Note this does nothing for the colours in the prints Roger is holding
Roger Dean will be holding the first major exhibition of his art
in the UK since about 1976. Pieces of his work have probably been seen since
then but even so probably not for over a decade so this is an excellent chance
to catch with Roger’s work and see many pieces for the first time. Entry is
free so if you are in or near London it is well worth going.
The display is being held at The Gallery 28 Cork Street, London
between 12th and 24th November 2001.
The following original art works will be on display:-
Octopus
Cave (Greenslade Hermit’s Cave)
Awakening
Arrival
`Z’ Dome At Night (Acoustically Driven)
Paladin
Magician’s Birthday (2°d Panel Coloured)
The Sea Of Light
Blue Demon
Yesshows
Yellow City
Arches Splash
Space Needle
Centre Of The Earth
Rock Forms III
Rock Forms IV
Rock Forms V
Rock Forms VI
Dragons’s garden
Along with original paintings visitors will also be able to see
and purchase a series of fine print works roger has been working on since 1997.
Back in the 1970’s some of Roger’s work was sold as posters. The main buyers
were American students. There was great demand for these posters but not some
albums such as Yes’s Relayer album were painted small and wouldn’t stand being
blown up to a Poster size so Roger stopped releasing them.
Over the years there was been a great demand for Roger’s work
and his audience has grown up and wants some a bit more substantial than just
a poster. Roger therefore set about creating a set of limited edition fine art
prints.
Tales From Topographic Oceans 2001
The original painting by Roger took about 1 month to make. The
fine art print for this exhibition took about 5 months work!
When an album cover is printed it uses four colour separations
to get all the colours. This works very well but the inks tend to be thin and
some colours get lost. Apparently only about 60% of the Blue colours are available
using this process. The reason the new picture took Roger five months is it
is made up of about 40 different colour separations. Each one is applied to
the paper using the silk screening process. Every detail on the 40 separations
has been hand drawn again from scratch.
While drawing the pictures again Roger has chosen to change some
of the details in a minor way so for instance the two left hand rocks in the
middle of the picture now look slightly different to the original in their detail.
Arches – Mist view
There are two fine Art prints for the Arches drawing which was
used for Yes’s "Keys To Ascension" album. Surprisingly it is the "Mist"
view which uses the most separations.
Arches – Morning view
Because the "Morning" view is in the sun the shadows
on the arches are darker and therefore have less detail.
The Original Yes Logo.
The original Yes logo only uses 5 of 6 separations but I was really
impressed the brightness of blues on the fine art print. It makes what to me
could be quite an ordinary picture really stand out. I was also surprised how
the curves on it aren’t as smooth as you would expect if you drew it from memory.
It has to be said I am not big on art but I think I will be going
down to the exhibition to see the paintings and prints up close. I was quite
taken by what I saw at the press conference.
The following is the full list of Limited Edition Fine Art Prints:
Tales From Topographic Oceans
The Magician’s Birthday (Black & White)
The Magician’s Birthday (Colour)
The Yes Logo
Arches (Morning)
Arches (Mist)
Dragon’s Garden I
Dragon’s Garden II
Dragon’s Garden III
Asia Eyes I-IV
Yes Dragonfly I-IV
Full details of the sales of the fine print can be found at http://www.roger-dean.com.
Please note the images of Roger Dean’s art on this page were issued for press
use only and are all ©Roger Dean