BY MIKEY MIGO
I grew up as an art kid. I would spend countless hours in art class working on random projects and bullshitting about music, wrestling, and movies. I was even a week from enrolling in college for an Art minor (Business major), but ventured my time into my professional wrestling company instead. No matter what I did at that point in time or what I do currently, I won't think twice about it if I can't be creative about it and use it as a means of expression.
Music is art. There's no denying that and if you want to argue that fact then you are either deaf or a fan of country music. For many years we've all been treated to some of the best audio art in the universe. The style a musician adopts is art. The lights and stage show at a concert is art. And really the rockstar lifestyle is an art itself, but that's not the art I want to talk about today.
A lot of musicians use other mediums to express themselves. Be it Rob Zombie making movies or other musicians making cameo appearances in movies, its expression. Be it writing a book like many have done before or writing poetry like Jim Morrison or Saul Williams, its expression. These attempts at expression outside of music can sometimes seem trite, pompous, or even self indulgent, but there is some who have talent in what they do away from the recording studio.
Today we're going to explore the world of musicians who dabble in 2-D Art. Some art has sold for thousands, some has made its way onto album covers, and some has been featured in galleries. No matter what, you got to respect these musicians for leaving their comfort zone of just making music and expressing themselves on canvas or paper. Let's take a look at just a FEW OF MANY rockstars who are also into art.
"Reality" by David Bowie
David Bowie's "Reality" has been made into a lithograph and has been in quite a few of the cooler exhibits across the country. What's cool about this is that it's also the cover of the same titled album. David Bowie's art has been showcased around the world. One of Bowie's early art teachers in school happened to be Peter Frampton's father.
"She Lives on Love Street" by Robby Krieger
I don't have any cool facts about this one other than it's by Doors founder Robby Krieger. I had to include this one because of the colors used. Nothing is well defined, but the combination of color really gives you a "clear picture". In a cheesy way, I guess you could say the same about his musician side of expression. It's a bit "out there", but when it all comes together and fills your senses the whole thing becomes really "clear".
"Wordmaze" by The Edge
This is obviously some sort of U2 promo poster or lithograph. It's not so much colorful or well designed, but the creativity is what stands out. It's called "wordmaze" for a reason. While I'm really curious to what the words are that are used, it's really a moot point because the concept is what I dig the most. There's a chance the words could actually hurt my perception of it. I love U2 and want to know all I can though, so if you know what Edge wrote send it in for me if you don't mind.
"Footprints In The Sands Of Time" by Jerry Garcia
A factoid for everyone including those readers who have lots of money is that I share my birthday with Jerry Garcia. When Jerry was younger he was split in what he was more "into" visual or musical art. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute, but obviously music took over his life. However, he never stopped sketching. Of all his work, I went with this ink and watercolor piece because the colors are very appealing to the eye and the odd shadowing on the ground is pretty damn cool.
"Real Love" by John Lennon
Lennon drew this in 1969 and for what seems like a doodle it's a really interesting piece of art. How he intertwines himself with Yoko Ono reminds me a lot of the "half face" tattoo that Hedwig had from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. When I was researching this column and came across this I knew I saw it somewhere before. I'm sure many of you have as well.
"Genesis" by Jimi Hendrix
This just rocks for the pure reason that I think crayon is a VERY underrated art medium. Well, this work isn't crayon (its paint), but it sure as hell looks like it. If you're reading a music column and don't know how important Jimi is to music then you need to click the little "X" in the corner and go slap yourself in the face all the way to your local CD store. When there buy all that you see that is by Jimi Hendrix and educate yourself. Then and only then may you stop slapping yourself. Hendrix did paintings and drawings his entire life and a few of his works are actually featured in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. I went with this piece because the colors and abstract qualities remind me of my old work.
"Oh-No Zone" by Micky Dolenz
Something about the bold colors and simplicity of former Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz work made me have to include it. He describes it as "a view from outer space through a geo-synchronous telescope showing the layers of ozone depletion over Antarctica. I do careful research for my art, not to ensure that my images are technically accurate, but to ensure that they are aesthetically so." He obviously takes it serious and I respect the hell out of that. Growing up I loved the Monkees music, but if I had known this about Micky it would have added an entire new dimension to my fandom.
And I saved my favorite for last...
"Faunadestia" by Marilyn Manson
"Every artist has to do Mickey [Mouse] as a rite of passage. This is my interpretation. The title refers to the phobia of animals scratching their genitals. I think Andy Warhol did say America suffers from a rodent fetish. I enjoyed that." - Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson's water color paintings are just now starting to get more "mainstream attention". Rightfully so. His work is just as ambitious and creative as his musical stylings. If I were a wealthy man, Manson's art work would be what I wanted hanging up in my office. I'll even go as far as saying that if anyone of Manson's people or Manson himself is reading this hook me up. Far fetched, I know. But it was worth a shot. Manson opened his own gallery on Halloween this past year in LA. I remember reading a story about how the address of said gallery is 667. I love how the story comes together. I hope to see plenty more of his work in the future and hopefully will get out to visit the gallery before I die.
There are a lot of rockstar artists out there. This is just a taste of the fine work these creative minds put out there. Hopefully this inspires you to find out which of your favorite musicians have artwork out there too.
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