In Support of
AN ANTHOLOGY OF TEN YEARS OF SGT PEPPER CELEBRITY MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
A DECADE IN THE LIVES – THE BOOK
To mark this milestone, Barker will publish a beautifully produced commemorative book, present a special London exhibition, and auction an exclusive collection of limited-edition prints.
This beautifully produced, 100-page coffee table volume celebrates a decade-long artistic journey, bringing together all ten images from the project for the very first time. Each image is accompanied by detailed keys identifying every individual depicted, as well as insightful commentary on the people and events that inspired them.
The book features an exclusive foreword by Emmy Award–winning writer David Quantick, along with the complete behind-the-scenes story of how this extraordinary ten-year project came to life.
Actors’ Trust
Chris is proud to support Actors’ Trust on this project, a charity his late mother worked with for over 18 years. Founded in 1882, Actors' Trust helps industry professionals across sound, stage and screen, in good times and bad. Actors’ Trust provides a range of financial and wellbeing support. A percentage of the profits from A Decade in the Lives will go directly to the charity.
Please visit their website to find out more about the great work that they do. www.actorstrust.org.uk
THE Press
It is the highlight of our Christmas coverage; the ten minutes we devote each year, on the BBC, to the creative talents of Chris Barker. His modern recreation of the Sgt Pepper album, using the faces of celebrities and personalities that passed in the year gone by, always evokes a strong viewer response. I salute Chris's artistry, his meticulous organisation, and the careful consideration and positioning of each member of his cast, that must go into these brilliant collages. Bravo!
Over the past ten years, it feels like there has been a terrible cull of pop cultural icons who so enriched our times. Chris Barker's magnificent Sgt Pepper inspired collages memorialise the fallen stars of music, film and TV with a mischiet that inspires joy and laughter amidst the tears.
When I stumbled on Chris' first Sgt. Peppers tribute in 2016 it pulled at my heart at a time when nothing made sense. Donald Trump had turned American politics on its head and, more crucially for me, two of my musical north stars, David Bowie and Prince - who I once interviewed back-to-back in the same weekend in 1999 - had died unexpectedly that year. The combination of his update to one of the most iconic album covers in rock history, combined with the mind-bending front line featuring Muhammad Ali, Gene Wilder, Motorhead's Lemmy, Prince, Bowie and another childhood anchor, original R2D2 actor Kenny Baker, compelled me to find out more about this charitable effort aimed at paying tribute to the cultural heroes who had defined so many of our lives. Plus, as a puzzle-lover, the joy of zooming in to suss out all the other faces and Easter eggs in the image felt like the best kind of treasure hunting.