Destroy/Rankin

Collaborations between one of the world’s most acclaimed fashion and lifestyle photographers and more than 70 renowned musicians that reinterpret the genre of portraiture.

An acclaimed photographer, publisher, and film director with a mischievous eye,

Rankin established himself internationally by founding the breakthrough magazine

Dazed & Confused with his business partner Jefferson Hack in 1991. For

Destroy / Rankin, over 70 of the world’s biggest musicians and visual artists have

created a new body of artwork based on Rankin’s iconic portraits of musicians.

Asked to destroy the photographs, artists including Michael Stipe, U2, The Gossip,

Beck, Jarvis Cocker, Debbie Harry, Kylie Minogue, Basement Jaxx, Goldfrapp, and

Marianne Faithfull have created a portfolio of deeply personal reflections on their

music and images. This unique body of collaborative art ranges from paintings

and drawings to collage. While some of the musicians have destroyed the artwork

themselves, others have worked with visual artists such as Damien Hirst,

Matt Collishaw, and Douglas Gordon.

Destroy / Rankin also contains five essays on the relationship between art and

music that feature the perspectives of the included artists along with key cultural

commentators such as Mike Figgis, Peter Saville, Miranda Sawyer, and Rankin

himself. This limited edition book also includes a 30-minute DVD with behind the

scenes footage, providing a rare insight in to Rankin’s work and creative process.

Destroy / Rankin is a reflection on the brilliant music portraiture of one of the

world’s leading photographers. The book is a collaboration between Rankin and

Youth Music, the UK’s largest charity that provides music to socially disadvantaged

young people, to celebrate its tenth anniversary.