Jamie Reid's (b. 1947) cut-and-paste aesthetic developed from his interest in radical politics. His artistic style developed 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.
This artwork is one of a series of images Reid designed as props for the Sex Pistols mock documentary The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, released in 1980. Designed for a scene featuring McLaren dancing in Highgate Cemetery, Reid has insisted that the concept was 'hugely humanitarian', the point being that there is some good in everyone.
This artwork from the series features Ronnie Biggs, an accomplice in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, who, at that point, was a prison escapee in Brazil. After Lydon left the Pistols in January 1978, McLaren sent Jones (guitarist) and Cook (drummer) to Brazil to record with Biggs for the soundtrack of the film The Great Rock and Roll Swindle.