THE SEVEN FACES OF GEORGE (George Harrison)
25-years ago Shannon created a painting that would have repercussions unheard of and unexpected. After the heartache of his untimely death… Shannon felt compelled to finally honor John through her creative process. Each of the seven faces show John through the years as a young child up until 1980. The balance of imagery and color would have to jump out at you and show her “heart on her sleeve”. When she first displayed the “Seven Faces of John” painting in 1997, the first question people asked after admiring it was, “When will the other three Beatles be available?” Paul came next … And then came George.
25-years ago Shannon created a painting that would have repercussions unheard of and unexpected. After the heartache of his untimely death… Shannon felt compelled to finally honor John through her creative process. Each of the seven faces show John through the years as a young child up until 1980. The balance of imagery and color would have to jump out at you and show her “heart on her sleeve”. When she first displayed the “Seven Faces of John” painting in 1997, the first question people asked after admiring it was, “When will the other three Beatles be available?” Paul came next … And then came George.
25-years ago Shannon created a painting that would have repercussions unheard of and unexpected. After the heartache of his untimely death… Shannon felt compelled to finally honor John through her creative process. Each of the seven faces show John through the years as a young child up until 1980. The balance of imagery and color would have to jump out at you and show her “heart on her sleeve”. When she first displayed the “Seven Faces of John” painting in 1997, the first question people asked after admiring it was, “When will the other three Beatles be available?” Paul came next … And then came George.
THE SEVEN FACES OF JOHN (LENNON): WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
1. The colors of red and orange reference “The Blitz”… 870 tons of highly explosive bombs and over 112,000 incendiaries fell upon on Liverpool, England on the eve of August 28, 1940. As the dust settles and the colors turn to ocher… 6-weeks later, on October 9th, already a miracle-baby not to be introduced to the world during the bombing, John Winston Lennon is born.
2. The green waters signify Liverpool and its Mersey River (Sea of Green). The dusty purple image of John, in front of the Mersey, portrays a young rebel on the cusp of “the world to be given to him”. The purple is symbolic to broken heartedness and his longing for his Mother and dear friend, Stuart Sutcliffe.
3. In Black and White is how we most remember The Beatles coming into the Mania that took us. It references early TV shows, the arrival into and conquering of America, Ed Sullivan, early photographs, and bubblegum cards.
4. As the Black and White merges into color - we enter the pop-world of music with Flower Power, Psychedelics, turning on, and “change”. Let me take you down cause I’m going to… a place called “Pepper”.
5. The famous rooftop seen is where we finalize the last concert and soon… The Beatles themselves. As life unfolds for John and he sings “Don’t Let Me Down” his charismatic form takes the shape of a teenager in love. Devotion is no longer to The Beatles… He belongs to Yoko.
6. (Number-6 is the image that seems to confuse everyone) In Shannon’s words: "I wanted to signify John’s openness to, once again, reflect and challenge his mind to greater and bigger perceptions inside energy, light, and more experimentation from within himself and his music. The clouds coming out of the opening in his head (his mind) simply signal the nuances of “Mind Games” and “Number 9 Dream”. He is finding himself… no longer as a Beatle… but just John."
7. The final piece, number seven, is John at peace with himself, ready to set out and truly live life to the fullest. At long last, he greets us, once again, with a new album, “Double Fantasy”. Within his new songs he sends messages about starting over, his life, our life, where he has been and where he will be going. However, the final piece is… “forever final”.
Shannon’s Seven Faces of John: Copyright Shannon 1997 - Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.
