Articles and Features
The Other Thom Yorke: The Visual Art of the Radiohead Star
By Shira Wolfe
“Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke’s 30-year artistic partnership has been culturally groundbreaking – and ‘The Crow Flies’ marks a momentous new chapter for them.”
James Elwes, TIN MAN ART director
Artland’s “The Other” article series explores the lesser-known artistic output of artists who became famous for another medium or genre of art. Often, great artists wear many different hats but break through and achieve acclaim because of their work in one specific medium. We aim to highlight the multifaceted nature of their talent by shining a light not on what they are best known for, but on the lesser-known side of their artistic production.
This edition features the visual art of Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, whose series of large-scale paintings, made in collaboration with Stanley Donwood, were on exhibit at TIN MAN ART in two parts, between 6 and 10 September 2023 and between 6-10 December 2023.
Thom Yorke and Radiohead
Thom Yorke has been the lead singer and songwriter of the acclaimed, multi-Grammy-winning band Radiohead since its formation in 1985, credited for its experimental approach which advanced the sound of alternative rock. The band released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in 1993, and the single “Creep” went on to become a worldwide hit. The 1997 OK Computer has been hailed as the best album of the ‘90s and one of the best albums of all time. Their fourth album, Kid A (2000), has similarly been named one of the best albums of the decade by several different outlets. Radiohead’s production of influential and iconic music continued with Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), In Rainbows (2007), The King of Limbs (2011), and A Moon Shaped Pool (2016). In 2021, Yorke teamed up with Radiohead bandmate Jonny Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner to create the new band The Smile, which was formed during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In addition to these projects, Yorke has released three solo albums and also formed a band with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Beck and R.E.M. drummer Joey Waronker and drummer Mauro Rofosco.
In 1994, Yorke started his lifelong collaboration with visual artist Stanley Donwood, when Yorke asked him to create the album cover for Radiohead’s My Iron Lung (1994). Donwood has said that he only agreed to do the cover art because he knew Yorke from their art student days at the University of Exeter — he disliked rock music. However, Donwood ended up working on every Radiohead release since. He earned two Grammy awards for his artwork for the Radiohead albums Amnesiac and In Rainbows.
“That was what I found incredibly exciting. It just stays active for so long… I became so conscious of the fact that the two processes are almost exactly the same.”
Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood at TIN MAN ART
In 2021, while Yorke was working on The Smile’s debut album A Light for Attracting Attention, together with Donwood they began to work on a series of artworks, literally side by side, painting in unison in a small studio. Whereas their collaboration previously had mostly consisted of sharing faxes and notes, this marked a breakthrough for their work, adding physicality and immediacy to the process of creation. The result was not only the art for The Smile’s debut album but also a series of over 20 works that were exhibited for the first time at TIN MAN ART in September 2023.
The artist duo’s artwork is linked with the origin of The Smile. The name of the band is inspired by the seminal poetry collection Crow by Ted Hughes. These poems also inspired the paintings created by Yorke and Donwood as well as the title of the exhibition at TIN MAN ART. The duo worked from a joint fascination with maps and topography, and started creating their own by drawing from lyrics from The Smile’s album to function as a map legend, which remain as a hidden layer underneath the artworks, which later turned to more abstraction. Materials historically used for map-making led to the artists favoring water-based gouache, egg tempera, and powdered mushroom over acrylic paint.
For Yorke, the process of creating these paintings is similar to the process of making music. He explains: “That was what I found incredibly exciting. It just stays active for so long… I became so conscious of the fact that the two processes are almost exactly the same.”
In a sense, the paintings are a natural continuation of the motifs and themes of Yorke’s and Donwood’s 30-year artistic collaboration, seamlessly crossing between music and visual art, applied album covers, and standalone paintings. The dreamlike, abstract landscapes echo the non-linear thoughts, dreams, and ideas of Yorke and Donwood, while they seem to be almost vibrating with sound.
According to TIN MAN ART director James Elwes:
“Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke’s 30-year artistic partnership has been culturally groundbreaking – and ‘The Crow Flies’ marks a momentous new chapter for them. The two-part exhibition showcased the rarest of achievements: pure co-creation. The paintings, sublime illustrations of technical and mental virtuosity, are the result of two artists working together to build worlds in gouache and gold. At a time of deep discord, this show reminds us of the awesome power of collaboration and the oft-misused term ‘genius’.”
Relevant sources to learn more
For previous editions of “The Other”, see:
The Other Jim Jarmusch
The Other Frank Sinatra
The Other John Cage
Other relevant sources:
Explore the art of Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood at TIN MAN ART.
Wondering where to start?
