Ivan Seal (born 1973) is an English painter and sound artist who specializes in surreal and abstract works centered around concepts of memory and the creation of imagined objects. He is best known for his collaborations with

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

ian James Leyland Kirby, also known as

The Caretaker ''The Caretaker'' is a play in three acts by Harold Pinter. Although it was the sixth of his major works for stage and television, this psychological study of the confluence of power, allegiance, innocence, and corruption among two brothers a ...

, creating artwork for the critically acclaimed albums: ''

An Empty Bliss Beyond This World ''An Empty Bliss Beyond This World'' is the ninth studio album by the Caretaker, an ambient music project of English musician Leyland Kirby, released on 1 June 2011 through History Always Favours the Winners. The record is based on a study re ...

'' and the six part album series ''

Everywhere at the End of Time ''Everywhere at the End of Time'' is the eleventh and final recording by the Caretaker, an alias of English electronic musician Leyland Kirby. Released between 2016 and 2019, its six studio albums use degrading loops of sampled ballroom music ...

'', both of which examine themes of memory loss through the long-term mental decay brought about by

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

Biography

Early life

Ivan Seal was born in Stockport, U.K. on an unknown date in 1973. Little is known about Seal's early life aside from attending Sheffield Hallam University from 1992 to 1995, during which Seal began to experiment with creating art installations using ambient music as a medium. During this period, Seal became close friends with another experimental musician from Stockport, James Leyland Kirby, who was creating music under the name "

V/Vm V/Vm is the experimental music and sound collage project of Leyland James Kirby, from Stockport, England. Although starting out mainly in the style of noise music, Kirby is also a composer of original electronic music and remixes. His vast ...

". At some point following his studies, Seal moved to Berlin, Germany, where he currently resides.

Career

Seal's first known exhibition was as a part of the 2006 "Anonymous" exhibition at the

Schirn Kunsthalle The Schirn Kunsthalle is a Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, located in the old city between the Römer and the Frankfurt Cathedral. The Schirn exhibits both modern and contemporary art. It is the main venue for temporary art exhibitions in F ...

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

, in which he was one of 11 anonymous artists featured. Through the years between 2006 and 2010, Seal's ambient music installations and paintings were featured within group and solo exhibitions throughout the Berlin art scene. Ivan Seal held his first major solo exhibition "''personality disorders''" at the

Carl Freedman Gallery Carl Freedman (born 1965) is the founder of Carl Freedman Gallery (formerly Counter Gallery). He previously worked as a writer and a curator. Life and career The 1990s and the Young British Artists Saatchi arrived at ''Gambler'' in a green Be ...

in London starting in May 2011. Following his initial exhibition, Seal returned to showcase his works at the Carl Freedman Gallery in London in 2013, 2015, and 2021. Alongside these semi-regular exhibitions at the Carl Freedman Gallery in London, Seal's works have been exhibited in galleries across Europe and the United States.

Collaborations with James Leyland Kirby

In June 2011, James Leyland Kirby released his breakthrough album ''

'' which featured Seal's 2010 work "''happy in spite''" as the album cover, giving both artists a large boost in popularity due to the critical acclaim for the album. Seal's art had been previously used by James Leyland Kirby for

Persistent Repetition of Phrases ''Persistent Repetition of Phrases'' is the seventh studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released on 1 April 2008, it was his first record to cover themes of Alzheimer's disease. The album was also the first Careta ...

, released in 2008, but the usage of "''happy in spite''" for ''An Empty Bliss Beyond This World'' resulted in a continued collaborative relationship between the two artists. In 2012, Seal's artwork was once again used by Kirby as the album cover for the soundtrack to Grant Gee's film ''

Patience (After Sebald) Winfried Georg Sebald (18 May 1944 – 14 December 2001), known as W. G. Sebald or (as he preferred) Max Sebald, was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by literary critics as one of the g ...

.'' Ivan Seal and James Leyland Kirby's relationship is most well known due to the album artwork Seal created for ''

'', a six-part album series released throughout 2016 to 2019 which was meant to musically emulate the mental decay caused by

and Alzheimer's disease.

References

External links

Ivan Seal at Carl Freedman Gallery, LondonIvan Seal at Carl Freedman Gallery, MargateIvan Seal at Monica de Cardenas Gallery, MilanThe Caretaker with Ivan SealEverywhere, an empty bliss
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seal, Ivan Living people 1973 births Album-cover and concert-poster artists 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters British conceptual artists English contemporary artists Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists