Alan Aldridge exhibition, London

(Image credit: Press)

We don’t hand over the creative reins of our limited edition covers to just anyone. And we certainly don’t encourage tampering with our logo. But Alan Aldridge is not just anyone and hence we granted him ‘access all areas’ when designing our limited edition W*116 cover, Wallpaper* logo included.

The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyesthe title of which references his era-defining body of work for The Beatles

Click here to see some of Aldridge's work on display

Our current limited edition cover isn’t your only opportunity to see Aldridge’s work at the moment. The self-coined ‘graphic entertainer’ has a retrospective on at London’s Design Museum ‘The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes’, the title of which references his era-defining body of work for The Beatles.

The psychedelic Aldridge stamp has been put on much since the Sixties resulting in a body of work that reads like a roll call of seminal brands at the fore of popular culture: Penguin books, Andy Warhol, Hard Rock Café, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Elton John and The Who.

The exhibition traces Aldridge’s history from the early 1960s to the present day and anyone seeking insight into how one man’s graphic illustration has played a seminal part in defining popular visual culture in the last fifty years would be well advised to attend.

Harriet Lloyd-Smith was the Arts Editor of Wallpaper*, responsible for the art pages across digital and print, including profiles, exhibition reviews, and contemporary art collaborations. She started at Wallpaper* in 2017 and has written for leading contemporary art publications, auction houses and arts charities, and lectured on review writing and art journalism. When she’s not writing about art, she’s making her own.