Fifty Years in the Wilderness
Michael Coles . Solo Exhibition
This is Michael Coles’s third solo exhibition at Espacio Gallery, following The Museum Of The Church Of Bleeding Gums and Over The Hills And Back For Tea.
Fifty Years in the Wilderness celebrates his fifty years of living and working in his beloved metropolis of London and coincides with the publication of the book of the same name by PC Press.
In 1976 Michael arrived in a punk smitten London from a hippy squat in Amsterdam with ninety pounds, a rucksack and a small book of drawings. Three years later he helped to start Malicious Damage Records with a few friends and an unknown band called Killing Joke. His thinking was simple. With your own record label you can design all the record sleeves, posters and t shirts and keep what he calls stubborn independence.
The book and this exhibition illustrate that erratic journey on the fringes of the design, music and art worlds, also known as the wilderness. From the early pen and ink drawings of the seventies and paste up work in advertising agencies to record sleeves made with photocopies, the arrival of the computer and his video projections for Killing Joke at the Royal Albert Hall in 2023.
In recent years Michael has returned to his love of drawing and painting while still working with Photoshop and designing record sleeves, most recently a series of projects for ambient music legends The Orb.
Admission is free and everyone is welcome. Come explore five decades of graphic art, design and visual storytelling at Espacio Gallery.
