A celebration of iconic imagery by Michael Spencer Jones, curated by John Colton of Browse Gallery, Berlin and Emily Smeaton of Hypergallery Ltd.
Tues to Sunday, 2pm to 8pm at Browse Gallery - Bergmannstr. 5 - Courtyard right - 10961 - Berlin.
Setting the Scene: Oasis 25 runs until April 7th 2019
**See the exhibition for free on Saturday 6th April at 8pm, when Michael Spencer Jones will be in conversation with John Robb**
“I knew it was a big gig. I'd heard the album and knew it was going to be massive.”
Words by Michael Spencer Jones and Emily Smeaton
For fans who were there (and a lot of fans were) it’s hard to imagine that it is now 25 years since the release of Definitely Maybe, the fastest selling debut album in British rock history.
Oasis arrived on the British music scene fully formed, taking it by the scruff of the neck and injecting life into a whole generation of people who simply wanted to have fun and perhaps some spiritual awakening on the way.
Seen from the digital matrix in which we now live, Oasis were the last gasp of air in that analogue age; the last great rock’n’roll band – before Zuckerberg, before iPhones and before the internet began to shape and control our lives. How the world has changed in those 25 years...time to pause...time to reflect maybe?
“creating iconic images was all in a day’s work for Michael”
An important ingredient in the connection between Oasis and their fans was the imagery of Michael Spencer Jones, who steadfastly created the iconic photos that adorned their sleeves during that golden period. As Q Magazine once wrote, “creating iconic images was all in a day’s work for Michael.” His art became part of the creative content along with the music – the two became inextricably linked.
It’s difficult to imagine Definitely Maybe without seeing a spinning globe in a living room; Be Here Now without a Rolls Royce in a swimming pool; or Wonderwall without a girl in a picture frame.
These images became visual dispatches for an entire generation, all around the world. No need for translation, everyone understood. There was no catch, no sales pitch, the medium was the message.
Setting the Scene: Oasis 25 is a celebration and a journey into how these extraordinary covers were made. A revealing look into the stories behind them and how the fans connected so strongly to them.
The exhibition features a host of previously unseen photographs of Oasis, together with editions of sleeve artwork never before seen in public, and items of memorabilia from the shoots themselves including the song lyrics that inspired them.
You can even put yourself in the scene, with a (What's The Story) Morning Glory? street scene and the Definitely Maybe stage, all within the exhibition space.
Setting the Scene: Oasis 25 runs until April 7th 2019: click here for tickets.
