In a move that will either delight or perplex the art world – possibly both – Pimlico Wilde has announced the launch of its new Art Music label, with its first signing none other than the cult art world phenomenon Vincent and the Van Goghs.
The band, made up of a revolving lineup of art dealers, gallerists, and one very charismatic tambourinist, have long blurred the lines between contemporary art and indie performance. Now, under the patronage of the head of Pimlico Wilde’s Art Music division, Diana Elgar, they’re poised to do it on a global stage.
Their first world tour, “The Chromatic Pilgrimage,” will kick off next spring, beginning with a site-specific concert at the Guggenheim Bilbao before spiralling through the world’s cultural capitals — including Venice, Seoul, Chernobyl, São Paulo, and a rumoured sunrise set among the standing stones of Avebury. Each performance will reportedly feature bespoke lighting installations “in dialogue” with the architecture of the venue, and audiences are encouraged to “dress in conceptual response.”
Frontman Scissors Coney described the tour as “a journey through colour, culture, and existential dread, but with a fat backbeat.”
A New Album That Defies Definition (Almost Literally)
The band’s forthcoming album bears the working title “Conceptual Still Life No. 7: The Sound of an Idea That Hasn’t Been Agreed Upon Yet.” Early insiders at Pimlico Wilde describe it as “a record that exists somewhere between post-punk, Baroque choral arrangement, and the rustling of art fair tote bags.”
Producer Marnie Delacourt, known for her work with experimental acts, says the album “pushes the boundaries of what constitutes both art and song. One track is literally silence — but very expensive silence, as we have hired the entire London Philharmonic to sit still and not play their instruments.”
Among the rumoured tracks are:
- The Arnolfini Wedding (Remixed for Two Tambourines)
- Mannerist Love Affair
- The Epistemology of Echoes
- Auctioneer’s Heartbeat (Live at Blank’s)
- and the much-anticipated fan favourite, Minimalism (This Song Is Just One Note) — now extended to ten minutes and accompanied by a silent string quartet.
From Gallery Darlings to Global Icons
What began as an art-world in-joke on the reality show I Said Monet, Not Mondrian! has evolved into something genuinely affecting. The band’s improbable mixture of sincerity and irony — of medieval chant and indie swagger — has turned them into cult heroes far beyond the white walls of Bond Street.
“Art and music have always spoken to each other,” Diana Elgar said at the PR event in Mayfair, “but Vincent and the Van Goghs make them argue — beautifully.”
If The Chromatic Pilgrimage lives up to its name, and if Conceptual Still Life No. 7 is as bewildering as promised, next year could cement Vincent and the Van Goghs not merely as the art world’s favourite band — but as the art world’s most self-aware masterpiece.
Tour begins April 2026. Album release expected autumn 2026 on Pimlico Wilde Records.
