Godfather of Pop Art, Sir Peter Blake

“Life slows you up a little at the age of 80, but I will never retire, I like my work. For the new version of the Sgt Pepper album cover I’ve chosen people I admire, great people and some who are dear friends. I had a very long list of people but couldn’t fit everyone in. For this show at Ink_d we also included a wide range of positive and good stuff from the ‘60s through to today. My favourite things about Brighton are Max Miller, the fish ’n’ chips and the pubs.”

Godfather of Pop Art, Sir Peter Blake, celebrated his 80th birthday this year with an exhibition at Brighton’s Ink_d Gallery in the North Laine, during July. In the late 1950s he became one of the best known British pop artists with his work exhibited alongside David Hockney at the Tate. Sir Peter is best known for his design of the sleeve for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and to mark his birthday he produced an updated version of this iconic artwork, probably the most famous record cover ever produced. The recent ‘Happy Birthday Peter Blake’ exhibition in Brighton included both new and rare pieces of his work.