Gavin Walsh is one of the world's top collectors of Sex Pistols memorabilia. Items from his vast collection are part of a major exhibition on punk art in London.
Collecting memorabilia relating to English punk band the Sex Pistols is nothing short of an obsession for Sligo native Gavin Walsh. He has travelled all over the world to track down and purchase valuable or rare Sex Pistols memorabilia. As a result his collection now stands at approximately 10,000 items.
The advent of the Internet has been a boon for Gavin, who is now in touch with 4,000 collectors worldwide.
In the last two years I have completed as much of my collection as I have in the previous 18 years, in terms of hard to finds.
Some of Gavin’s prize possessions include the master copy of the album ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ and also the master sleeve with the original title ‘God Save the Sex Pistols’.
He believes both of these items are now priceless but says his reason for for collecting comes from a,
Fascination and a sincere love of the band, just something that’s become an obsession.
For security reasons, most of Gavin’s collection is stored in Britain but some of it can be seen in a major exhibition on punk art called ‘Destroy: Punk Graphic Design in Britain’ held at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
I never had any doubt that this was absolute pure art.
Ever the collector, Gavin spots a Sex Pistols poster in the exhibition designed by founding member of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Steve Severin which is,
An absolutely beautiful piece, that personally I would die for.
This episode of ‘Nationwide’ was broadcast on 25 February 1998. The reporter is Eileen Magnier.
