Bummed

This large and striking silkscreen print revisits the artwork commissioned by Factory Records for the 1988 release of the Happy Mondays second album. The work that Central Station Art produced for the Happy Mondays and Factory Records played an important role in the identity of the label. As Tony Wilson himself said:

“The second half of the factory story is best summed up by the painterly eccentricity of Central Station, Matt, Pat and Karen.”

Transforming Shaun into a sort of hallucinogenic religious icon was a nod to the Catholic upbringing that Shaun Ryder had experienced, and often referenced in his music. Just as he used that influence in his lyrics, so the designers brought it into their visual language. The album was disorienting, bizarre, yet immediate and bold. The painting is equally intuitive and visceral. Cropping in on the image makes it claustrophobic, intense and ambiguous. 

Central Station recalled:

“At the time we were developing ideas for a series of portraits of iconic faces from British film, radio and television. These paintings were shown in our first major exhibition Hello Playmates at the Manchester City Art Gallery. Shaun Ryder was painted using the same techniques, a combination of silk screen, oil and acrylic paint on canvas. The reason for the tight crop on the sleeve was to make the image more ambiguous, which worked because even Shaun didn’t recognise himself. On the sleeve itself we blind embossed the title of the album so it didn’t ruin the impact of the image. We wanted to create a new visual identity, and we were confident that people would recognise a Mondays artwork without having to spell it out.”

Each print, on a heavyweight Somerset satin paper, is signed in pencil as “Central Station” by Matt, Pat or Karen. Supplied on demand by the artists so allow a few extra days for delivery.