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My White Bicycle

Poster
1967 (made)
Artist/Maker
Hapshash and the Coloured Coat (artist)
Parlophone (issued by)
Osiris (publishers)
English, Michael (artist)
Weymouth, Nigel (artist)
Place of origin
London (made)

Psychedelic poster. Black and silver on white.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Posters
Object type
Poster
TitleMy White Bicycle (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Silkscreen screenprint
Paper
Screenprint
Printing
Brief description
Psychedelic poster by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat (Michael English and Nigel Waymouth) entitled 'My White Bicycle', promoting a single by the band Tomorrow, issued by Parlophone. Great Britain, 1967.
Physical description
Psychedelic poster. Black and silver on white.
Dimensions
  • Height: 750mm
  • Width: 496mm
Dimensions taken from departmental notes
Gallery label
"Michael English (born 1942) and Nigel Waymouth (born 1941)
My White Bicycle by Tomorrow. Poster promoting a single issued by Parlophone
1967
Published by Osiris Agency Ltd.
Screenprint
E.1701-1991

Commissioned by the manager of Tomorrow, Hapshash designed this image fro Tomorrow's first single in the back room of the Indica bookshop. The White Bicycle was a reference to the Amsterdam Provos' establishment of a free method of transport around the city in the form of white bicycles which could be used by anyone. IT reported how EMI would not allow the use of this image to advertise the record because of the nude breasts of the female figure.
Tomorrow were also memorable to the Underground for playing on the night of the Rolling Stones' bust when spontaneously the UFO crowd decided to picket the offices of The News of the World, who were thought to be behind the bust. After the march, where police dogs had been unleashed, the crowd returned to UFO and Tomorrow gave one of their best performances to a packed audience. In general, the crowd at UFO encouraged some of the band's wildest and most adventurous improvisations."

Text by Julia Bigham
Object history
Poster advertsing a record recorded by the group Tomorrow for Parlophone. Published by the Osiris Agency, London.
Subjects depicted
Psychedelic Art
Bicycles
Cyclists
Free
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Christoph Grunberg, ed. Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era London: Tate, 2005. 239 p. : ill. (some col.) ISBN: 1854375954.
  • Philippe Thiébaut, ed. Art Nouveau Revival Paris: Musee d'Orsay, 2009. ISBN: 978-2-35433-040-8.
Other number
OA102
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1701-1991

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Record createdNovember 13, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O129163/my-white-bicycle-poster-english-michael/
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