Gyles Brandreth jumpers at Petersfield Museum

Karen Neville

Elton John

The first-ever exhibition of colourful novelty knitwear as designed and worn by Gyles Brandreth is on show throughout the year

Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery is delighted to announce the premier exhibition of Gyles Brandreth: Fun and Fabulous Jumpers, opening on 21 March.

Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, actor, former MP and award-winning podcaster. In the 1970s and 1980s he became well-known for the distinctive jumpers he wore on breakfast television. Gyles designed these jumpers with his knitwear partner, George Hostler and their ‘Gyles & George’ brand has been a favourite among pop stars and celebrities since the 1980s, counting Princess Diana and Elton John among its early fans.

In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Gyles decided to share a jumper-a-day with his followers on Twitter and on Instagram and started wearing them again on TV, including Celebrity Gogglebox. A selection of these jumpers will be on display in this two-part exhibition. The Spring/ Summer selection will include the famous I’m A Luxury design as worn by the late Princess of Wales. In contrast, later in the year, the Autumn/ Winter selection will feature designs that take their inspiration from performance and pantomime.

Gyles’ passion for patterned knitwear began in 1975 when a friend gave him a bright yellow jumper with a Scrabble board on the front. The tiles on the board spelt out ‘Gyles Brandreth loves Scrabble’. From then on, Gyles finds fun and humour in his novelty knitwear and, most importantly, a desire to connect with people.

Through the 1980s, Gyles appeared regularly on British television; when he did, he always wore colourful knitwear. He has hundreds, at least one different jumper for every day of the year. George Hostler (1939-2018), Gyles’ creative partner, originally trained as a sculptor. But in the 1970s, formed his own design house, selling jumpers in London, New York and Paris. In the early 1980s, Hostler was based in Leicester, so their creative partnership involved Gyles sending designs sketches on a postcard, which Hostler would then create into a jumper, parcel up and send back to London by train.

Today, the ‘Gyles and George’ brand has been launched in partnership with American designer Jack Carlson. As Gyles says: “Without realising it, I like to think George and I were creating ‘classics’ – fun, and fabulous sweaters that have stood the test of time.”

Gyles Brandreth: Fun and Fabulous Jumpers
21 March – 2 September 2023
5 September – 23 December 2023
Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery
Petersfield Museum

The first-ever exhibition of colourful novelty knitwear as designed and worn by Gyles Brandreth. From a flying pig, corgi, and hearts to bow ties, a piano keyboard and penguins, this two-part exhibition celebrates these distinctive joyous jumpers. Designed over 40 years ago, they continue to bring fun to a new audience today.

The Art of the Album Cover

Karen Neville

Elton John

Henley-based art publisher Hypergallery welcomes browsers and buyers to an exhibition of signed, limited-edition prints by music’s most extraordinary visual artists

A collection of exquisite limited edition prints and affordable works by a collection of talented artists who have worked with some of the most iconic musicians from the 20th Century will be on display at Hypergallery in Henley from November 26th.

Celebrating the Golden Years of rock music through the album cover art that put a face on it, visitors can view pieces featuring David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, T.Rex, Peter Gabriel, 10cc, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Beatles, Elton John, Genesis, Donovan, The Hollies, Cream, Pentangle.

The featured artists exhibiting include:

Vincent McEvoy was the art director of Polydor in the 1970s. As such, he had unique access to some of the biggest names in Rock, including The Who, Bob Marley and Eric Clapton. In recent years he has rekindled his passion for silkscreens, producing powerful pop-artworks based on some of the wonderful and iconic memorabilia that he accumulated throughout his career.

Karl Ferris is the man behind some of the most recognisable images of Jimi Hendrix. The originator of psychedelic and infrared photography worked closely with Hendrix on his image, styling and of course the photographs. With subjects including Cream, The Hollies, The Beatles and Donovan, Ferris was right at the epicentre of the psychedelic revolution.

Terry Pastor is a graphic artist who has worked for clients all across the world, creating iconic imagery with masterful flourishes of his airbrush. Pastor is best known for two images that jump-started the career of a young David Bowie, Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust. He has revisited and ‘remastered‘ his original source material in the creation of his stunningly sympathetic editions.

Barry Godber was a friend of King Crimson lyricist Peter Sinfield and a regular visitor to the group‘s rehearsal room in the basement of the Fulham Palace Road Cafe. Using watercolours, Godber gazed into a shaving mirror and constructed one of the most fearful self-portraits ever to grace a record sleeve.

Hipgnosis created some of the most innovative and surreal record cover art of the 1960s, 70s and 80s for the biggest bands and musicians of the era including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and 10cc. For fifteen years Hipgnosis (Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell and Peter Christopherson) thrived as one of the best known photo design companies and latterly movie makers, creating timeless rock iconography.

Alan Aldridge created imaginative designs and intoxicating colour-rich images that captured the dreams and hallucinations of a generation; in The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics, on album covers for The Who, Cream and Elton John, and on the notorious Chelsea Girls poster for Andy Warhol.

Richard Evans began his rock’n’roll career as a shoe designer in the early 70s, putting multi-coloured platforms under the feet of Elton John, Roxy Music and The Osmonds. It was at this time that he met Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson and later worked at Hipgnosis with them as their graphic designer for several years. Eventually, he set up his own design studio, working with many big names in the music industry. Since 1976 he has worked closely with The Who, designing tour visuals, merchandise and, of course, album covers.

Sir Peter Blake was elected RA in 1981, awarded a CBE in 1983, and was knighted in 2002. His seminal art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is probably the world’s best-known album cover, but Peter’s connections with pop music led to many other ventures in album packaging, including The Who, Live Aid, Paul Weller, Oasis, Ian Dury, Eric Clapton and Brian Wilson.

Exhibition details:

Dates: 26th Nov 2022 – 23rd Dec 2022

Open: 11am-2pm by appointment

Location: Hypergallery, 47 Market Place, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2AA

Admission: free

If you would like to visit, just drop Hypergallery a line at [email protected] or call on 01491 637021 to ensure someone will be at the gallery to welcome you.