Jack White shows his stripes

It’s fast becoming London’s most talked about art event. Jack White, the man who stripped rock music to its bare punk bones with the Detroit indie band The White Stripes, is fronting his first major solo art exhibition, which opens today (29th May) at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery. 

Titled Jack White: These Thoughts May Disappear, the exhibition sprawls across six galleries, revealing a lesser-known side to White’s creativity: one in which he is equally passionate about sculpture and furniture design as he is in music and songwriting.  

White’s multi-disciplinary output was evident as early as the 1990s. Before turning out the classics Fell In Love With A Girl (2002), Seven Nation Army, The Hardest Button To Button (2003) and My Doorbell (2005) with Meg White, he owned the store Third Man Upholstery, where he designed custom pieces, and combined vintage designs with built-in amps and speakers. As his music career went stratospheric, he quietly closed down the store to the public but continued it as a private practice. White is behind the distinct interiors and visual identities of his Third Man Records stores (which has outposts in Nashville, Detroit and London) – his aesthetic fusing bold Mondrian-style colour blocking with a cool retro vibe. He is also a prolific sculptor and assemblage artist, creating mixed-media pieces using reclaimed wood, industrial remnants and found objects.

These creative outpourings are witnessed by this show, which features sculptures made with found objects, alongside his interactive works, installations and furniture designs. His punchy Pantone palette takes viewers through each space, leading to one of the highlights of the exhibition: a remake of White’s 30ft sculpture The Red Tree, which embodies his original concept of transforming a decaying tree into an artwork. 

The exhibition, which runs until 13th September is curated by White with Connor Hirst, and has been arranged with HENI, the international art services and technology company that collaborates with leading artists and estates to make collecting and learning about art more accessible.