Pink Floyd “Wish You Were Here” Limited Fine Art Print – Signed by Storm Thorgerson

Medium: Hand silkscreen in 21 colours on Somerset UK white textured 300gsm –

Design Storm Thorgerson and George Hardie. Photography Aubrey Powell. Produced by Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis)

StormThorgerson Limited edition fine art print made from the original artwork

Wish You Were Here, One of my favourite albums says Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. Wish You Were Here’s haunting central theme of Shine on you Crazy Diamond is never far out of consciousness. Welcome To The Machine introduces Waterss fascination with pessimistic sci-fi views of the future. Wish You Were Here itself is a sad and wistful indictment of insecurity.

Storm Thorgerson recalls that one of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here themes, indeed one word, prevailed during the recording of Wish You Were Here at Abbey Road absence. Nothing more poignantly, or powerfully illustrated this than the unexpected arrival of ex Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett at the studio during the vocal takes for Wish You Were Here’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond, having been absent from Pink Floyd seven years. Says Storm Thorgerson the handshake from the burning man is as empty or absent a gesture as you can get. The man is really on fire. He wore an asbestos suit under the cloth suit, which extends over the head, where a wig was attached. The first attempts at setting him alight were in the wrong wind direction.

The flames were blown back and ignited his moustache for an instant. A close shave, one might say.. . . . the diver in the lake makes no splash, so is he there really? Or is he absent?. The man in the desert is faceless, no features, no scruples or rather absent morality . . . and so on and so forth. The whole Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here album design was then hidden by Storm Thorgerson from public view by an opaque black shrink-wrap. In effect, Storm Thorgerson ‘s Pink Floyd cover was absent

BORN IN POTTERS BAR IN 1944

Storm Thorgerson attended school in Cambridge with Pink Floyd founders Syd Barrett and Roger Waters. He studied English at Leicester University, and film and TV at The Royal College of Art.

IN 1968 STORM CO-FOUNDED THE ALBUM COVER DESIGN COMPANY HIPGNOSIS

Along with Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell he conceived their first album cover for Pink Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets.

Hipgnosis went on to create some of the most innovative and surreal record cover art of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, for the biggest bands and musicians of the era.

Aubrey Powell (l) and Storm Thorgerson (r) in Hipgnosis early days

Their clients included Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, 10cc and Peter Gabriel. That they chose the LP cover as their canvas in no way denigrates the aesthetic and creativity of this work, in fact it meant that it was seen and loved by millions that otherwise would not have encountered it. It is creative photography, performance, surrealism – it is art.

“I look back fondly on those teenage years – great friends, illuminating experiences, and of course the music. People pay me for my thoughts and my dreams. I think in that sense I’m very fortunate.” Storm Thorgerson

For fifteen years Hipgnosis thrived as one of the best known photo design companies and latterly movie makers, creating timeless rock iconography.

BROWSE PRINTS BY HIPGNOSIS AND STORM STUDIOS

Storm and Po kept hold of much of their original Hipgnosis source material; boxes full of photographs, printed and often cut up into collage; strips of negatives showing alternative views of some of our most familiar music iconography; a precious archive of material that shaped our collective visual culture. All of this original imagery provides a rich resource from which to embark on producing limited edition prints; indeed, it was Storm’s suggestion that resulted in our first Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin editions fifteen years ago. The prints soon became part of his thinking from the outset, even giving a final purpose for ideas that weren’t taken up by their intended clients!

Aubrey Powell (l) and Storm Thorgerson (r)

AFTER THE BREAK-UP OF HIPGNOSIS IN 1982

Storm continued working from the ordered chaos of his studio in North London where he and his team made ‘the art of the album’ their mantra, creating enigmatic covers for a new roll call of musicians including Biffy Clyro, Muse, Steve Miller and Mars Volta, as well as carrying on his close relationship with Pink Floyd.

BROWSE PRINTS BY HIPGNOSIS AND STORM STUDIOS

Storm wrote (and often co-wrote with his former partner Po) a number of books including several on his master subject, album cover art and directed numerous videos, commercials and TV documentaries.

His untimely death in 2013 has robbed the design world of a genius and it is fortunate that he has left us with such a legacy of artwork to enjoy.