Rene Magritte was a Belgian painter and considered one of the fathers of Surrealism. He looked at the topics of reality and twisted them in his pieces of art. Magritte experimented with Fauve and Cubist-Futurist styles. Magritte chose to create the majority of his work in a surrealist style, and it was from his works and style that Storm Thorgeson became inspired to follow. Magritte's works usually influenced others through his use of turning the ordinary into the unordinary. Elements in his images were repeated and this was probably influenced through his job of creating wallpaper designs. This repetition in his work made viewers analyse it and forced them to decipher the messages behind his pieces. Magritte's work had reoccurring subjects, such as bowler hat topped men and floating rocks. His images also became a big influence on the Pop Art movement and has been featured in a reinterpreted manner on album covers. The image below called 'The two lovers', shows two lovers kissing while they're faces are covered with white cloth, therefore they are in an intimate embrace, however they are also at the same time restrained from carrying out any intimate actions due the cloth. This may signify abstinence before marriage or perhaps a desire which is unfulfilled.
Moving onto Storm Thorgerson who was an artist greatly influenced by Magritte's work from a young age. Like Magritte, Thorgerson also created surrealist imagery. Thorgerson created images which were physically real, however they didn't seem to look it. His images provoked many interpretations, thus encouraging the viewers to look twice at his work. This was very helpful hen he designed album covers as it gave the band's album more "looks" and thus making the consumer subconsciously attracted to look at it. For example, with his 'Wish You Were Here' piece there are many interpretations - one being that the man on fire has made some sort of great deal with the other man and is feeling 'on fire' with how well his business is going. Another interpretation could be symbolising the man to the audience as such, and it could be that the man is actually the Devil, placed on the Earth, filling people with greed which then fuels consumerism.
Thorgerson also had a studio with Aubrey Powell called Hipgnosis. Within the studio, there were many photos and pieces of work depicting surreal scenes formed of surreal characters, taking us into the archives of the Hipgnosis design agency that helped form the mythologies surrounding some of the biggest names in music in the 20th Century. Formed by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell in 1967, Hipgnosis started art directing their buddies Pink Floyd, going on to create the now iconic, prism-based sleeve for The Dark Side of the Moon. The pair was joined by Peter Christopherson in 1974, who later became a full partner. Hipgnosis Portraits is a glorious, cohesive and exhaustive collection of some of the agency’s most famous works alongside lesser-known designs, with the work seeming as far out and intoxicating as it did almost 50 years ago. As well as showing finished imagery, the book’s first half details the stories behind them through archival materials and explanations of each work, penned by Aubrey himself. Whether it’s Voyager’s haunting images of a suicidal girl in the bathtub, Rick Wakeman flicking his big prog mane or Keith Moon reclining in nothing but a medallion and a fur stole, the images merge a supreme talent for art direction with flawless execution and ideas that few studios could top.
