BOOK FORMAT Hardcover, 12 x 12 in. / 184 pgs / illustrated throughout.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 10/31/2012 Active
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: FALL 2012 p. 48
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9788492480197TRADE List Price: $45.00 CAD $55.00 GBP £40.00
AVAILABILITY In stock
TERRITORY NA UK incl IE
Mati Klarwein liked to call himself the most famous unrecognized artist in the world. That’s a fair self-call given that he painted two of the 1970s’ enduring pop-culture images, the album covers of Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew and Carlos Santana’s Abraxas. Dana Jennings, The New York Times
The 1960s and 1970s offered many options for mind expansion: psychedelic drugs, Eastern meditation, sex--and the art of Mati Klarwein. Klarwein (1932–2002) was a major presence in the New York art scene, admired by everyone from Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí to Jimi Hendrix and Jackie Onassis (who commissioned him to paint a portrait of John F. Kennedy). His pop-surrealist universe of pantheistic religious harmony, sexual fertility and gender and racial unity gave visual expression to an era and to a generation of music, and was embraced by some of the most progressive musicians of his time. Mati & the Music presents Klarwein’s 52 paintings that appeared on album covers, a body of work that began in the mid–1950s and continued for half a century. The majority of the album covers Klarwein painted were commissioned by the musicians themselves, most famously by Miles Davis for his breakthrough fusion albums Bitches Brew and Live Evil and Carlos Santana for Abraxas. Others included Earth Wind & Fire, Buddy Miles and Gregg Allman. Major record labels also employed Klarwein, including Blue Note for Jackie McLean and Reuben Wilson, and Douglas Records for the Last Poets, Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia. With the trim size of an LP album, Mati & The Music will appeal to lovers of music, graphic design and psychedelic art.
Featured image, "Time," a 1965 oil and tempera painting by Mati Klarwein, was reproduced on the cover of Buddy Miles 1994 CD, Hell and Back. It is reproduced from Mati & The Music: 52 Record Covers 1955-2005.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Electronic Beats
Andre Vida
"There's something perversely interesting about the figures in Klarwein's record covers...especially when removed from the music, silently staring at the viewer...there's a talismanic power in these paintings turned record sleeves. The assorted mandalas, pregnant belly nipples, flaming lattices, and morphing human figures all seem to reflect aural memories."
In today's New York Times Paper Gallery column, Dana Jennings reviews "Old All-Stars Who Still Dazzle the Eye," including two books from the ARTBOOK | D.A.P. list. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 12 x 12 in. / 184 pgs / illustrated throughout. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $55 GBP £40.00 ISBN: 9788492480197 PUBLISHER: RM AVAILABLE: 10/31/2012 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA UK incl IE
The 1960s and 1970s offered many options for mind expansion: psychedelic drugs, Eastern meditation, sex--and the art of Mati Klarwein. Klarwein (1932–2002) was a major presence in the New York art scene, admired by everyone from Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí to Jimi Hendrix and Jackie Onassis (who commissioned him to paint a portrait of John F. Kennedy). His pop-surrealist universe of pantheistic religious harmony, sexual fertility and gender and racial unity gave visual expression to an era and to a generation of music, and was embraced by some of the most progressive musicians of his time. Mati & the Music presents Klarwein’s 52 paintings that appeared on album covers, a body of work that began in the mid–1950s and continued for half a century. The majority of the album covers Klarwein painted were commissioned by the musicians themselves, most famously by Miles Davis for his breakthrough fusion albums Bitches Brew and Live Evil and Carlos Santana for Abraxas. Others included Earth Wind & Fire, Buddy Miles and Gregg Allman. Major record labels also employed Klarwein, including Blue Note for Jackie McLean and Reuben Wilson, and Douglas Records for the Last Poets, Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia. With the trim size of an LP album, Mati & The Music will appeal to lovers of music, graphic design and psychedelic art.
