Last night saw the private view and launch of Blur 21: the Exhibition on a warm, sunny night on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch. Seemed to be a success, with queues forming around the block to take a look.

The exhibition spans all three galleries at Londonewcastle Project Space and happily, there is more to it than just expertly captured images of the band at various stages of their career (though the 70 or so images captured by iconic NME photographer’s including Kevin Cummins and Pennie Smith are great at capturing the Brit pop moments of the mid 90s). On show are the band’s Brit Awards, the rear most gallery hosts videos and Spotify have decked a space out as a listening booth where you can don headphones and hear a selection of rarities from the forthcoming Blur 21 box set.

Blur’s Brit Awards

The highlight for me though is the graphic design work. The band have worked with agency Stylorouge almost since inception and they have been responsible for some memorable images. Even if you’re not a fan, you will be familiar with not only the logo, but some of the artwork which has championed artists including Banksy - who worked on 2003 album Think Tank- and Julian Opie - who created the Blur: The Best Of compilation cover (and has a solo show of new works on at Lisson Gallery this summer).

Back to the launch though - it was a memorable night organised by Hector Proud’s Cult.Brand team and the crowd went from queuing up to spilling out onto the street outside to soak up the English Summer and escape the heat inside.

Random guy getting into the Olympic spirit (maybe)

Oh and some nice guys from a band called Blur also turned up to have a look.

Mr Graham Coxon and Mr Alex James

The show is now open daily from 12 - 8pm until the 14th August.

Following the launch and exhibtiion for Dennis Morris’ photo essay on the rise of The Stone Roses This Is The One (and before a forthcoming show of John Lennon’s artworks - a few details here) Londonewcastle Project Space will play host to Spotify presents Blur 21: The Exhibition.

Exhibited together for the first time will be a collection of images of Blur from legendary music photographers, designers and artists including Pennie Smith, Kevin Cummins, Paul Postle, Tom Sheehan, Banksy and Julian Opie, celebrating the band’s 21 year career.

21 years after the release of their debut album Leisure, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree will feature in an exhibition of rare photographs, artwork and never-before-seen images of this great British band.

The retrospective celebrates Blur’s era defining music, documenting their career as one of the most successful and influential bands of the past two decades, through the lens of legendary and iconic music photographers Pennie Smith, Kevin Cummins, Tom Sheehan and Paul Postle, among others.

Spotify presents Blur 21: The Exhibition will be shown in East London contemporary art space Londonewcastle Project Space from Friday 27th July through to Tuesday 14th August - closing just after the band’s gig in Hyde Park on the 12th August as part of the Olympics closing celebrations.

Curated by leading expert on music photography Dave Brolan, all the key moments of the band’s career will be illustrated – on the road, live on stage, in the studio, as well as formal portrait sessions.

Entrance to the exhibition is FREE.

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