Art and Design / October 19, 2022

RE:issues is the exhibition reimagining Frank Ocean and ABBA’s album artwork

Image: Grace Enemaku
Art and Design / October 19, 2022

RE:issues is the exhibition reimagining Frank Ocean and ABBA’s album artwork

Words: Ellen Kenny

RE:issues is a series of new works and curated pieces focused on upholding the timelessness and value of vinyl and albums.

New art producers Cabbage & Kraut are celebrating the longevity and importance of albums in a new art exhibition this month. Taking place from October 27 to November 10 in The Big Romance, “RE:issues” explores the timelessness, connection, culture of album art through a series of new works and curated pieces.

The exhibition will have three strands, Collector, Curator and Creator, each offering their own perspective on the albums that shaped them and the art behind them.

“We live in an increasingly ethereal and digitalised world, yet there is something about the tangibility of vinyl that continues to draw new generations of music lovers,” curators Cabbage & Kraut explained, “As music provides a medium of connection and shared culture across generations, vinyl albums endure as living relics that embody our memories, experiences and emotions as we pull the sleeve from the cover and the needle hits the groove.”

Contributors include Stephen Averill, U2’s former album designer, with art based around the act of creating an album cover. Part of his collection includes the story behind creating album art for Roky Erickson, who was arrested for drug use before he could actually release the album.

Irish musician and producer David Kitt will be DJing on the night as well as tracing his musical journey in six albums as part of the Collector strand.

18 more artists will take part in the Curator strand of the exhibition with art based on the most formative albums of their lives. Contributors include illustrator Kenya Dempsey and DIY pop artist Meljoann. Celebrated albums include ABBA and Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange.

The exhibition will take place in The Big Romance, an “an audiophile bar that celebrates the medium of the vinyl record”. “RE:issues” is funded by the Night Time Economy Support Scheme, a multi-million euro project that encourages cultural event during off-peak times to create more diverse night life.

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