Dance music legend Carl Cox has teamed up with photographic artist Mark Vessey on a new exhibition at Enter Gallery in Brighton. For the latest in his ‘Collections’ series documenting unique collections of popular culture, Vessey delves into the vast musical archive that is Cox’s personal vinyl collection, with the resulting photographs on display at Enter Gallery.
Image courtesy of Enter Gallery
Carl Cox and Mark Vessey’s collaboration at Enter Gallery is the latest in a series of artistic exchanges between artists and icons of the music industry, following artist collaborations with Fatboy Slim and Simon Dunmore. I spoke with Cox and Vessey to learn more about their new collaboration.
Mark Vessey
Lee Sharrock: Whose idea was it for an artistic collaboration between you and Carl
Cox, and how long did the creative process take?
Image courtesy of Enter Gallery
Mark Vessey: My idea came after hearing Carl speak about how he had drawn upon his vinyl collection during lock down to aid his own comfort during that period, but also to share what he described as the ‘medicine’ he shared with everyone through his online shows from his studio, ‘Cabin Fever’. In those shows you could see how Carl connected emotionally with his collection, the love and passion he had for his music and how that had shaped him. I wanted to work with Carl drawing upon his 150,000 pieces of vinyl to be able to visually tell his story.
Lee Sharrock: Your work has been inspired by music in the past including collections inspired by David Bowie and various dance music subgenres. A lot of musicians went to art school before their careers in music, including Jarvis Cocker, Brian Ferry, Brian Eno and Florence Welch. Why do you think art and music are so closely related, and have you always been inspired by music?
Mark Vessey: I’ve always been inspired by pop culture and how art can connect us through storytelling. How our shared histories are all intertwined and connected. We learn so much about ourselves through the shared stories of others. I believe music and art are so closely related as they create such strong emotional connections and reactions within us. We are emotional beings, music and art remind us of who we are.
Lee Sharrock: Your work has been inspired by music in the past including collections inspired by David Bowie and various dance music subgenres. A lot of musicians went to art school before their careers in music, including Jarvis Cocker, Brian Ferry, Brian Eno and Florence Welch. Why do you think art and music are so closely related, and have you always been inspired by music?
Mark Vessey: I’ve always been inspired by pop culture and how art can connect us through storytelling. How our shared histories are all intertwined and connected. We learn so much about ourselves through the shared stories of others. I believe music and art are so closely related as they create such strong emotional connections and reactions within us. We are emotional beings, music and art remind us of who we are.
Lee Sharrock: How did you and Carl decide on what vinyl from his 150,000 plus collection to photograph for the exhibition, and what sort of camera did you use?
Mark Vessey: Carl and I spent the first day going through his vinyl collection over two locations together pulling out various vinyl albums. It was magical to see Carl’s reactions and get to listen to him talk about the albums we were discovering. At the end of the first day, we had a big initial first edit we then came back the following morning with fresh eyes and did another edit from which I was able to create the artwork. I photograph my artwork using a Mamiya RZ medium format camera, the 6×7 negative give the photograph a great deal of detail and quality.
Image courtesy of Enter Gallery
Carl Cox
Lee Sharrock: How did your collaboration with Mark Vessey and Enter Gallery originate?
Carl Cox: The collaboration was born out of our shared love of music and it has been great to map out my career through the medium of photography with Mark taking the time to explore what each of the records I chose means to me as part of his artistic process. As part of this Mark flew out to Australia where most of my collection is housed and spent a few days getting to know me and the records and the stories behind them.
Lee Sharrock: What was the creative process like with Mark – did you work closely together on the selection of vinyl from your collection that inspires the art?
Carl Cox: We worked together to go through what my collection means to me before I chose the records that I wanted to represent me and what I feel embodies special moments in my career as well as the tunes that have helped define my sound. As you can imagine with 150,000 pieces of vinyl, it wasn’t the easiest task to make the selection but I feel like this was spot on. Once Mark and I started digging inti the meaning behind each piece it helped shape his vision of how to tell the story. This isn’t just a pile of records, Mark spent a lot of time expertly curating them which is why the resulting art work is so amazing.
Lee Sharrock: Describe your relationship with Brighton and how has it inspired you?
Carl Cox: Brighton is a special place where I’ve had some of my best experiences. It always feels like I’m coming home which is why my Brighton beach summer show is one of the highlights of my year.
‘Carl’ is a photographic print from a limited edition of 50 and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by both Mark Vessey and Carl Cox.
©2024 Carl Cox, Mark Vessey
Lee Sharrock is a global creative PR consultant, curator and writer for publications including; Art Doc Photography Magazine, ArtLyst, Creative Review, FAD Magazine, F22, Runway Gallery Magazine, Soho House Magazine and STATE.
