This major retrospective catalogue accompanies the first institutional exhibition focusing on the visual works of art by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke. The majority of the paintings, drawings and digital works were specifically made for Yorke’s internationally celebrated band Radiohead, formed in Oxford in 1985. The book is beautifully designed in the same size as a record cover and features iconic artworks from the 1980s until today, relating to Radiohead albums, their covers and promotional band images, as well as sketchbooks and rare materials from their archives that have never before been published. It offers fresh views on the art of album covers, exploring the complex relationship between visual art and music.

Radiohead was formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The collaboration with the artist Stanley Donwood began in 1994 when the band was developing their second album, The Bends, which was released on 13th March, 1995. 2025 is therefore the 40-year anniversary of the band and the 30-year anniversary of the release of The Bends. The catalogue’s focus is upon the art produced by both Stanley Donwood and the band’s lead vocalist, Thom Yorke presented chronologically. Radiohead’s popularity has never waned and they have a strong core following and new fans (many of who are the children of ‘original’ fans).

The high-quality reproductions are complemented by exclusive interviews with the artists, and essays by Alex Farquharson, Nico Kos Earle, Benjamin Myers, James Putnam and Jennifer Ramkalawon.

A major retrospective is held at the Ashmolean Museum from August 2025 to January 2026.

_Complete survey of the collaboration between Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke for the band, Radiohead
_Many previously unpublished works and notebooks included
_Exclusive interview with Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood
_Includes essay by the novelist Ben Myers
_A major retrospective is held at the Ashmolean Museum from August 2025 to January 2026

About the Author:

Lena Fritsch is the Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Ashmolean, responsible for exhibitions, displays and acquisitions of international art. She teaches at the University of Oxford, V&A and SOAS. Previously, she was a curator at Tate Modern, London and Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. Recent publications include Anselm Kiefer: Early Works (2025), Ashmolean NOW: Pio Abad (2024), Ashmolean NOW: Flora Yukhnovich x Daniel Crews-Chubb (2023), Tokyo: Art & Photography (with Clare Pollard, 2021). She holds a PhD from Bonn University and also studied at Keio University, Tokyo. Benjamin Myers is an award-winning author and journalist, whose work includes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and journalism. His novels have been translated into13 languages. He is the author of Rare Singles, Cuddy, The Gallows Pole, The Offing and many more.

The talent behind Radiohead’s iconic artwork reveals in his own words and for the first time the creative process that has earned him a cult reputation

A restless and prolific figure, Stanley Donwood is widely regarded as one of the most important visual artists of his generation. His influential work for Radiohead spans many practices and ever-evolving aesthetics over a 23-year period, from music packaging to installations to print-making.

Here, for the very first time, he reveals his personal notebooks, photographs, sketches and abandoned routes to iconic Radiohead artworks. Arranged chronologically, chapters are each dedicated to a major work – be it an album cover, promotional piece or a personal project – presented as a step-by-step working case study, from speculative ideas and sketches right through to Photoshop experiments and the finished piece. Accompanying narratives by Donwood explain the inspirations and stories behind his creative process and what it is like to work with the band, told with his typical razor-sharp humour and generosity of spirit. Featuring a treasury of archive material, this is the first deep dive into Donwood’s creative practice and the artistic freedom afforded to him by working for a major music act.

There Will Be No Quiet is essential reading, and viewing, for fans of the band and anyone interested in the explosive mix of artistic accident, musical ingenuity and creative originality.

About the Authors:

Stanley Donwood is an artist and writer who has collaborated with Radiohead since the release of their single ‘My Iron Lung’ in 1994. Having met frontman Thom Yorke at the University of Exeter, he has gone on to create all the band’s artwork to date. In addition to his work for Radiohead, Donwood maintains a website, ‘Slowly Downward’, of his stories and other writings, and has exhibited in London, Sydney, Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Thom Yorke is an English musician and the singer and main songwriter of the band Radiohead.