With a legacy of arresting album cover images that includes Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” Led Zeppelin’s “House of the Holy,” Black Sabbath’s “Technical Ecstasy” and many more, the design firm called Hipgnosis created some of the most iconic artwork of the rock world in for several decades. Primary Wave has acquired the interests of co-founder Aubrey “Po” Powell; terms of the deal, announced Monday, were not disclosed.
Artwork from Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin covers, among others, were not included in the deal, which includes images made famous by Queen, Bad Company, Peter Gabriel, Styx, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Yes, AC/DC, Genesis, and more.
However, the acquisition does include objects related to the Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin covers, such as the original model biplanes used in Pink Floyd’s “Point Me to the Sky” music video and one of the original monolith-like sculptures captured from Led Zeppelin’s “Prescence” album. Primary Wave will continue to collaborate with Powell to create global exhibitions of the Hipgnosis catalog.
Hipgnosis co-founder Storm Thorgerson died in 2013. The company is not to be confused with the music-publishing company of the same name, founded in 2017, the assets of which were recently acquired by Sony Music.
Aubrey “Po” Powell added, “When Primary Wave showed an interest in the legacy of Hipgnosis imagery it was music to my ears. For too long I had been approached to sell off bits and pieces of my collection which did not interest me, and I yearned for a company who understood the importance of the work in its entirety and the recognition as a serious art form. I was at an impasse having reached a respectable grade of exhibitions, but without the backup, the connections and the teamwork required to move on up I could expand no further. Primary Wave has offered that support and collaboration – we are in sync and I am looking forward to seeing Hipgnosis grow on the global stage. Exciting times ahead.”
Hipgnosis was the ground-breaking British design studio founded in 1967 by Aubrey “Po” Powell and Storm Thorgerson after friends Pink Floyd asked them to design the cover for their second album, “Saucerful of Secrets.” It was the beginning of a 17-year collaboration that included such iconic covers as “Atom Heart Mother,” “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Animals.” The latter two were among the most ambitious — and expensive — that the famously freewheeling firm created. “Wish You Were Here” features a stunt man engulfed in flames, while “Animals” spotlights a giant inflatable pig that was lofted over London’s Battersea Power Station in 1976 and came loose from its tethering, flying across southern England and alarming air-traffic controllers before it fell to earth outside the city.
Hipgnosis was nominated five times for a Grammy for “The Best Album Package” category. Powell moved into film work in the 2000s but still works in the music world, working as Pink Floyd’s creative director on the “Their Mortal Remains” exhibit, which opened in 2017 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
