Towering over Knightsbridge, this is the biggest collage ever created by Sir Peter Blake, the godfather of British pop art. The 25m by 70.7m image was unveiled today, 50 years after his generation-defining album cover for The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The image will cover the front façade of the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park until May, during the first phase of its £185 million restoration. The PVC artwork, inspired by the Beatles cover and called Our Fans, was commissioned by the hotel’s owners.
The 100 figures include 30 celebrity “fans” of the hotel group, including Dame Helen Mirren and Jerry Hall, as well as the surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney.
The work took about 30 hours to produce, on a computer at the Coriander and Curwen Studios. Sir Peter said: “It was an amazing project to work on. Hopefully, people passing by will try to spot celebrities they recognise.”
Sir Peter Blake's biggest ever collage covers Mandarin Oriental hotel
His fee has not been disclosed but is likely to be considerably more than the £200 he received for designing the Beatles LP cover — and includes several nights’ accommodation at the hotel.
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