All images courtesy of One Love Books and tthe South London Gallery
Vinyl collectors and anyone else who likes their music tangible can really appreciate the importance of album art. When you buy a record, you get a piece of music and a piece of art, one that can be just as fascinating and evocative as the songs on the album. Most artists whose work accompanies records aren’t celebrated in their own rights (with a fewnotableexceptions), but the South London Gallery is devoting a new exhibit to Jamaican illustrator Wilfred Limonious, whose art works were the visual soundtrack to dancehall culture.
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"I discovered Limonious through his reggae and dancehall album jackets,” musician, cultural historian, andIn Fine Style co-curator Al Newman tells The Creators Project. "In 2011 I began collaborating with Canadian author Christopher Bateman on a book about Limonious' life and work and learned more about his cartoons for the Jamaican newspapers and his illustrations for the publications of JAMAL, the Jamaican Movement for the Advancement of Literacy."
His newspaper comics have secured an enduring legacy in Jamaica for Limonious, who died in 1999. But outside of the island, his work is mostly known by dancehall devotees. Ferry Gouw, the artist who makes Major Lazer’s iconic illustrations, has been influenced by Limonious’s work. But this exhibit posits that Limonious should be recognized not just by reggae fans, but by the art world at large. "Through the book and exhibition we hope to change the way dancehall art is perceived, to preserve Limonious' legacy and to make his work accessible to people who might not otherwise be aware of it,” says Newman.
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