In Bloom: The Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition was an art exhibition celebrating 20 years since the release of 'Nevermind', held in London at The Loading Bay Gallery on Brick Lane, hosted by Idea Generation, from September 13th-25th 2011. This exhibition included many personal items and memorabilia such as a hoodie worn by lead singer Kurt Cobain for a Melody Maker photoshoot, tour posters, a piece of fretboard from one of Kurt's guitars, rarely seen photographs and more. Featuring photography by world renowned artists Steve Gullick, Martyn Goodacre, Matt Anker, Steve Double, Tony Mottram & Tony Woolliscroft.

Nirvana: An Introduction

In Bloom: The Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition was an art exhibition celebrating 20 years since the release of 'Nevermind', held in London at The Loading Bay Gallery on Brick Lane, hosted by Idea Generation, from September 13th-25th 2011. This exhibition included many personal items and memorabilia such as a hoodie worn by lead singer Kurt Cobain for a Melody Maker photoshoot, tour posters, a piece of fretboard from one of Kurt's guitars, rarely seen photographs and more. Featuring photography by world renowned artists Steve Gullick, Martyn Goodacre, Matt Anker, Steve Double, Tony Mottram & Tony Woolliscroft.

A Few Of The Photographers:

Steve Gullick

Steve Gullick is a music photographer whose prolific force has dominated the industry for almost thirty years. With pristine and cinematic images, he has photographed and created imagery for many established musicians and bands such as Blur, Björk, White Stripes, The Prodigy, Radiohead, as well as of course, Nirvana, along with many others. His crisp and precise black and white portraits and expanding experimentation is something to be marvelled at, hand printing his own work and putting in sheer dedication. His work is very reminiscent of his childhood, with Steve harking his style of photography back to his childhood love of being in the dark, stating "When I was a kid, pretty much all I did was sit in the dark, listening to music, drawing pictures. That aspect of me now is the same. I love the darkroom, with music on – it’s brilliant."

Martyn Goodacre

Martyn Goodacre is a highly regarded and much respected British photographer, who has shot many profound musicians from Nirvana to The Stone Roses, with his work being featured in magazines such as Q Magazine and NME. His photography is greatly inspired by the political unrests of society, especially London, and civilisation under gentrification, poverty and bigotry. Capturing everyone from gypsies, punks, squatters and new aged travellers, he wanted to snapshot the history of these people and capture how society has slowly pushed them so far and "often over the cliff". He photographed the good, bad and the ugly, and conveyed how he had experienced it through his lens. The wide variety in his black and white photography is what makes it so exciting and stand-out, from capturing those who banded together despite the disparity to "live, eat, demonstrate, perform and create", to the most iconic bands like Nirvana, with his classic portraits.

Exhibition Summary:

Nirvana: The Nevermind Exhibition was the definition of an immersive experience. With the inclusion of contributions from fans themselves, it wasn't just a visual time machine to 1991, but in fact the UK fans could include their own work such as photos within the exhibition, creating such a beautiful environment for those who have such a deep connection and love for the band. Alongside this, the exhibition showcased an array of items such as memorabilia, artefacts and photography, from portraits to original clothing and instrumentation. As well as this, this exhibition included replicas of the bands instruments, with an exact replica of Kurt's Fender Jaguar guitar, and a selection of lyrics and vintage posters, t-shirts and more. Nirvana treasured their connection with their UK fans, and for them to have been able to include their own personal moments and history with the band in this exhibition brought a whole new level of excitement to the exhibition and most importantly. to the dedicated die-hard fans of Nirvana. As well as this, including written lyrics, clothing and Kurt's actual piece of fretboard from one of his own guitars just made this event that much more remarkable, because it made sure viewers could experience so much more to Nirvana, having a first-hand look and examination of exceptional memorabilia for only a limited amount of fans to see, for only 2 weeks.

Alongside the opening of this incredible exhibition, there was a complete re-release of the Nevermind album, with configurations ranging from a 4-CD/1-DVD Super Deluxe Edition to a standard digital/CD re-master of the original album, the 20th anniversary reissue of Nevermind makes the most of the occasion, unearthing literally dozens of previously unreleased recordings, obscure B-sides, alternate mixes, radio sessions, studio rarities and live recordings, including a 1991 Halloween concert at Seattle's Paramount Theatre in it’s entirety. For those that attended this exhibition, being at the forefront of Nirvana's genius and creative minds was truly a day to never forget. In addition to all the glory and literal Nirvana treasure this event displayed, to include a Q&A portion as well as receiving fan contributions transformed this exhibition from good to noteworthy; this exhibition encapsulated the brilliance of Nirvana, and involved such passionate fans to be a part of their historical legacy.

In Bloom: The Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition opened from September 13th to September 25th, 2011 at The Loading Gallery on Brick Lane, London.

Blog by Libby Mitchell