Roger Dean

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For the Australian hiker, see Roger Dean (Australian politician).
For the Australian rules footballer, see Roger Dean (Australian rules footballer).
Freyja's Castle, 1987
Freyja's Castle, 1987

Roger Dean (born August 31, 1944, in Ashford, Kent) is a contemporary English artist best known for his work on album covers, which he began painting in the late 1960s.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Dean was born in England, but spent most of his childhood moving around the world with his British Army father. The family returned to England in 1959 and he earned a National Diploma of Design from the Canterbury School of Art. In 1968, he graduated from the Royal College of Art in London. Beginning in the field of design, he preferred to distinguish between design, or the reworking of existing models, and invention, or the making of something new. One of his inventions was the "sea urchin chair." It was a foam chair, which, though appearing spherical, would conform to the sitter, who could obtain a seated position of varying angles. Later, he was asked to design a "landscape" of similar seating for a club belonging to Ronnie Scott. [1]

His first album cover work was in 1968 for a group called Gun. In 1971, Dean produced the cover for the first album by the African/Caribbean band, Osibisa, which attracted a lot of attention to his work. Later that year, he began the partnership for which he is best known, designing his first album cover, Fragile, for the progressive rock band Yes. Dean designed the classic Yes "bubble" logo, which first appeared on the album Close to the Edge, and has created covers for the band as recently as 1999 (The Ladder). Yes guitarist Steve Howe said, "There is a pretty tight bond between our sound and Roger's art." In addition to their album covers, Dean also contributed to his brother Martyn Dean's stage set designs for the band.[2]

Known primarily for the dreamy, other-worldly scenes he has created for Yes, Budgie , Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant and other bands, Dean has said, "I don't really think of myself as a fantasy artist but as a landscape painter." Characteristic landscapes show graceful stone arches (as shown in Arches Mist, above) or floating islands, while many paintings show organic appearing habitats (such as shown in the cover for Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, below). Though he primarily works in watercolor, many of his paintings make use of multiple media, including gouache, ink, enamel, crayon and collage. In addition to his cover paintings, Dean is respected for his calligraphic work, designing logos and titles to go with his paintings.

Beginning in 1985 with the software company Psygnosis, Dean has been responsible for the cover artwork for several videogames, including Tetris Worlds as well as a redesign of the Tetris logo.[3]

Two compilations of his work, Views (1975)[1] (the success of which led him to form publishing house Paper Tiger Books) and Magnetic Storm (1984)[2], have been published. In addition, his architectural and furniture work have been exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the Royal Academy.

In recent years, Roger Dean has focused a great deal on his architectural ideas. He has designed both homes and sustainable villages. As a designer, Dean has developed all aspects of his homes, from construction techniques to emotional comfort and security. The design of these homes is based on his Home For Life concept, a house that is artistically beautiful and environmentally kind, but cheap and quick to build.[4]

Pathways, 1973
Pathways, 1973

In early 2005, Dean announced plans to create a feature film titled Floating Islands. This film will be produced by Roger Dean and David Mousley. The story is based on the underlying theme depicted in the album artwork for Yes. It will feature animated 3D renderings of classic Dean images and music by Yes.

Roger travels every summer to the North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest, as the invited guest, and has designed the festival logo every year since 2001. He welcomes the chance to meet many of his fans in person and has signed thousands of autographs of his work.

Dean has lived in Brighton since 1972.

[edit] Selected list of works

Arches Mist, 1996
Arches Mist, 1996
  • 1974 Relayer
  • 1975 Green Castle
  • 1976 Jade Sea
  • 1980 Drama
  • 1981 Green Tower
  • 1982 Asia Dragon
  • 1983 Asia Pyramid
  • 1984 Hunting Dragon
  • 1987 Freyja’s Castle
  • 1989 Blue Desert
  • 1989 Red Desert
  • 1991 The Guardians
  • 1991 Tsunami
  • 1991 Yellow City
  • 1993 Floating Islands
  • 1993 Shadowland
  • 1994 Aria
  • 1995 Sea of Light
  • 1995 Dragon’s Garden
  • 1995? Dragon’s Garden (i) Mist/Dragon
  • 1995? Dragon’s Garden (ii) Mist
  • 1995? Dragon’s Garden (iii) Sunrise/Dragon
  • 1995? Dragon’s Garden (iv) Sunrise
  • 1996 Arches Morning
  • 1996 Arches Mist
  • 1999 The Ladder
  • 2002 Floating Jungle

[edit] Game box covers

[edit] Books

  • The Flights of Icarus (ISBN 0-905895-16-9 editor, contributor). Large format color book with numerous paintings by Dean, Martyn Dean and others. Edited by Donald Lehmkuhl, Martyn Dean and Roger Dean.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Roger Dean (1975). Views. Reissue: Pomegranate (1993): ISBN 1-56640-448-7
  2. ^ a b Roger Dean (1984). Magnetic Storm. Reissue: Pomegranate (1993): ISBN 1-56640-449-5.
  3. ^ Roger Dean's profile at MobyGames
  4. ^ Home for Life designs at the official Roger Dean website

[edit] External links

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