Not currently on display at the V&A

Jamie Reid archive

Banner
1977 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This promotional banner poster is for the Sex Pistols' album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.. The artwork is similar in colour and design to the album cover, but adjusts the wording so that 'Here's the Sex Pistols' is replaced by 'We Stock Sex Pistols'. The title caused trouble on release, with many papers refusing to print the word 'bollocks', and the owner of one record shop in Nottingham was prosecuted for indecent advertisement under an 1889 Act.

Jamie Reid (1947-2023) developed his cut-and-paste aesthetic while at art college in Croydon, where he was influenced by the ideas of the avant-garde political group, the Situationist International. The political slant to his art was aroused by the May 1968 Paris student riots, which inspired fraternal protests organised by Reid at the Croydon College of Art. These were directed with fellow student Malcolm McLaren (1946-2010), later to become the manager of the Sex Pistols.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleJamie Reid archive (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Printed ink on paper
Brief description
Banner poster advertising Sex Pistols' album 'Never Mind the Bollocks'. Designed by Jamie Reid. Jamie Reid archive
Physical description
Banner poster advertising the Sex Pistols' album Never Mind the Bollocks. Yellow with the title and 'We Stock Sex Pistols' printed in black.
Dimensions
  • Height: 20.5cm
  • Length: 98.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS / We SToCK SeX PiSTOLS
Subject depicted
Summary
This promotional banner poster is for the Sex Pistols' album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.. The artwork is similar in colour and design to the album cover, but adjusts the wording so that 'Here's the Sex Pistols' is replaced by 'We Stock Sex Pistols'. The title caused trouble on release, with many papers refusing to print the word 'bollocks', and the owner of one record shop in Nottingham was prosecuted for indecent advertisement under an 1889 Act.

Jamie Reid (1947-2023) developed his cut-and-paste aesthetic while at art college in Croydon, where he was influenced by the ideas of the avant-garde political group, the Situationist International. The political slant to his art was aroused by the May 1968 Paris student riots, which inspired fraternal protests organised by Reid at the Croydon College of Art. These were directed with fellow student Malcolm McLaren (1946-2010), later to become the manager of the Sex Pistols.
Collection
Accession number
S.781-1990

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Record createdJuly 21, 2009
Record URL
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