• The GAllery

     

    Located in the heart of the Sussex countryside, Trading Boundaries is a Fine Art Gallery, major retail destination, fully-licensed restaurant and award-winning live music venue. In recent years, we have become home to the internationally recognised artist Roger Dean.

     

     With a deep knowledge of Roger Dean's art together with a shared enthusiasm for the associated music, Trading Boundaries is the ideal place to view, enquire and purchase his Art.

     

    As well as curating Roger's work, we have hosted exhibitions for Hypgnosis, (credited for artwork associated with Pink Floyd and  Peter Gabriel amongst others),  together with  Cliff Wright ( the artist that was responsible for producing the early Harry Potter illustrations ).

     

  • About Roger Dean

     

    Our permanent gallery of Roger Dean art includes many limited and open edition prints, allowing you to view the sublime quality and colour of each piece with the opportunity to purchase in store or through Roger's website. We also hold a number of rare, collectable original paintings, drawings, watercolours and sketches, some of which can be viewed on request.

     

    Trading Boundaries is the perfect destination for fans, art enthusiasts and collectors alike. Each autumn we host a major annual exhibition together with unique events that tie in with the live performances in our award winning live music venue, featuring auctions, story-teller sessions, and masterclasses . 

     

    For any enquiries regarding purchase, exhibitions or private viewing, please contact michael@tradingboundaries.com or discuss viewing arrangements with our gallery team on 01825 790 200.

     

    See our Exhibitions page as well as our Facebook and Twitter for up to date event & exhibition news.

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    ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST ICONIC ALBUM DESIGNERS...

    Roger Dean was born in Ashford, Kent, but he spent most of his childhood moving around the world with his British Army father. The family returned to England in 1959 where he was educated at Ashford Grammar School. He later earned a National Diploma of Design from the Canterbury College of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts). In 1968, he graduated from the Royal College of Art in London where he was a student of Professor David Pye. His Master's thesis was on 'The psychology of the built environment'.

     

     

    INVENTION vs DESIGN

    Beginning in the field of design, he preferred to distinguish between design (the reworking of existing models), and invention (making something new). One of his inventions was the "sea urchin chair." It was a foam chair, which, though appearing spherical, would conform to the sitter, who could obtain a seated position of varying angles. Later, he was asked to design a "landscape" of similar seating for a club belonging to Ronnie Scott. His "retreat pod" chair design was featured in the film A Clockwork Orange.
     

     

    ALBUM COVERS

    His first album cover work was in 1968 for the Gun. He also did the artwork for Atomic Rooster's album In Hearing of... This album cover hinted at the inimitable style for which he would later become famous. In the same year Dean produced the cover for the first album by the African/Caribbean band Osibisa, which featured a hybrid insect/elephant. This was much closer to Dean's work as we came to know it and it attracted widespread attention. Later that year, he began the partnership with the progressive rock bands Yes (and Asia) for which he is best known. His first design for Yes was for their album Fragile. Dean designed the now-classic Yes "bubble" logo, which first appeared on the album Close to the Edge, and continued to create covers for the band until as recently as 2014 (Heaven & Earth). Yes guitarist Steve Howe said, "There is a pretty tight bond between our sound and Roger's art." In addition to their album covers, Dean also contributed to his brother Martyn Dean's stage set designs for the band.

     

    Known primarily for the dreamy, other-worldly scenes he has created for Yes, Budgie, Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant and other bands, Dean has said, "I don't really think of myself as a fantasy artist but as a landscape painter." Characteristic landscapes show graceful stone arches (as shown inArches Mist, below) or floating islands, while many paintings show organic appearing habitats (such as shown in the cover for Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe). Though he primarily works with watercolour paints, many of his paintings make use of multiple media, including gouache, ink, enamel, crayon and collage. In addition to his cover paintings, Dean is respected for his calligraphic work, designing logos and titles to go with his paintings.

     

     

    VIDEO GAME ART

    Beginning in 1985 with the software company Psygnosis, Dean has been responsible for the cover artwork for several video games, including Shadow of the Beast, Tetris Worlds as well as a redesign of the Tetris logo.

     

     

    PUBLISHING

    Three compilations of his work have been published, including Views (1975) (the success of which led him to form publishing house Paper Tiger Books), Magnetic Storm (1984), and Dragon's Dream (2008). In addition, his architectural and furniture work have been exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the Royal Academy.

     

    You can learn more about Roger by visiting www.rogerdean.com