Exhibitions
Because the real hero of Art Vinyl is the record sleeves themselves, we run a program of exhibitions that celebrate the best in sleeve design.
Valentine’s ‘Kissing Window’ at The Hari 2025
For the month dedicated to all things romantic, we curated a Valentine’s ‘Kissing Window’ art installation, featuring iconic kissing record covers. We delved into the Art Vinyl extensive archive of album art, to bring together this installation in the window of boutique luxury hotel, The Hari in Belgravia London, for the month of February.
Love and music have always shared an inseparable bond and since the birth of recorded music, artists have used album covers as a canvas for self-expression, often reflecting the themes found within their songs. Album covers over the decades have depicted everything from tender romantic kissing moments to daring, provocative expressions of eroticism.
The exhibition features classic ‘kissing’ records including Nick Cave and PJ Harvey’s cover of the duet ‘Henry Lee’ shot by photographer Dave Tinge, who is documented as describing the two on set as having “..more than just a spark!”, as well as the iconic cover image on ‘Double Fantasy’ the fifth and final studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, shot by photographer Kishin Shinoyama during one of the couple’s last photo shoots before Lennon’s death in December 1980.
Other records exhibited include Bloc Party’s intimate and somewhat ambiguous ‘Intimacy’ album cover, shot by freelance photographer Perry Curties and Suede’s gender-ambiguous cover photograph for their eponymous debut album, taken by Tee Corinne, which in its entirety shows a woman kissing an acquaintance in a wheelchair. It is reported that Corinne turned down the band’s request to use the full shot of the two naked women and insisted they could only use a head and shoulders close-up to protect their identity.
The installation celebrates a history of the enduring power of love in music in cover art form and is on display at The Hari, London from 2nd – 25th February 2025.
For more exhibitions visit our Exhibitions Page