A Makeshift Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
I always find it an incredibly strange feeling sitting in an empty gallery, blinded by the glaringly white walls, void of pictures. But thankfully, this feeling of displacement won’t be for very long as this week, we’re getting ready for our next exhibition here at Idea Generation - a collection of maverick photographer, Gavin Bond’s fantastic music photography, a slight departure from our last exhibition of Nat Finkelstein’s Sixties wonderment.
As a relative newcomer to the gallery scene, I still find myself getting a little (too) excited when the art handlers arrive, brandishing their tools and frames and when the scaffolding arrives…don’t get me started. Yes, this shouldn’t really be something I should admit, but having never really had the opportunity to see an exhibition from the start before I started working at Idea Generation Gallery, I think I might allow myself this initial excitement, at least for one more exhibition. And what’s even better is that we’ve got Becks and Zubrowka vodka on board for the launch party, so it’s safe to say we’re all pretty excited!
You’ll probably recognise Bond’s work, if not the actual photographs then you would probably have to have been living under a stone not to recognise the subjects of his lens. With an endless little black book featuring the likes of Jessica Alba, Alessandra Ambrosio, Grace Jones, the cast of Scrubs, Entourage, Lost and 
Arrested Development, half the rock n roll hall of fame, not forgetting the Victoria’s Secret ladies, his work has graced the covers of GQ and Q magazine and been used for major advertising campaigns around the world.
A former student of St Martin’s College of Art and Design, Bond has left the glitz of New York to revisit his home turf. Judging by this exhibition, he’s back with a vengeance with the first ever exhibition of his music photography in the UK.
Looking at the familiar faces propped against the walls, ready to take their place in Idea Generation’s makeshift hall of fame, its clear these aren’t your standard smile-at-the-camera shots. With amazing sequences of Katy Perry, The Pussycat Dolls, The Killers, U2 and No Doubt, Bond’s photographs tell a story. He expertly infiltrates their personas with his lens, letting us see the side they don’t always show the public- after seeing the brutal results of the Kings of Leon’s brotherly brawl I can’t help but think perhaps they aren’t the good guys of rock after all…
Seeing these photographs, it really is an homage to the potential of the camera not only to create something beautiful but also say something beautiful. For me, this idea and the real passion behind Bond’s work seeps through with the sweat and vigour he captures (and no doubt puts in himself) in his guerrilla-style live photography.
From Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler to Velvet Revolver’s charismatic frontman, Scott Wyland and incredible shots straight from the pits of infamous rock festival Ozzfest, the photographs extend a front row invitation to us all…and without the imminent threat of a broken rib. But Bond isn’t just capturing the rock n roll lifestyle- he’s living it. True to this, he’s even been accompanying Green Day on their world tour in preparation for this first photography book focusing on the Californian punks.
Thankfully, the front row just isn’t good enough for Gavin Bond; he’s onstage, backstage, on the tour bus home- and this is pretty much exactly what you want from a music photographer
