London Calling 1980 a homage to Elvis Presley's 1956 debut album
Last night I found myself unexpectedly on Redchurch Street, ambling past the Thursday night gallery parties on route to one of my own. The launch of London Calling, 30 leading artists were asked to reinterpret the album cover for the iconic LP 'London Calling' by The Clash. The work on display was at the beginning of its journey around the globe, eventualy due to returning home for a charity auction hosted by Christies. Funds raised will provide aid to the Ray Lowry Foundation set up by Ray's son Sam et al in 2009 a year after his father passed away. Ray Lowry was a notable figure in the punk movement, a practising artist with a flair for satirical cartoons, which appeared in Punch, Oz and NME. The other section features work by Ray himself, sketches and paintings mostly, all for sale, notably at a very reasonable price. The artwork forms part of a retrospective shown at the Salford (Ray's hometown) Gallery and Museum last year. The reinterpretations varied in interest and effort, Christopher Agnew, Sam Jackson, Matt Carroll and Rob Welsh. I was lucky enough to be allowed into the press/buyers house before the masses arrived, you couldn't really get to the pictures after that, the place was jam packed just as every good opening should be.
Christopher Agnew
John Squire of the Stone Roses
