We especially know Robert Petty because he imagined the album cover “Currents” (2015) by Tame Impala. Albums, movie posters, and press illustrations … To beat boredom, the barely forty-year-old artist tirelessly creates, armed with his imagination and his computer, shaping the world every time a little dreamlike. With Number, Looks back at three of its most emblematic covers.
Illustration de l’article “The coup we don’t talk about” de Shoshana Zuboff pour le New York Times / © Robert Beatty
Illustration from John Lancaster’s literary review “The World on Fire” by The New York Times / © Robert Beatty
On the phone, Robert Beatty looks like a big kid. He undoubtedly maintains an indestructible relationship with this period of life, based on his broad imagination, mixing nature, technology, symbols and colors, and playing with dimensions and elements. “I think the best way to describe my work is to call it “digital art” because everything is done on a computer. But in reality, I find it similar to collage: I get things together.“A giant eye scrutinizes the Capitol, a rose splits the ground with its stalk … Sometimes silly or sad, his raving works evoke the aesthetics of 1960s commercial posters, and he’s the one who feels the magic of the period.”At the time, we were only just starting to use computers to make art. People weren’t quite sure what they were doing yet, I guess they were a lot more free.“At a little 40 years old, Robert Beatty has already created over 200 album covers.So you do not get bored“He recently tried his hand at movie posters – like the movie Strawberry Palace By Albert Bernie (2021) – Article illustration by The New York Times On world ills, such as the climate crisis, creating disturbing landscapes:I often say that I will be the official painter of the apocalypse“Laugh.
Cover of the album “The Currents” (2015) by Tammy Impala
1. Currents (2015) by Tame Impala
When creating a design From the legendary album of Tame Impala, Robert Beatty has no doubts that someone will talk to him again, six years later, or even that he will be rejected with tattoos by fans of the group. In 2014, while preparing for the album, it was Kevin Parker who introduced his idea to him. The musician talks to him about fluid dynamics – the ripples that arise around an object placed in water – whose psychedelic shapes actually inspired the artist. Parker showed him patterns of air gushing around the wing of an airplane, like a stream. “In fact, the cover design is a literal interpretation of the album’s name, Currents, He explains, And I don’t know if people are aware of that. On this album, I found it to be one of the most natural transitions I can make of a musician’s idea. What I imagined was very clear.“
Cover de l’alum “The Rainbow” (2017) de Kesha
2. Rainbow (2017) De Keisha
“I used to work on my own so this cover was a simple challenge“. Two years after the release of the CurrentsRobert Beatty became a victim of his success. If he receives more requests than he can handle, he nevertheless agrees to play the cover game with Kesha for his third album, Rainbow. Accompanied by photographer Olivia B and Art Director Brian Roettinger – who has worked with Jay-Z and Florence + The Machine – the artist tries to deal with the singer’s bizarre desires:She was so involved! She constantly wanted to add ships, dolphins, and rainbows, she had her thoughts around, and it was hard to solveRemember.
Cover de l’album “Birdsongs of a Killjoy” (2019) de Bedouine
3. Songs of killing birds (2019) de Bedouine
“One of the things I try to do in my work is to show the subconscious.” By absorbing all the possibilities that digital technology provides, Robert Beatty forges a world that looks like a dream … on the album cover Songs of killing birds (2019) – An artist’s favorite – whose surrealism appears to be borrowed from Dalí, Robert Beatty explains that he created a world in which he then came back. “I often associate this aesthetic with other works I’ve done for William Tyler. I see them both belong to the same world.“
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