Sir Peter Blake, R.A.

DANAD Design Archive

London, DANAD Design, Portal Gallery, 8 - 19 November 1960

London, Paul Smith, DANAD Design, 25 April - 10 May 2019

London, William Morris Gallery, DANAD Design: 1958-1962, February - April 2020

DANAD design was founded in 1958 by Barry Daniels and Tom Addams. The collective included artists Peter Blake, Robyn Denny, Bernard Cohen and Edward Wright, as well as architects and designers Colin Huntley and Peters Adams. This young generation of artists sought to break down boundaries between art and design. Fine art was no longer confined to walls. Instead they strove to bring art into everyday life, by using mundane objects as a new artistic platform. Their unique hand-crafted furniture designs and wall panels adopted innovative techniques of collage, print and painting. Unique DANAD works provided a new imaginative flair to the dreary design of the time, and were sold at some of London's most fashionable stores such Liberty, Heal’s and Harrods. 

These artistic pioneers collaborated in the dilapidated, bohemian hub of Marden Hill, a Georgian country house in Hertfordshire. The cultural oasis saw visits from the biggest designers, rock-stars and poets of the era; Hendrix, Jagger and Hughes all mixed with the DANAD milieu. Although, the collective was disbanded in 1962, the DANAD legacy and impact is undeniable with many art historians considering their art as one of the defining features of Pop Art and helped launch the careers of some of Britain’s most renowned and respected artists.