ROCK & ROYALS Exhibition Featuring World-Renowned Photographer Kos Evans Brings Groundbreaking Sail Artworks to The Gallery at 200 Lex

ROCK & ROYALS transforms historic sails once owned by royalty, rock legends and sailing icons into one-of-a-kind works of art, combining photography, history and craftsmanship printed onto rare sailcloth. The first ROCK & ROYALS collection, which made its debut at the prestigious Yacht Club de Monaco in Monte Carlo received international attention across the sailing and art worlds, with major features in Forbes Magazine and press throughout the sailing and art worlds.

Highlights include works created from sails belonging to President John F. Kennedy’s yacht Manitou; His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain; His Majesty King George V’s yacht Britannia, famously scuttled by order of the King in 1936, with the resulting artwork recently exhibited at the Royal Yacht Squadron; His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, from his family yacht Bloodhound on which his family learnt to sail including King Charles lll; Sir Ben Ainslie’s AC75 Britannia, Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona; Pete Townshend of The Who; philanthropist and competitive sailor Wendy Schmidt, the first woman and first American to win the world's largest sailing race in 2022, who donated a vintage sail from Santana, her 55-foot classic wooden boat once owned by Humphrey Bogart, bearing her own handwritten inscription.

Many of the historic sails featured in the collection were crafted and restored by Ratsey & Lapthorn, established in 1790 and  recognized  as the world’s oldest sail and bag maker, whose workmanship has powered generations of record-breaking yachts, royal vessels and America’s Cup defenders and challengers.

For more than four decades, Kos Evans has documented the beauty and drama of the world’s oceans. Her sail art evolved from a deep appreciation of sails as symbols of exploration, trade and human ambition. Her previous exhibition, Carbon Canvas, featured sails from legendary America’s Cup yachts and debuted in Barcelona 2024 during the America’s Cup.

“Each sail carries silent stories of achievement and adventure,” said Kos Evans. “ROCK & ROYALS preserves that heritage through art, ensuring these remarkable stories continue to inspire future generations.”

ROCK & ROYALS offers a rare opportunity to experience and acquire these historic works in person. The exhibition will run from November 3rd to December 12th at the Gallery at 200 Lex at the New York Design Center.

Kos Evans is an award-winning internationally acclaimed photographer and artist whose four-decade career has focused on the world’s oceans.

The ROCK & ROYALS European collection was exhibited at the Yacht Club de Monaco 2025 a new USA collection was curated for its debut in Nantucket 2026, at the Thomas Macy Gallery.

Each exhibition is designed to create awareness of the plight of the health of our oceans, and a contribution from the sale of the pieces also goes to Oceans Without Boarders - an Ocean environmental charity - and to Nantucket Community Sailing.