The Beatles – Revolver
To put a single term to what this art produces, I think “contrast” would be it. Contrast both within the elements of the artwork itself, and from the albums this would have been competing for attention against, making it stand out visually at a time when the band’s sound was beginning to lean more experimental. While at first the flat white faces create a sense of low detail in the line drawings, there is in fact incredibly high detail, but all of it localized to the many tangled locks of hair and the various things hiding within them. The use of photographs in a collage itself contrasts from the style of the drawings, all of this saved from becoming cluttered by the merciful decision to render it all in black and white, adding some cohesion to the otherwise chaotic piece. At the same time as these elements cohere, they are also at times used to create an uncanny element, photographed eyes, lips, and ears standing in over the drawings, creating a sense of depth that feels deliberately out of place against the otherwise featureless faces.