Echoes. Origini e rimandi dell’art rock britannico

At the Art Pavilion of the Fondazione Luigi Rovati, the exhibition Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis. New Perceptions of Reality opens on June 14, marking the second chapter of the exhibition cycle Echoes. Origini e rimandi dell’art rock britannico (Echoes. Origins and references of British art rock), dedicated to the cross-pollination of music, painting, photography, and illustration that gave rise to a new collective imagination in 1960s and ’70s Britain. After the success of the first chapter dedicated to the Beatles, the exhibition project—curated by Francesco Spampinato—continues with the paradigm shift introduced by Pink Floyd, Yes, and Genesis.

The exhibition retraces the psychedelic and surrealist universe that accompanies the work of these legendary bands. The journey begins with a painting by metaphysical artist Alberto Savinio, followed by Roger Dean’s cover artwork for Yes, and the visionary photography of Hipgnosis and Storm Thorgerson for Pink Floyd—including the prism from The Dark Side of the Moon, the burning man from Wish You Were Here, and Jeffrey Shaw’s inflatable pig in the London sky for the Animals album cover. Representing Genesis, the show includes Paul Whitehead’s paintings for Trespass, Nursery Cryme, and Foxtrot (with the image of the fox in the red dress), as well as Colin Elgie’s original watercolors for the covers of A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering, featuring a parade of characters inspired by the songs on the albums and evoking illustrations from fantasy literature classics such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1866) by Lewis Carroll and The Book of Imaginary Beings (1957) by Jorge Luis Borges. Echoing this surreal imagery is an installation by Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg, presenting a fairytale-like world of multicolored pills—symbols of pharmaceutical culture and references to psychedelic substances as tools for transcending perceptual boundaries.

Finally, the original Hipgnosis artwork for the cover of ...And Then There Were Three... (1978)—the ninth Genesis album, after the departure of both guitarist Steve Hackett and frontman Peter Gabriel—serves as an ideal bridge to the third chapter of the exhibition cycle, which will focus on the convergences between art and music in Gabriel’s solo career.

To mark the opening of Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis. New Perceptions of Reality, one of Jeffrey Shaw’s iconic inflatable pigs will be installed in the museum garden.

Radio Monte Carlo is the official radio station of Echoes. Origins and references of British art rock. For the occasion, music designer Marco Fullone has composed a dedicated playlist inspired by the exhibition's content and the album covers referenced, available free of charge on the radio station's Spotify channel and on display via QR Code.

The selected tracks belong to artists who are loved worldwide: from the unique sound of The Beatles to the prog rock of Pink Floyd, Yes, and Genesis, which blends with the images of Roger Dean or the Hipgnosis studio, to the exploration of the integration between rock, electronic, and world music that characterized Peter Gabriel's solo career. Musical suggestions that this exhibition and the accompanying playlist collect and amplify in a unique journey.

The exhibition cycle is accompanied by a publication by Francesco Spampinato, published by Fondazione Luigi Rovati.

With the patronage of the Department of Arts of the University of Bologna.

INFORMATION

Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis. New Perceptions of Reality
June 14 – July 27

Fondazione Luigi Rovati
Art Pavilion
Free Admission
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM