If you happen to find yourself in Venice between May 6 and June 7, there's a compelling reason to venture beyond the usual tourist circuit. Thom Yorke and artist Stanley Donwood are bringing their new exhibition, titled No Go Elevator (not without no keycard), to Castello 2432 - and it sounds like exactly the kind of show that lingers with you long after you've left.
A partnership that keeps evolving
Yorke and Donwood have been working together for nearly 30 years, most visibly through the haunting visual identity they've built around Radiohead and, more recently, the Smile. Their album artwork and imagery has always felt like it exists in its own strange universe - dystopian, poetic, quietly threatening.
This Venice exhibition marks a notable shift in that collaboration. Rather than artwork made in service of music, this is a standalone artistic statement: fresh ink drawings and large-scale paintings that stand entirely on their own terms. It's a reminder that what they've been doing all along is genuinely fine art, not just great album packaging.
What to expect inside
The work leans into the cryptic textual elements and unnerving landscapes that fans of their visual output will recognise immediately. Think disorienting terrain, layered meaning, and the kind of imagery that makes you feel slightly off-balance in the best possible way. The title alone - bureaucratic, absurdist, vaguely menacing - sets the tone perfectly.
The Venice setting isn't incidental either. The exhibition coincides with the broader atmosphere of the city during the spring art season, when Venice becomes a magnet for serious contemporary art conversations. Placing this show there signals that Yorke and Donwood are positioning it firmly within that world.
Why this matters beyond the Radiohead connection
It would be easy to frame this purely as a must-see for fans of Yorke's music - and sure, that's part of the draw. But the more interesting story is about the longevity and depth of a creative partnership that has consistently refused to be predictable. Three decades in, they're not coasting on reputation. They're making work that pushes somewhere new.
For anyone who's ever been struck by the cover of Kid A or the visual world of A Moon Shaped Pool, seeing where that sensibility leads when given a gallery and complete creative freedom is a genuinely exciting prospect. According to reporting by Hypebeast, the show runs through early June - which gives you a very good excuse to plan a trip.
