JKR

There cannot be many contemporary artists who blur the line between design and fine art as regularly as Sir Peter Blake. He has always taken on design and advertising commissions, recently producing work for Coke, Green and Black’s and Cains beer – which I briefed him on. He was charming, modest and professional, the antithesis of a temperamental artist. His commercial work chimes with his artistic philosophy; he wants examples of his work that are accessible and affordable to most. I guess this is an extension of a pop art outlook that celebrates mass popular culture.

The image at the top is from his latest commission for Fred Perry. You will notice, scanning the other images here, that the motifs are repeatedly used by Blake. He has taken iconography used throughout his career (check out Tweedle Dee’s socks in the ‘70s Alice illustration and target above)  and ‘logo-fied’ them. He has then reworked these basic building blocks in seemingly endless variations….

A colleague unkindly suggested that this was ‘money for old rope’, with Blake trading on his name and to some degree, selling out. I completely disagree. Instead I think that he is going through a really interesting artistic phase where he is in effect short handing his entire career, turning it into a distilled distinctive brand. This seems like the logical conclusion to a pop artist’s journey, as well as a canny way to remain relevant. If we are all still developing with such energy and sparkle at Sir Peter’s age, I would say we will be doing very well.