Test Specimens: Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood at 8 Duke Street

Test Specimens was a week-long exhibition of Thom Yorke's drawings at 8 Duke Street, St James's, from 25 to 29 May 2022. Tin Man Art organised it, and the curator was Siobhan Andrews Kapoor. This page is a record of the show.

Test Specimens: What Was in the Exhibition?

The show had 60 works on paper, made between 1999 and 2001. That was the period of Radiohead's albums Kid A, released on 2 October 2000, and Amnesiac, released in 2001.

The works included Oh Shit, dated 1999, and First Lyrics for Nude, dated 2000.

What Were the Drawings About?

Most of the works were black and white. Tin Man Art said many came from dreams, with scraps of text and unfinished images set down as they arrived.

The subjects were nightmares, political upheaval and mental turmoil. Time Out described the range as running from the cartoonish to the macabre, with some silliness mixed in.

Named examples included Yorke's Self-portrait with Spiders, drawings of stalagmites and stalactites, vampiric bears and scenes from the Balkan wars. The Radiohead bear, which Donwood and Yorke used on the band's artwork, was among the subjects, according to Uncut.

How Did Yorke and Donwood Work on Them?

They made the pictures at the same time, and they sent images back and forth by fax while the band recorded Kid A and Amnesiac.

The gallery listed their reference points: Robert Crumb, Piranesi, the Chapman Brothers, the Beta Band, Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer. Tin Man Art, which James Elwes founded, represents Yorke and Donwood.

Who Are Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood?

Thom Yorke is the singer of Radiohead. Stanley Donwood is the artist who has made the band's album covers. The two met at Exeter University.

In 1994 Yorke commissioned Donwood to design the sleeve for My Iron Lung, and they have worked together since. The drawings in Test Specimens are Yorke's own, from the years when the band was making Kid A.

How Did Visiting Test Specimens Work?

Tin Man Art put the catalogue online on 16 May 2022, before the show opened. Visiting needed a booking, and the gallery opened Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm and on Sunday from 11am to 4pm.

Duke Street is a few minutes' walk from St James's Street, where the hat shop Lock & Co. stands.

Where Did Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood Show Their Work Later?

Tin Man Art later staged The Crow Flies, shown in September and December 2023. In Oxford, the Ashmolean Museum held This Is What You Get, an exhibition of their work, from 6 August 2025 to 11 January 2026.

For other London gallery shows from the same years, see my pages on Francis Bacon at the Royal Academy and Helen Frankenthaler at Gagosian.

Test Specimens: Practical Notes

📍 Where: 8 Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BN.

📅 Open days: 25 to 29 May 2022.

⏰ Opening: Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm. Sunday, 11am to 4pm.

🎫 Admission: Booking was required. Time Out listed entry as free.

🚇 Getting there: Green Park, on the Piccadilly, Victoria and Jubilee lines, or Piccadilly Circus.

🗺️ Nearby: Piccadilly, where Royal Academy artists turned the street into an exhibition, and the galleries of Bond Street.

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