Jann Haworth facts for kids
Jann Haworth (born 1942) is a British-American artist famous for her work in the Pop Art movement. She is a pioneer of "soft sculpture," which means creating sculptures out of fabric and other soft materials.
Haworth is best known for co-creating the cover of The Beatles' famous 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. She is also a strong supporter of women's rights and works to make sure female artists are recognized for their talent.
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Life and art
Growing up in Hollywood
Jann Haworth was born in 1942 and grew up in Hollywood, California. Her family was very artistic. Her mother, Miriam Haworth, was a talented ceramist (an artist who works with clay), printmaker, and painter. Her father, Ted Haworth, was an art director for movies who won an Academy Award.
Being around so much creativity had a big impact on Jann. She learned to sew from her mother when she was eight years old. She also spent a lot of time with her father on movie sets. This experience influenced her art later on.
My mother taught me how to sew... from that point on I made dolls, their clothing and almost everything I wore. My father was a Hollywood production designer. I shadowed him on the sets. This influenced my work in the 1960s. I thought of the installations that I did as film sets. —Jann Haworth
In 1959, after making art for many years, Haworth began studying at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Moving to London
In 1961, Haworth moved to London, England. She studied art history and studio art at the Slade School of Fine Art. At the time, the art world was mostly run by men, but Haworth was determined to succeed.
She decided to use materials like cloth, latex, and sequins in her art. She felt this was a "female language" that set her work apart from the male students. During this time, she started creating her famous soft sculptures. She made fabric versions of everyday things like flowers and doughnuts. Soon, she was making life-sized figures, like her well-known "Old Lady" doll.
Haworth quickly became a leading artist in the British Pop Art movement. She had her first major show in 1963 and many more after that. Her work was shown in galleries across Europe. In 1968, she and her husband at the time, artist Peter Blake, won a Grammy Award for their work on the Sgt. Pepper's album cover.
Creating the Sgt. Pepper's Album Cover
The Beatles' art dealer, Robert Fraser, suggested that the band hire Haworth and Peter Blake to design their next album cover. The idea was to show The Beatles as a brass band at a special ceremony in a park, surrounded by a large crowd of famous people.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Haworth, and Blake all made lists of people they wanted in the crowd. Haworth and Blake then pasted life-sized photos of these famous figures onto hardboard. Haworth hand-colored each photo to bring it to life.
She also added several of her cloth sculptures to the scene. These included one of her "Old Lady" figures and a doll of the child actress Shirley Temple. The Shirley Temple doll wears a sweater that says "Welcome The Rolling Stones". It was also Haworth's idea to spell out the band's name in flowers, like a clock made of flowers she had seen in London.
Later career and new projects
In the 1970s, Haworth was part of an artists' group called the Brotherhood of Ruralists. She later separated from Blake and focused on raising her family. During this time, she also illustrated several children's books and designed book covers.
In 1997, Haworth moved back to the United States and settled in Sundance, Utah. She continued to create art and has had her work shown in galleries all over the world.
The SLC PEPPER Mural
In 2004, Haworth started a huge public art project in Salt Lake City, Utah, called SLC PEPPER. It is a giant mural that reimagines the famous Sgt. Pepper's album cover for the 21st century.
Haworth worked with many other artists to create a new crowd of heroes and heroines. The new faces were created using stencil graffiti. They replaced the original figures to include a more diverse group of people from different backgrounds.
Some of the new people featured in the mural include:
- Scientists like Jane Goodall and Richard Feynman
- Musicians like Bob Marley, David Bowie, and Frida Kahlo
- Activists like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Nelson Mandela
- Writers like Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison
The mural is designed to be interactive. The Beatles' jackets are metal cut-outs, so visitors can stand behind them and take pictures, becoming part of the artwork themselves.
Awards
- 1968 Grammy Award for Best Album Cover, for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- 1997 Churchill Fellowship, a special award for artists
See also
In Spanish: Jann Haworth para niños
