Sara Cwynar's original artwork for Charli XCX's single, Claws.
From Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground to Richard Prince and Sonic Youth, Jeff Koons and ARTPOP, musicians and contemporary artists have a long history of album artwork collaboration. The visual expression of the lyrical work, music and art's synergistic relationship to one another seamlessly translates one work of art to another.
Pop-star Charli XCX did just this with her new album how i'm feeling now. Working with artists to create original album artwork, Charli tapped the likes of Caroline Polachek, Seth Bogart, Regards Coupables, Naked Cherry, Sara Cwynar, Timothy Luke, Allison Zuckerman, Polygon and Jon Emmony. The original works are currently on offer in a charity raffle in support of LA Alliance, a Los Angeles-based organization focused on supporting the homeless population, on Charli's website through 29 May.
We caught up with Charli and three of the artists to speak more about their process, how they became involved in the project and their thoughts on the connection between art and music.
Allison Zuckerman for Charli XCX's single, I Finally Understand.
PHILLIPS: What was the inspiration behind this project? How did you choose the artists who were involved?
CHARLI XCX: The whole idea of this album was for it to be as collaborative as possible. I was making it from home using only the tools I had at my fingertips. I saw this as an opportunity to reach out to many visual artists who I have always been inspired by, loved their work and wanted to work with. The selection process was really just about me being a fan of their work and trusting them and their vision. I felt like it was very important for each artist to be able to explore their own interpretation of the image I was providing - without input or suggestion from me. I think it’s how all the works turned out so unique.
P: What is the connection between art and music for you?
SARA CWYNAR: Well, first I can’t make art without listening to music! I also make work that thinks about design and cycles of fashion, and about a shared culture of images and ideas that come at us through popular culture and the media - paying attention to music is a great way to get a sense of this, I guess what you could call a zeitgeist or the temperature of a moment outside of the main narratives put forward by more traditional media sources like the news. I feel like I learn so much from music about how people are feeling, how it feels to be alive now, and that is something I really try to put into my work. Charli’s music comes to mind when I think about music that has helped me understand something more about what it’s actually like to live through this moment.
Seth Bogart for Charli XCX's single, Forever.
P: How did you become involved in this project?
ALLISON ZUCKERMAN: Charli reached out to me, asking to design a cover for her single “I Finally Understand” from her quarantine album “How I’m Feeling Now.” She provided me with a photograph as a reference, to interpret with full creative freedom.
P: Tell us about the work you produced. What was the process behind its creation?
SETH BOGART: I’ve been really obsessed with photographs that are hand-tinted/painted on top. I printed out Charli’s picture on my really lo-res black and white printer and painted on top of the photograph.
Enter the charity raffle here >