Morgan Howell paints classic 7” singles and takes into account every crease, every tear, every imperfection―producing a one-off, truly unique artwork, almost identical to the owner’s original copy, but blown up, supersize, to 27.6 by 27.6 inches, and three-dimensional, with the spindle in the centre, as if the record is ready to play.
This completely original approach has resulted in Howell attracting a cult following amongst art collectors and musicians alike―with paintings commissioned by the likes of Neil Diamond, Jude Law, Edgar Wright, and The Stone Roses' Ian Brown, and major music labels selecting the artist’s work for display in their headquarters, indeed, Howell’s painting of David Bowie’s The Jean Genie is displayed at the Sony Music Building in London, and Yesterday by The Beatles has been shown at the Capitol Building in L.A.
Morgan Howell at 45 RPM, published by Black Dog Press, beautifully documents 95 of Howell’s creations, from Tutti Frutti by Little Richard to Heart of Glass by Blondie, to Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones, to Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks. The artworks are shown in full, alongside evocative commentaries from fans of Howell's work, including The Smiths' Johnny Marr, Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp, comedian Al Murray, journalist Tony Parsons, actress Kay Mellor, Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder, producer William Orbit and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The book features Forewords by Sir Peter Blake and Andrew Marr, plus an in-depth interview with Morgan Howell, exploring his process as an artist and why, for him, music and art are intrinsically linked. With a format perfectly designed to fit on record shelves, this book is a must for vinyl junkies, music heads and art lovers everywhere.
A who’s who of the music world, this compendium is a list of the most must-have records of the last century.
– Art Daily
Known for his extraordinary, giant, hand-painted 3-D facsimiles of classic paper sleeve 45s, Morgan Howell creates a one-off unique supersized painting of each single. The natural wear incurred by the treasured disc is duly rendered in paint, making for a desirable artwork and consciousness portal for vinyl junkie music heads everywhere. Howell's attention to detail is fastidious, down to the authentically distressed and creased canvas that doubles as up-scaled paper sleeves and the tiny imperfections round the edges of the labels of the 27” vinyl records. Howell’s original paintings are attracting a cult following amongst musicians and music industry moguls. His painting of David Bowie’s 'The Jean Genie' sits proudly on the wall at Sony Music, 'Yesterday' by The Beatles is at the iconic Capitol Building in L.A. and famous owners include Ozzy Osbourne, Neil Diamond, Lord Lloyd Webber, Don Letts, Jerry Dammers, Ian Brown and Johnny Marr. Examples of his work are a permanent feature of the Radio 2 Green Room alongside Elton John’s piano, and when the BBC interviewed The Rolling Stones in London’s Dorchester Hotel in the run up to their concerts at the 02 in November 2012, three of his supersize Rolling Stones singles formed the backdrop. A matched pair of his paintings of The Beatles double A-Side 'Hey Jude' and 'Revolution' fetched £20,000 in an auction at Abbey Road studios. His original painting for Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” has earned a place at BMG Chrysalis, whilst The Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’ and ‘The Clash piece 'White Man at Hammersmith Palais’ were auctioned off in aid of Children in Need. Howell’s passion has always been his art. In 2005, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art and in 2010, he was shortlisted and received display notices at The Royal Academy. He shows at various galleries including exhibitions at Artzu Gallery (Manchester), Snap Galleries (London), Proud Galleries (Chelsea), and most recently at RedHouse Originals as part of The Spirit Of 66 exhibition. A passionate vinyl collector himself, his expert awareness for the sentimental value behind vinyl purchase and ownership, endorses his artistic vision to revive the vinyl experience as a whole. In 2014 he introduced a Classic Album Night to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles album 'A Hard Day’s Night', delivering a unique exhibition featuring live vinyl playback of the album on high-end audio provided by Hi-Fi Sonata and hosted by guest speakers Pete Paphides and Mark Lewisohn. The second Classic Album Night was held at the Barbican, Music Library (London) on 25th March 2015, featuring live high-end audio mono-vinyl playback of Bob Dylan’s 'Highway 61 Revisited' to mark its 50th Anniversary. The evening was hosted by music industry veteran Nick Stewart and guest speakers David Hepworth and Richard Williams.
Dominic Mohan is a British journalist, broadcaster and former editor of The Sun newspaper in London. He is now Founder/CEO of his own media consultancy Dominic Mohan Media, specialising in communications, public relations, crisis management and content creation
