Paul Whitehead is a British painter and graphic artist known for his
surrealistic
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
album covers for artists on the
Charisma Records
Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...
label in the 1970s, such as
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
and
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commerc ...
.
__TOC__
Life and work
England: Liberty Records and Charisma Records
An art show in London in the mid-sixties led to Whitehead being picked up as an in-house artist for the London office of
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
record label
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...
. Previously, he had been studying at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
on an art scholarship.
[Interview with Jim Christopulos](_blank)
/ref> The first record cover he designed was for a repackaged Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...
album. This was followed by a series of work for other reissues for the UK market. In 1968, Whitehead became the original art director for '' Time Out in London'' magazine, which led him to further commissions for album covers.
After a meeting with producer John Anthony, Whitehead was introduced to Tony Stratton-Smith
Tony Stratton-Smith (29 October 1933 – 19 March 1987) was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as the Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and ...
, the founder of Charisma Records. Stratton-Smith introduced Whitehead to Genesis, and he was hired to do the cover to their 1970 album, ''Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding ...
''. Charisma Records allowed Whitehead complete creative control over his work. Fruitful work in collaboration with Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
, and Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...
followed at Charisma. Additionally, Whitehead is also credited as a performer on the Peter Hammill albums ''Fool's Mate
In chess, the fool's mate is the checkmate delivered after the fewest possible moves from the game's starting position. It arises from the following moves, or similar:
:1. f3 e6
:2. g4 Qh4#
The fool's mate can be achieved only by Black, givin ...
'' (drums) and ''In Camera
''In camera'' (; Latin: "in a chamber"). is a legal term that means ''in private''. The same meaning is sometimes expressed in the English equivalent: ''in chambers''. Generally, ''in-camera'' describes court cases, parts of it, or process wh ...
'' (percussion).
United States
In 1973, Whitehead moved to Los Angeles, where he continued to work on album covers as a freelancer. He is still most associated with progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
, and designed the 2000 logo for NEARfest
The North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest for short, was a multi-day event celebrating the resurgence of progressive and eclectic music in the United States and around the world. The event was held annually in early summer in Bethlehem, Pennsy ...
.
As a founder of the Eyes and Ears Foundation, he conceived of and organised the "Drive Though Art Gallery" Artboard Festival in February 1977, where artists painted on donated billboards. He has also created murals and designed corporate logos. Whitehead was in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest indoor mural, which he painted at the Vegas World
Vegas World was a space-themed casino and hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was owned and operated by Bob Stupak, and was also signed as Bob Stupak's Vegas World.
Stupak initially opened a small casino, Bob Stupak's World Fa ...
casino (since demolished and replaced by the Stratosphere
The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air ...
casino) in Las Vegas.Alice in Genderland interview
Selected artworks
Album covers
;Genesis
:*1970 ''
Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding ...
''
:*1971 ''
Nursery Cryme
''Nursery Cryme'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was their first to feature drummer/vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed respo ...
''
:*1972 ''
Foxtrot
The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...
''
:*1973 ''
Genesis Live
''Genesis Live'' is the first live album from the English rock band Genesis, released on 20 July 1973 on Charisma Records. Initially recorded for radio broadcast on the American rock program ''King Biscuit Flower Hour'', the album is formed f ...
'' (lettering only)
;Van der Graaf Generator
:*1970 ''
H to He, Who Am the Only One
''H to He, Who Am the Only One'' is the third album by the British progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. It was released in 1970 on Charisma Records.
The band recorded the album in several stages throughout mid-1970 in Trident Studios ...
''
:*1971 ''
Pawn Hearts
''Pawn Hearts'' is the fourth album by English progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator, released in October 1971 on Charisma Records. The original album features just three tracks, including the side-long suite "A Plague of Lighthouse Ke ...
''
;Peter Hammill
:*1971 ''
Fool's Mate
In chess, the fool's mate is the checkmate delivered after the fewest possible moves from the game's starting position. It arises from the following moves, or similar:
:1. f3 e6
:2. g4 Qh4#
The fool's mate can be achieved only by Black, givin ...
''
:*1973 ''
Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night
''Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night'' is the second solo album by British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It followed in the aftermath of the breakup of Hammill's band Van der Graaf Generator, and (as with many of Hammill's solo albums fro ...
''
;Le Orme
:*1975 ''Smogmagica''
:*2001 ''Elementi''
:*2004 ''L'infinito''
;Alex Carpani
:*2004 ''Waterline''
:*2010 ''The Sanctuary''
;Other
*1968
Johnny Hallyday
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France.
During a career spanning 57 ...
– ''Rêve et Amour''
*1969
High Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables can ...
– ''
Sea Shanties
A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...
''
*1971
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
– ''
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may o ...
''
*1975
Tom Fogerty
Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Biography
...
- ''
Myopia
Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...
''
*2001 Submarine Silence - ''Submarine Silence''
*2004 Various artists - ''The Colossus of Rhodes''
*2004 Systems Theory - ''Soundtracks for Imaginary Movies''
*2006 Akacia - ''Fading Time''
*2007 Systems Theory - ''Codetalkers''
*2007 Holding Pattern - ''Breaking the Silence''
*2013
Days Between Stations - ''
In Extremis
''In extremis'' is a Latin phrase meaning "in the farthest reaches" or "at the point of death."
In extremis or extremis may also refer to:
* ''Extremis'' (2005–2006), a six-issue story arc from the Marvel Comics series ''Iron Man'' (vol. 4), p ...
''
*2014 Gnu Quartet - ''Karma''
*2018 Fernando Perdomo - ''Out to Sea''
*2018 Robbie Gennet - ''Gleams''
*2019 Fernando Perdomo - ''Out to Sea 2''
*2020 Fernando Perdomo - ''Out to Sea 3''
Miscellaneous
*1977 "Solar Carte" (mural)
*1978
Armando Gallo
Armando Gallo (born January 24, 1944) is an Italian journalist, photographer and book publisher.
Gallo has been a photo journalist since 1967, when he interviewed The Beatles for the Italian magazine "Ciao Big". Inspired by this experience, he l ...
- ''Genesis: The Evolution of a Rock Band'' (book cover)
*2001
Kevin Holm-Hudson - ''Progressive Rock Reconsidered'' (book cover "Storm In a Teacup")
References
External links
*
World of Genesis interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Paul
Fantastic art
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Genesis (band)
British expatriates in the United States
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)