Grey Organisation; Toby Mott; De La Soul
Two Text and Flower "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" Acetate Study for De La Soul's 1988 debut 3 Feet High and Rising
Lot Closed
July 25, 04:41 PM GMT
Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Two works on acetate: 1 sheet (11 x 12.2 in.) covered in yellow Posca paint pen, overlaid with additional acetate sheet bearing orange, black Posca paint pen text study (“DE LA SOUL”); adhered together with small piece of tape on each side and 1 sheet (8½ x 11 in.) flower study in yellow, orange, black Posca paint pen.
Both works stamped “Grey Organisation 1988” in lower right margin, plus printed ownership labels reading “The Mott Collection TM” stamped “9174” (text study) and “9178” (flower study) in black ink. Adhesive discoloration to tape, small areas of pigment loss to various design elements.
Courtesy Toby Mott
Chang, Jeff. “3 Feet High and Rising.” Review of 3 Feet High and Rising, by De La Soul. Released March 3, 1989. Pitchfork, September 23, 2018. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/de-la-soul-3-feet-high-and-rising/.
Mott, Toby. “NEW YORK CITY, HIP HOP IN THE DAISY AGE, SUMMER 1989.” Hypergallery. https://hypergallery.com/en-us/blogs/blog/new-york-city-hip-hop-in-the-daisy-age-summer-1989.
TWO STUDIES FOR "D.A.I.S.Y. AGE," THE VISUAL CONCEPT FOR DE LA SOUL'S DEBUT ALBUM, 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING
3 Feet High and Rising (1989) was the debut album of De La Soul—the trio comprised of Kevin "Posdnuos" Mercer, Dave "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and Vincent "Pasemaster Mase" Mason, with vital contributions from producer DJ Paul "Prince Paul" Huston. This debut was an instant critical and commercial success, "an unprecedented assemblage of sound... offering a world as richly imagined as anything American pop has ever produced" (Chang).
With its splashy, cartoon-inspired graphics, 3 Feet also established a new look for Hip Hop. De La’s label Tommy Boy Records engaged British art collective Grey Organisation to develop the album's aesthetic—bringing together a bright, neon palette, and a playful, pop-art sensibility into something uniquely fitted to De La's "high-concept, hilariously genuine, generously human" ethos (Chang).
The present text and flower studies are variations of the design elements that would later appear in the final cover design.