HANOVER.- In 1979, the famous British rock band Pink Floyd released their album The Wall. To date, it has sold more than 30 million copies, making it the world’s biggest-selling double album. Following the huge success of this recording, the legendary group took The Wall on the road in 1980, a tour which itself made music history.
The British artist Gerald Scarfe, who had already designed the album cover for The Wall in 1979, joined forces with Roger Waters to develop a concept for the tour’s stage show, involving animated sequences and huge inflatable figures. In 1981, Scarfe was involved in the film version of The Wall as Designer and Director of Animation.
Today, thirty years on, the exhibition Gerald Scarfe: Heroes & Monsters includes 120 exhibits that provide insights into this acclaimed music project and enable the public to relive it in both sound and pictures. The exhibition also presents – for the first time in Germany – all the other many creative facets of this gifted and versatile Briton.
On display are a cross-section of the artist’s life’s work to date: satirical portraits ranging from Kennedy to Obama, from Thatcher to Merkel, and Queen Elizabeth to Madonna; cartoons from five decades of international politics; animated films and TV films; contributions to the theatre and opera, ballet and musicals; and even sculptures.
Born in London on 1 June 1936 in London, Scarfe – after briefly attending the city’s Royal College of Art in London – established himself as a freelance cartoonist early on in his career. In the early 1960s, he drew both for Private Eye and Punch. In 1966 he began doing political cartoons for the Daily Mail, while also contributing to Time magazine in New York. 1967 saw his first work for the Sunday Times, for whom he still draws to this day. Starting with the Vietnam war, Scarfe has also been assigned to provide on-the-scene illustrations from various trouble spots around the world.
Aside from political cartoons, Scarfe’s other passions are rock music, theatre and opera. As mentioned earlier, he created the album cover for The Wall and the animated sequences for the eponymous film. He has also designed numerous stage sets and theatrical costumes, including those for Orpheus in the Underworld, The Nutcracker and The Magic Flute. The exhibition at the German Museum of Caricature and the Graphic Arts (Wilhelm Busch Museum) explores all these diverse aspects of Gerald Scarfe’s creativity.
Gerald Scarfe has received a number of awards. In 2008 he was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In past decades, his work has been presented at numerous major exhibitions both in Europe and elsewhere.
