Musicians Outside Music — My Favourite Visual Art by Famous Musicians
As a creative, I often find myself spread between many different mediums -music, photography, and design are all fantastic forms of expression that I enjoy. Thinking of my own set of interests got me thinking about how accomplished musicians express themselves outside their music. Whilst looking through many examples of this, I have come across some personal favourites, which I wanted to share here!
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain’s original visual artwork is incredibly complex, and reflects his tortured mind in a way that can’t be expressed in words. The visuals capture a lot of the feeling expressed in Nirvana’s music, with frequent use of fetuses, drugs and all-around hellish scenes. The tragedy of Cobain’s death leaves us to wonder how he would’ve been viewed in the art world today.
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston embodied the purest form of creative expression. His music resonates with me on a deep level, and his artwork is of the same ilk. Reusing several themes though the hundreds of works he produced, and drawing from his love of comics, I love the simplicity of Daniel’s work, whilst the themes are complex and indicative of how his mind worked.
David Bowie
I adore the music of David Bowie, and much of the talent showcased in his music found its way into his artwork. His collection of self-portraits are striking, embodying much of the themes found in his fashion styling. His other works in a bold expressionist style show the scope of Bowie’s creative mind, blending different inspirations into fantastically surreal works of art.
Stevie Nicks
I adore the artwork of Stevie Nicks. Her blindingly creative, colourful drawings of “angels” showcase the depth of her imagination. The colour palettes showcased seem to match the aesthetic of her music perfectly, and the characters she draws really shine.
Bob Dylan
My final pick is the art of Bob Dylan. Something about his paintings really excites me, the colours are well picked and direct, and his scenes are fairly simple. He pushes different colours into the painting by choosing bright shades for the skies, and transports you to a strange world, out in the American landscape.
I hope you like my picks, I would be very interested to hear about yours in the comments. I find the mixture of disciplines a fascinating subject, so would love to start some discussions on this!
