“They were adamant it wasn’t going to be a history of Radiohead. So it’s not about the music, they were very clear about that. This is about the art that defined their global career and the intrinsic relationships that made that happen”, co-curator Natasha Podro tells me as she guides us through The Ashmolean‘s new exhibition ‘This Is What You Get‘, which opens on Wednesday (August 6).
This Is What You Get is of course the last lyric of arguably Radiohead’s most famous song Karma Police from their legendary album OK Computer, but here explores the content and ongoing collaboration between lead singer and song writer Thom Yorke and artist Stanley Donwood, who co-designed all the album covers, t shirts, graphics and art work that helped elevate Radiohead to its stratospheric level.
All of which hits you straight between the eyes as you are led by the inimitable tree designed corridor into the ‘record store’ where all the iconic Radiohead album covers and foreign releases line the walls. And while Radiohead’s success couldn’t be more stridently evident, the artwork itself tells its own story, which is after all the point.
‘This is not a Radiohead exhibition, or an art precis, it’s a celebration and intimate look into the machinations of Thom and Stanley’s minds, friendship and lifetime artistic partnership. Their story pans out on the walls’
To put that into context, Radiohead sold 30 million albums, won six Grammys, four Ivor Novello and are the most nominated Mercury artists of all time, and yet they have still been involved in This Is What You Get‘ every step of the way.
“We have worked very closely with Thom and Stanley on this over the 18 months it’s taken to bring This Is What You Get‘ to fruition,” Natasha says, “which has only further demonstrated how they trust each other implicitly.”
Thom Yorke and artist Stanley Donwood met at Exeter University, and once Radiohead’s record company commissioned an album cover for first album Pablo Honey were hugely dissatisfied with the results. Thom contacted Stanley, talked through some ideas and the two began collaborating immediately, something that has inexorably continued.
‘as Radiohead were recording their nine studio albums albums, Stanley was mostly in situ, listening to the music coming together and creating the relevant artwork simultaneously’
So as Radiohead were recording their nine studio albums albums, Stanley was mostly in situ, listening to the music coming together and creating the relevant artwork simultaneously.
Evidence of this symbiotic relationship can be seen in the pair’s notebooks; their ideas, inspiration, sketches, jokes and graphics, continually passed backwards and forwards until the final process was completed.
Take The Bends iconic cover, constructed using a resuscitation dummy found in the John Radcliffe Hospital and then photographed, and photographed again, until the image was distorted and pixellated.
The Bends iconic cover was constructed using a resuscitation dummy found in the John Radcliffe Hospital and then photographed until the image was distorted and pixellated
But this is not a Radiohead exhibition, or an art precis, it’s a celebration and intimate look into the machinations of Thom and Stanley’s minds, friendship and lifetime artistic partnership. Their story pans out on the walls.
“The other lovely thing about their relationship is that they did not compromise, regardless of public opinion. They took total control and maintained it for 30 years, which is very unusual,” Natasha says. “And the music has always been integral to the art. But they wanted the art work to be completely different on each album, to bring something new to the table every time by throwing themselves off a creative cliff.”
‘The lovely thing about their relationship is that they did not compromise, regardless of public opinion’
Which may sound relatively straightforward, but that would be to underestimate the complexity of their tie and unique methodology, which plays out throughout the exhibition with a joyful, no-holds-barred intimacy. “They have taken great pleasure in it,” Natasha agrees.
So we witness how their sparks fly, the continual and unstoppable flow of orchestrated collusion, the pair starting and finishing each others work with an untenable fluency. And while Stanley Donwood is a professional artist, and more prevalent, they insist that all the finished artwork is the result of pooling resources; from their initial conversations, brain-storming and continual evolvement to the joint sharing of paint strokes. A joint effort.
‘they insist that all the finished artwork is the result of pooling resources; from their initial conversations, brain-storming and continual evolvement to the joint sharing of paint strokes. A joint effort’
From maps and diagrams to cartoons, dreams, folklore, tree obsessions, Minotaur prevalence, the fascinating trail is as enjoyable as the finished product. Take their marketing for Anima when they released a teaser video of an office, Thom pretending to work there, gradually introduced into the takes until fans noticed him and knew something big was going down. You can see it for yourself.
Or the prints of London landmarks and skylines drawing in a Biblical flood to demonstrate global warning. Or the film made of the video game they made during lockdown featuring the iconic logo ‘SEX. WORK. DEATH’.
No human element is evident in Moon Shaped Pool from 2016. Instead, Thom and Stanley built a wooden pool and filled it with paint and left it to the elements and dipped the canvases onto the surface for their distinctive marbling effect.
‘the infamous modified bears are based on a recurring nightmare that Stanley had’
Or the infamous modified bears, based on a recurring nightmare that Stanley had, and slowly worked on until the bears became synonymous with Radiohead itself. With In Rainbows Stanley accidentally spilt wax on some technical drawings he was working on and were both enhanced by the effect, combining juxtapositioning and text to create the unmissable work. “They had had so much fun with syringes and wax,” Natasha laughs.
Not all of the exhibition is entirely music related, Thom and Stanley producing a glorious explosion of colour and fantasy post Covid when the pair reunited. Without an album to centre it on they had free licence to let rip. The huge tapestry adorning the Music and Tapestry Gallery room, named Monstrous Threaded Membranes, was based on one of these paintings, and made in Flanders from a digital image.
‘Not all of the exhibition is entirely music related, Thom and Stanley producing a glorious explosion of colour and fantasy post Covid when the pair reunited’
On the other side of the room a bleak collection of Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes 2014 depict no mans land style landscapes devoid of trees, reflecting a difficult time in Thom’s life, and yet work that Stanley is enormously proud of, demonstrating again that where one starts and the other ends is indefinable. Thom’s notepad of his biggest fears, turned into Things I’m Worried About by Stanley, is another obvious example.
“For Thom, art has been his sanctuary. Being able to take refuge in Stanley’s studio while he was recording helped him deal with the pressure, especially after the massive success of the first two albums. It was a release. So this is exhibition is a big deal,” Natasha agrees.
‘For Thom, art has been his sanctuary. Being able to take refuge in Stanley’s studio while he was recording helped him deal with the pressure. It was a release.’
So how do they feel about the exhibition? “They are both so excited to see their art in the context of a museum and to witness how it makes the transition. “But they are always very generous with their work. They share so much, but never all under one roof. So whether you are a Radiohead fan or not, This Is What You Get‘ is fun, and showcases a really unique way of working.
“So we are really happy with it. It has a real confidence about it. And as for the gift shop, the merchandise is amazing because of Thom and Stanley’s attention to detail – it’s how they wanted to do it.”
This Is What You Get runs from Wednesday August 5- Jan 11 2026. Book here https://www.ashmolean.org/exhibition/this-is-what-you-get-stanley-donwood-radiohead-thom-yorke
