Born in Croydon in 1953, Panter graduated with a degree in Fine Art from Coventry’s ‘Lanchester Polytechnic’ in 1975. It was there that he met Jerry Dammers and, together with Lynval Golding, they formed The Specials. Although better known as a musician, Horace has always kept up with his art practice, gradually moving away from the ethos of ‘art language’ to return to painting, influenced by the artists he had first encountered as a child of the 60s: Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Edward Hopper and Peter Blake. He says “ It was art I could relate to, alongside my other predilection for the 12” vinyl record ... for an impressionable youth this collision of art and music was magical!”
The Pop Art concept of elevating the mundane has had a strong influence on his work; the talisman-like qualities afforded to everyday objects continue to guide his subject matter, especially the CASSETTE series. Panter says the original Pop Art explosion “was akin to what Punk Rock was for the music industry ... it shook things up, turned art on its head”; these cassettes are an updated take on what is now a traditional art form.
“The studio demo contained the bare bones of a song before it was finished/edited/mixed... crucial tool for musicians to hear how they sounded.” The cassette itself turned out to be ephemeral but, together with the Sony Walkman, it was revolutionary: “For the very first time, music was portable and individual; making mixtapes was just so liberating in terms of choosing what to listen to... I still don’t get Spotify!”
American comedian, Fred Armisen, owns the orignal GHOST TOWN cassette painting: “When I saw the images of the paintings, they were better than I could ever imagine... beautiful and straight to the point... there’s no begging in them”. (Fred Armisen 2016).
HORACE PANTER
JANUARY 2019
Signed limited edition cassette print by Horace Panter of The B-52's
Signed limited edition technicoloured cassette art print by Horace Panter featuring 24 different images including The Clash & Sex Pistols
Signed limited edition fine art cassette print by Horace Panter of The Specials 'Ghost Town'
Signed limited edition fine art cassette print by Horace Panter of The Clash's 'Rock The Casbah'
Signed limited edition fine art cassette print by Horace Panter of Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA'
Signed limited edition fine art cassette print by Horace Panter of David Bowie's 'Heroes'
Signed limited edition cassette print by Horace Panter of Free's All Right Now
Signed limited edition fine art cassette print by Horace Panter of Pulp's 'Common people'
Stunning Horace Panter portrait of Amy Winehouse commissioned by The Amy Winehouse Foundation.
Pop art style artwork celebrating the legacy of B.B.King by acclaimed artist and musician Horace Panter
Limited edition print of Bo Diddley by Horace Panter, taken from his Blues & Jazz Pop Art Collection
Pop art style artwork celebrating the legacy of Charlie Parker created by acclaimed artist and musician Horace Panter
Signed limited edition fine art cassette print by Horace Panter of Chic's 'Good Times'
The Clash Pop Art limited edition fine art print by Horace Panter
Elvis Presley pop art print by Horace Panter inspired by the work 'Self-portrait with Badges' by Sir Peter Blake.
Signed limited edition multicoloured cassette art print by Horace Panter featuring 24 different images including Madness, Blur & David Bowie
Joe Strummer Pop Art limited edition fine art print by Horace Panter
Limited edition pop art style print celebrating the musician John Lee Hooker by Horace Panter
Kurt Cobain Pop Art limited edition fine art print by artist Horace Panter.
Pop art style artwork celebrating Miles Davis by acclaimed artist and musician Horace Panter.
Limited edition Horace Panter pop art style artwork celebrating the legacy of Muddy Waters, taken from his Blues & Jazz collection
Adam Ant photographed by Jill Furmanovsky during a cover shoot for The Face magazine in February 1981
The Clash on stage at the the first large scale Rock Against Racism/Anti Nazi League carnival at Victoria Park, April 1978.
U2 on top of a hotel roof in Cork, Ireland on a cold February morning in 1980
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968 & considered one of the most innovative & influential rock bands in history.
A unique collection of images of Pink Floyd, one of the worlds most successful and influential rock bands.
Amy Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter known for her deep expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres.
Oasis was an English rock music band formed in Manchester in 1991, to date the band has sold over 70 million records worldwide.
Here are the very latest prints we have added to our collection. We hope you love them as much as we do.
During his 30 year career Jake Chessum has shot defining images of musicians such as Amy Winehouse, Jay Z, The Beastie Boys & David Bowie.
Jill Furmanovsky is one of the greatest ever rock & roll photographers with a huge archive of iconic shots of the world's best music artists
Album covers can define a band almost as much as the music itself. Now you can put this great art on your wall as well as your turntable