This past weekend marked the 21st anniversary of Radiohead’s Kid A. And if you’re still in the mood for celebrating—specifically if you live in London—six works from the album cover’s artist Stanley Donwood will be on display at Christie’s London headquarters from October 9 through 15. These works by Donwood, who’s worked on Radiohead’s album art since The Bends, will also be accompanied by drawings, lyrics, and digital art by both himself and Thom Yorke.
“Very late one night Thom and I were alone in the vast wastes of Oxfordshire, surrounded by darkness and trying to finish the artwork,” Donwood said in a press release. “It was impossible—we had made too much, too many pictures, and it was like being in a storm of ideas and drawings, paintings, and texts. We were exhausted and could no longer think clearly. We had lots of versions of the front cover, all with different pictures and different titles in different typefaces. We couldn’t work out which was the right one so we took them all downstairs and used tape to stick them to the cupboards and the fridge in the kitchen, hoping that in the morning the right cover and the right title would be obvious. And it was, and it was called Kid A.”
Donwood’s paintings will also be available online for global bidding from the October 5 through 9, with estimates beginning at £10,000. If you can’t make it to see these incredible works in person, you can check them out below. Find more info on Christie’s site here.
Stanley Donwood, Residential Nemesis (1999)
Stanley Donwood, Hotels and a Swimming Pool (1999)
Stanley Donwood, Trade Center (1999)
Stanley Donwood, Hole (2001)
Stanley Donwood, Minos Wall I (2000)
Stanley Donwood, Get Out Before Saturday (2000)
