Interpol have apologised to visual artist Tony Sjöman for copying a piece of his work on their tour posters. The band said that they were “under the impression that the designer we were working with was presenting us with original work” until the matter was brought to their attention.
The poster for the band’s upcoming 20th anniversary tour for their ‘Antics’ album is not identical to Sjöman’s original artwork but is so similar that there could be no question that one was based on the other. The original piece, called ‘Dream Factory’, was commissioned for a New York property company.
In a statement, the band said, “Interpol would like to apologise to Tony Sjöman and acknowledge that all usage of his work was without his consent or prior discussion. We were under the impression that the designer we were working with was presenting us with original work. We were wrong”.
“Ultimately the responsibility lies with us to ensure we do not disseminate an artist’s work without their permission in our promotions”, they went on. “For that reason we apologise and pledge to do better moving forward to ensure the protection of the artist’s creative property”.
The copying was initially spotted by art collector Andrew Gutterson, who said that he contacted Sjöman to congratulate him on getting a commission from the band. Sjöman replied to say that he did not create the poster and was not previously aware of it. Gutterson then posted about it on Instagram, which is seemingly how Interpol came to be aware of it.
Sjöman himself said, “Having your work plagiarised is unfortunate, but the way in which Interpol immediately took action is both rare and admirable”.
“The band had no prior knowledge of my work being used in their merch and the irony of it all is that - as a decades long fan of their music - I would have loved this commission”, he went on. “If you haven’t in a while - crank up ‘Antics’, the band’s sophomore album, celebrating 20 years this summer, it’s great!”
The tour is set to arrive in the UK and Ireland in November, including a show at London’s Alexandra Palace on 8 Nov.
You can buy Tony Sjöman’s work direct from his store here.
