys, 1964
(born 1932)
Fail to Learn, 2018
Fail to Learn, 2018
(born 1975)
Although Janis Joplin… (Idiot Board), 1997
(born 1962)
Paint on board, 4 parts
Bob and Roberta Smith (aka Patrick Brill) was born in Reading. He studied at the University of Reading from 1981 -85 and Goldsmiths College in 1991. He often uses signwriting techniques to produce socially and politically charged colourful slogans on boards, banners and placards. Smith is an active campaigner for arts education.
This Idiot Board is one of a series of five that reference cue cards used to help actors remember their lines. It spins a misleading yarn about the rock star, Janis Joplin, who died at the age of 27 following a heroin overdose. The board claims that Joplin enjoyed a long life, and that she penned songs that had actually been written by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra. The artist has explained how the content of the board is ‘obscure and meaningless and in the main untrue. I enjoy the way it is grand, didactic but also empty and not very useful.’
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist
Leg Chair, 2011
(born 1978)
Acrylic, brass, photographic reproductions, 7” single cover, nylon stockings, wax
Anthea Hamilton is a London-based artist who produces sculpture, installation and performances. Her practice often comprises unexpected combinations of foods and readymade objects with imagery sourced from popular culture.
Leg Chair (Jane Birkin) is one of a series of 10 chairs that the artist began in 2009, formed of a simple stand and seat flanked by suggestively splayed Perspex legs. Tucked between the layers of Perspex, and into the top of a pair of knee-high socks, are images of the English actress Jane Birkin.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist
Untitled Wall Painting (Gold Rush), 2019
Untitled Club Painting, 2015
Untitled Garden Painting (Ramones), 2019
(born 1979)
[Left–Right]
Acrylic on board
Acrylic on canvas
Acrylic on board
Narbi Price is a British painter living and working in Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne. He takes journeys to sites of significance, be it, personal, historical or from popular culture. Referencing photographs taken at the time Price paints emotive but equally mundane scenes offering quiet contemplation on moments marked by celebration and mourning.
Untitled Wall Painting (Gold Rush) depicts the site in New York where Neil Young was photographed for the cover of his 1970 record After the Gold Rush. Untitled Club Painting shows Salford Lads Club which featured in album photography for The Smith’s Queen is Dead. Untitled Garden Painting (Ramones) shows Albert’s Garden, Bowery, New York where the Ramones stood for the cover of their debut record.
Courtesy of the artist
Beach Boys, 1964
(born 1932)
Screenprint
Sir Peter Blake is a prominent British painter, sculptor and printmaker. He is one of the leading figures in British Pop Art. Early in his career Blake started appropriating imagery from popular culture and advertising in homage to famous celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.
Throughout his career Peter Blake has worked with leading musicians and bands to produce iconic pop images. In 1967 Blake designed the album cover for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He has also created sleeve artwork for Paul Weller’s Stanley Road (1995), The Who’s Face Dances (1981) and the Oasis greatest hits album Stop the Clocks (2006).
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © Peter Blake
Fail to Learn, 2018
(born 1975)
Transparent acrylic, photographic print, vinyl
Simeon Barclay draws upon fashion, music, and popular culture to make works that activate complex cultural histories and examine the ways in which we construct and perform identity and self.
Born in 1975 in Huddersfield, Barclay spent 16 years working in the manufacturing industry in the North of England. As a youth he became fascinated with Vogue magazine, a periodical whose glamour and theatricality provided aspirational imagery in stark contrast to his everyday reality working in a factory.
Fail to Learn considers the various ways in which we assemble and perform identity, and the psychological implications when we don’t measure up. Barclay is drawn to the pop artist formerly known as Terence Trent D’Arby (now known as Sananda Maitreya) whose beauty, resistance to racial profiling and self-assertive bravado were part of the allure of his meteoric rise. His subsequent demise and fall from fame was just as rapid and for Barclay, a result of a crisis of self-expectation.
Courtesy of the artist and WORKPLACE
“In every town and city, there are people putting on gigs, making records, printing flyers, forming collectives and generally putting themselves out in the hope that it’ll lift their community and change things. You might have to dig for it, but it’s there…and that might be where the art is happening.” (Field Music)
To read more please tap on images
Sunderland Musicians Collective / Bunker Collective
Sunderland Musicians Collective / Bunker Collective
Not titled, 1984
Not titled, 1984
(born 1947)
A selection of DIY posters, flyers,
programmes and badges from the North East
A selection of DIY posters, flyers,
programmes and badges from the North East
Painted Shirt (As worn on stage with Pauline Murray and
the Storm), c. 1980s
Painted Shirt (As worn on stage with Pauline Murray and
the Storm), c. 1980s
(born 1958)
Riot Cop Kiss, 1997
Warehouse rave, 2001
Bus + Rig, Italy, 1997
Panoramic passout 1, Czech Republic, 2000
Riot Cop Kiss, 1997
Warehouse rave, 2001
Bus + Rig, Italy, 1997
Panoramic passout 1, Czech Republic, 2000
(born 1973)
Sunderland Musicians Collective / Bunker Collective
September 1980, The Sunderland Musicians Collective (SMC) was formed after a public meeting held at the East End Community Centre, this was attended by about 50 people, mainly unemployed musicians.
October 1980- September 1981, The SMC’s first venture was to convert a warehouse in Borough Road Sunderland into a rehearsal studio. Bands were charged 50p an hour to use the rehearsal space and £5.00 pounds for a life membership to SMC.
January 1982- February 1983, The SMC signed a new lease for the disused Green Terrace School which was in the heart of Sunderland’s Town centre. A new committee was formed to run the venue, room space was offered to other autonomous youth groups from across the town, this became known as the Bunker and the Green Terrace Project. In February 1982 Green Terrace School was earmarked for demolition as part of the redevelopment of the town centre.
March 1983- March 2001, The SMC took over a new building on Stockton Road Sunderland, this building would be named the Bunker. The building was used by various Musicians, Art and Community groups. The Bunker ran for 5 years as a venue for local and more well-established bands to perform, the entertainment licence was revoked in 1988, the Bunker still provided rehearsal space for musicians.
March 2001- Present Day, the building was bought by two local people who wanted to keep the main ethics of the SMC, the building would continue to be known as the Bunker. The Bunker became a Community Interest Company in 2006, it still remains involved providing the local communities of Sunderland with music workshops rehearsal and recording spaces.
Not titled, 1984
(born 1947)
9 silver prints
Bob Jardine is a British photographer documenting British life; particularly Milton Keynes where he moved to in 1967 after the town was established to alleviate housing congestion in London.
The series of prints on display are taken from The Promised Land an exhibition and photobook produced by Milton Keynes Gallery in 1990. The photobook contains 40 images of ‘new town’ Milton Keynes, during a time when the town was still under construction. The images on display were mostly taken at a former club called ‘The Joint’ which ran a regular alternative night.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist
Painted Shirt (As worn on stage with Pauline Murray and
the Storm), c. 1980s
(born 1958)
Shirt and paint
Pauline Murray is a singer, songwriter and musician. She came to prominence with the Durham-based punk band Penetration in the late 1970s and has continued to perform and release music with Penetration and under her own name, with The Invisible Girls and The Storm.
Throughout her career Murray painted shirts to be worn on stage as part of her live performances. On display is a shirt worn during a performance with Pauline Murray and the Storm in the 1980s.
Courtesy of the artist
Riot Cop Kiss, 1997
Warehouse rave, 2001
Bus + Rig, Italy, 1997
Panoramic passout 1, Czech Republic, 2000
(born 1973)
4 giclée prints on canson rag photographique
Vinca Petersen was born in Seoul, South Korea. She lived in Romania and Sweden before moving to the UK with her family aged six.
Aged seventeen Petersen moved into a squat in London and started working as a model. In 1994 she travelled around Europe putting on raves and photographing the emerging scene around her.
Her unique photographic archive, from which four images are shown, has become an important document of the rave scene across Europe offering a candid, honest and emotive insight into the social and political climate of the time and portraying a distinct sense of community.
Courtesy of the artist
“A record sleeve might be the most immediate and effective way a band or singer can say something about themselves. If you put a group of them in chronological order – even if you only have records with a North East association – you get a sense of the sweep of music history – the ebb and flow of the music industry, of musical movements as they come and go, and of fashion.” (Field Music)
To read more please tap on images
Display of LP covers from North East bands
Display of LP covers from North East bands
With Guilt, 2019
Hear You Smile, 2020
With Guilt, 2019
Hear You Smile, 2020
(born 1978)
Phantom, 2019
Phantom, 2019
(born 1979)
Display of LP covers from North East bands
With Guilt, 2019
Hear You Smile, 2020
(born 1978)
Mixed media collages
Graeme Hopper lives and works in Gateshead. His practice includes collage, photography and music combining juxtapositions of imagery to produce surrealist landscapes and portraits. He created the album artwork for Field Music’s 2018 album Open Here.
Hopper produced With Guilt while making the album Gallooner. He states ‘I feel it best reflects where my head was at during the recording process, showing a brief candid glimpse into my own personal thoughts at the time.’ The artwork explores feelings of anxiety, low mood and guilt.
In contrast Hear You Smile, taken from the album of the same name, conveys feelings of content and calm, the notion of being comfortable in your own skin and with a more positive approach to the day ahead.
Courtesy of the artist http://www.grassiart.com/
Phantom, 2019
(born 1979)
Acrylic on canvas
Newcastle based artist Laura Lancaster makes paintings from found imagery, collected from anonymous photographs and film. She relocates the lost and discarded memories into a context somewhere between abstraction and figuration. Shifting between the sentimental and the grotesque, Lancaster’s paintings are uncanny and strange, dreamlike visions from a shared consciousness.
Phantom speaks to the cloudy confusion that has arisen out of the current pandemic. The artwork features on the cover of Newcastle band Maxïmo Park’s upcoming album Nature Always Wins.
Courtesy of the artist and WORKPLACE
To read more please tap on images
Work No.123, 1995
Work No.123, 1995
(born 1968)
The Noisy Days are Over, 2015
The Noisy Days are Over, 2015
Coming to Power, 2019
Coming to Power, 2019
Come Over, 2013
Come Over, 2013
Walking Forwards, Going Backwards (Live from Ashburne House), 2019
Walking Forwards, Going Backwards (Live from Ashburne House), 2019
Work No.123, 1995
(born 1968)
Plastic and metal
Martin Creed was born in Wakefield in 1968, but at the age of three moved with his family to Glasgow where he was raised. Creed studied at Slade School of Fine Art, London between 1986-90 where he became interested in the Minimal Art movement of the 1960s.
Sound often plays an important part in Creed’s artworks which start life as simple ideas using everyday objects. Listening becomes a sensual experience, sound creating a playful and surprising counterpart to the physical objects he presents.
Work No.123 consists of 3 metronomes (the mechanical devices that musicians use to keep time), one beating fast, one beating slowly, and one beating neither fast nor slow. The combination of the three metronomes defies their original purpose instead exposing ‘all the chaos of the world’.
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist. Gift of Charles Saatchi, 1999
Video: Michael Davidson
The Noisy Days are Over, 2015
HD video file
Directed by Andy Martin
Starring Graeme Hopper
The Noisy Days Are Over waves a wry farewell to some bad old boozy days, heels dragging while everyone else is growing up and getting on. Taken from 2016 album Commontime.
Coming to Power, 2019
HD video file
Music and video written by Susie Green and Simon Bayliss
Instagram filter by http://anonamister.com/
Mixed, edited and mastered by Simon Bayliss
© Splash Addict, 2020
Splash Addict make sensual vocal bangers. Artists Susie Green and Simon Bayliss come together with music inspired by their shared romantic, filthy sensibilities and a love of ’90s dance. Green performs commanding melodic vocals over Bayliss’s red hot rave anthems.
Come Over, 2013
HD video file
From the album The Debatable Land by Pea Sea. It uses an edited version of the film Berliner Küchen 1906/2013 by Christopher Rollen. It was shot at home in Neukölln, Berlin.
Walking Forwards, Going Backwards (Live from Ashburne House), 2019
HD video file
A short film by Andy Martin Audio by Miners Hall Studio
Artwork by Vigo
Four original songs by White Legs, performed live in Ashburne House, a former Sunderland art college in Sunderland’s Backhouse Park. Made in 2019, the film pays tribute to the increasingly marginalised creative outlets of the City.
Take a closer look at…
– Mercury Prize nominated Sunderland band Field Music and Sunderland Culture, present the Paint the Town in Sound Podcast mini-series to accompany and compliment the exhibition.
– Experience Turner Prize winning artist Susan Philipsz’ emotive sound installation ‘The Internationale’ (1999) located outside Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens in Mowbray Park on the terrace near Holmeside Coffee. For more information click here.
– The Sunderland Musicians Collective / The Bunker exhibits
– Album covers by North East bands
For families:
– Download our Paint the Town in Sound Family Takeaway Pack, inspired by the exhibition and full of artist designed activities, ideas and incredible artworks to help families explore art, music, words and sound at home.
This is the second in our series of Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme exhibitions. Find out more about the programme here.
Main image credit: Evan Ifekoya, The Gender Song, 2014. Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. © the artist.
Paint the Town in Sound installation views, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, 2020. Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme exhibition © Sunderland Culture. Photos: Colin Davison
