Rick Griffin
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Rick Griffin
- Genres: Rock
Biography
Rick Griffin pushed the rock music art of the psychedelic era to new creative peaks -- by turns wildly surreal and deeply spiritual, his work remains immediately recognizable for its richly vibrant colors and inscrutably liquid lettering, with his countless posters and album covers enduring among the most indelible and provocative images of their time. The son of an engineer and amateur archaeologist, as a child growing up in Los Angeles Griffin (born June 18, 1944) frequently accompanied his father on digs in the Southwest, there absorbing many of the Native American mythos that later resonated throughout his work. An accomplished artist since childhood, his talents frequently intersected with his love for surfing, and he often created drawings for local surf shops in exchange for equipment.Upon graduating from high school, Griffin went to work as a staff artist at Surfer magazine, where he created the popular "Murphy" character; he also created record covers for surf music giants including Dick Dale and the Challengers. Concurrently he attended junior college, and after graduating in 1964 he planned to travel to Australia to surf; a car accident that left Griffin briefly comatose and permanently scarred the left side of his face forced him to reassess his life, however, and after a period of recovery he enrolled at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. There he met Ida Pfefferle, who in time became his wife; around the same time he joined the band the Jook Savages, and while touring with them in Nevada during 1966 encountered the San Francisco band the Charlatans, whose psychedelically charged live set offered Griffin his first taste of the acid rock phenomenon.
Griffin himself relocated to San Francisco soon after, and in 1966 he created one of his first posters to promote the Human Be-In, the massive counterculture gathering in Golden Gate Park that set off the Summer of Love. He next produced a series of posters for the Family Dog collective's dances at the Avalon Ballroom, followed by a number of works advertising upcoming gigs at the Fillmore West; influenced in part by classic American advertising images, Griffin created some of the seminal images of the psychedelic era, among them a 1969 Jimi Hendrix poster whose key figure -- a winged eyeball with reptilian limbs encircled in a ring of fire -- remains one of the key artistic icons of the period. Other symbolic motifs recurring throughout his work include Indian braves, scarabs, and, most frequently, the human skull.
As the popularity of Griffin's designs soared, he was sought out to lend his vision to album jackets; his most memorable work was done in conjunction with the Grateful Dead, for whom he created the classic cover to 1969's Aoxomoxoa as well as 1973's Wake of the Flood, 1976's Steal Your Face!, and 1981's Reckoning. Griffin remained a prolific talent well past the end of the psychedelic era, later working in underground comix, and in the early '70s he became a devout Christian, a conversion that profoundly affected his subsequent work, which included an illustrated adaptation of the Book of John. His life ended on August 17, 1991, the victim of a fatal motorcycle accident; ironically, his last published work, which appeared in the San Francisco magazine The City, was a self-portrait depicting Griffin entering heaven's gates, pen and ink clutched firmly in hand. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Rick Griffin
| Rick Griffin | |
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| Born | Richard Alden Griffin June 18, 1944 Palos Verdes, California, United States |
| Died | August 18, 1991 (aged 47) Petaluma, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Notable works | Flying Eyeball, Aoxomoxoa, Pow Wow: A Gathering of the Tribes |
Richard Alden Griffin (June 18, 1944 - August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in Zap Comix. Griffin was closely identified with the Grateful Dead, designing some of their best known posters and record jackets. His work within the surfing subculture included both film posters and his comic strip, Murphy.[1]
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Surf's up
Griffin was born near Palos Verdes amidst the surfing culture of southern California. Griffin biographer Tim Stephenson notes:
- His father was an engineer and amateur archaeologist and as a boy Rick accompanied him on digs in the Southwest. It was during this time that Rick was exposed to the Native American and ghost town artifacts that were to influence his later work. Rick was taught to surf by Randy Nauert at the age of 14 at Torrance Beach. The pair had met at Alexander Flemming Jr. High, and were to become lifelong friends, Rick producing much of the artwork for Randy's future band, the Challengers.[1]
While attending Nathaniel Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, he produced numerous surfer drawings, which led to his surfing comic strip, "Murphy" for Surfer magazine in 1961, with Griffin's character featured on the front cover the following year. In 1964, he left Surfer and briefly attended Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts), where he met his future wife, artist Ida Pfefferle. That same year, he hung out with the group of artists and musicians known as the Jook Savages.
Posters
He traveled with Ida on a Mexican surfing trip and later planned a move to San Francisco after seeing the psychedelic rock posters designed by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley. In late 1966, the couple arrived in San Francisco, where they first lived in their van before moving to Elsie Street in the Bernal Heights district.[1] In the mid-1960s, he participated in Ken Kesey's Acid Tests. His first art exhibition was for the Jook Savages, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Psychedelic Shop on Haight Street. Organizers for the Human Be-In saw his work and asked him to design a poster for their January 1967 event. Chet Helms was also impressed by Griffin's work and asked him to design posters for the Family Dog dance concerts at the Avalon Ballroom, which led Griffin to create concert posters for the Charlatans. In 1967, Griffin, Kelley, Mouse, Victor Moscoso and Wes Wilson teamed as the founders of Berkeley Bonaparte, a company that created and marketed psychedelic posters. Griffin returned to Southern California in 1969, eventually settling in San Clemente.[1]
The Gospel of John
Griffin adopted Christianity in November 1970, which led to fundamental changes in his lifestyle and in the style and content of his art. His 1973 painting Sail on Sailor for the band Mustard Seed Faith is an example of his fine art painting from this period. His most significant 1970s project was the creation of hundreds of paintings and drawings for The Gospel of John, published by the Christian record label Maranatha! Music. He also produced much album art for Maranatha! during the 1970s and 1980s.[2]
Rick Griffin lost his life shortly after a motorcycle accident on August 15, 1991, in Petaluma, California. He was thrown from his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he collided with a van that suddenly turned left as he attempted to pass it. He was not wearing a helmet and sustained major head injuries. He died three days later, on August 18, in nearby Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, at the age of 47.[3][4]
Books
- McClelland, Gordon. The Art of Rick Griffin. Perigee Paper Tiger, 1980. Reprinted by Last Gasp, 2001.
- Harvey, Doug, edited by Susan Anderson. Heart and Torch: Rick Griffin's Transcendence. Laguna Art Museum, Gingko Press, 2007.
References
- ^ a b c d Stephenson, Tim (2007-04-10). "Biography". Myraltis. http://www.myraltis.co.uk/rickgriffin/bio.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
- ^ McClelland, Gordon. The Art of Rick Griffin. Perigee Paper Tiger, 1980.
- ^ Associated Press news release, August 20, 1991
- ^ Chronology by Gordon McClelland in Heart and Torch, Laguna Art Museum, 2007.
External links
- Smithsonian American Art Museum: Rick Griffin
- Showcase of Rick Griffin art
- 1992 Surfer Magazine tribute by Steve Barilotti
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