In 1985, Howard Arkely was commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art to paint a poster for the British band, The Triffids. It would be their final concert in Australia before returning to England, where they would produce the landmark album Born Sandy Devotional. The Triffids were to be joined onstage by alternative rockers the Huxton Creepers and King Jerklews.

To immoratise this music moment, Arkely envisioned a version of his ‘exploding box’ composition, overlaid with a thickly outlined form that echoed another of his favoured motifs: the cactus. Informed by ideas of the carnivalesque and grotesque, the cactus recurred throughout Arkely’s work in the 1980s, a symbol of the con(fusion) between human and plant forms. Synchronously, The Triffids take their name from John Wyndham’s classic 1951 science-fiction novel about predatory man-eating plant-forms that threaten to take over the world.

Emblematic of a juncture in Arkley's career when he moved beyond suburbia into the realms of music, design and popular culture, ‘The Triffids’ is a treasure of Australia's cultural history. It is rare, unique and hand-signed, acquired directly from Arkely, subsequently held in a private South Australian collection and documented in John Gregory’s 'Carnival in Suburbia: The Art of Howard Arkley'.

For collectors of Arkley, contemporary art or music fans, ‘The Triffids’ is a showstopping find.

Howard ARKLEY (1951 - 1999)
'The Triffids' 1985
Synthetic polymer paint on offset lithograph
Image Size: 48 x 73 cm
Dimensions: 49 x 74 x 2 cm
Signed: signed and dated lower right: H Arkley; signed and dated within image lower right: H. Arkley. 85 85

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Reference: Gregory, J., Carnival in Suburbia: The Art of Howard Arkley, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2006, p.169. Gregory, J., The Triffids [poster] 1985 [W/P], Arkley Works [digital catalogue raisonne], accessed March 2026: https://www.arkleyworks.com/blog/2009/11/17/the-triffids-poster-1985-wp/.

Condition:Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.

(c) The Artist or Assignee