The best record cover artwork of 2022 – winners announced

06 January 2023 - Press release

 

This evening, Art Vinyl reveals the winners of the 18th Best Art Vinyl Award, the definitive annual art prize for the best record cover design of the year. The public vote awarded first place to artist, Simon Monk for his work on UK rock collective Black Country, New Road's album cover for their critically-acclaimed second album Ants From Up There. Monk receives the coveted designers' prize at a presentation event this evening, held at the Hari in Belgravia London.

The work was chosen from a musically and artistically diverse shortlist of 50 nominations of the very best in vinyl record cover art from 2022, chosen by a panel of illustrious artists, designers and music industry experts (listed below).

All 50 nominees form a striking art installation in the window of the Hari, London from 3 Jan – 3 Feb and can also be viewed on the Best Art Vinyl 2022 Nominations Wall at the Art Vinyl touring exhibition, that spans seven decades of iconic album art, held at the Collection and Usher Gallery in Lincoln until 22^nd January.

The winning Ants From Up There artworks were chosen for their nostalgic quality by the group from Monk's portfolio, not only for the front cover but for additional artworks inside the Deluxe Vinyl box sets on Ninja Records, as drummer Charlie Wayne explains; "His work offered a really interesting transition from the work that we'd used before. You definitely get the sense that you are looking at an image that conjures a feeling of nostalgia that is as familiar as looking at a childhood photograph. The uncanny quality comes from the medium, it's a painting not a photograph - it's a meticulously laboured re-creation of that nostalgia rather than a candid snapshot."

Simon Monk himself explains his work "Having my images used as the visual identity for an album as brilliant as Ants From Up There has been a fantastic experience for me, bringing my work to a totally new audience...My plastic bag paintings were started as a solution to the problem of how to make a still life oil painting in the 21st century without it being boring and old fashioned. Looking at the golden airplane in the plastic bag now I see it as an image of frustrated desire. The potential power of the airplane is held in check but the bag is stretched and weak, suggesting the possibility of soaring liberation."

In second place is the artwork for French punk rock band, Birds In Row's album Gris Klein on Red Creek Recordings. The painting was created in oil on linen by band member and French Tattoo artist Bart Balboa who also created an accompanying Lithography on stone artwork for the LP. He describes the work on his Instagram page as "...the last painting I managed to finish before I fell into an artistic void. I am super happy with it, and seeing it on the cover of the LPs we sell every night brings me a lot of joy."

In third place Jake Blanchard's beautifully intricate illustration for Richard Dawson's album The Ruby Cord on Domino Records - the conclusion of a trilogy of LPs that began with the pre-medieval world of Peasant, was brought back to the present day with 2020 and concluded in the somewhat fantastical and sinister future with this, Dawson's seventh studio album. Read interview here.

This is the 18^th winner of the Best Art Vinyl Award, the unique contemporary art prize that celebrates record cover design by compiling the best in art, photography and graphic design in modern music culture. Best Art Vinyl 2022 winners join an impressive Art Vinyl archive of celebrated visual artists. Notably including the Hipgnosis design studio, legendary classical Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel, as well as the many unknown, unsung heroes of the music industry, who use design to create modern-day visual icons. Full Archives Here.

Best Art Vinyl founder, Andrew Heeps comments, "Every year we get blown away by just how many incredible creative pieces of work find their way into our homes to define the art and music of the year. This year there could have easily been 200 plus nominations for the Best Art Vinyl Award 2022. With a major touring Art Vinyl exhibition of these works and others, record sleeve designers are perhaps no longer the unsung heroes of the music industry, but have found their rightful, celebrated place in art galleries and homes that enjoy that powerful mix of art and music."

 

The 50 nominated Best Art Vinyl 2022 records with designer credits can be viewed at Artvinyl.com

A full list of winners from each year is also available on Artvinyl.com