By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
October 21, 2000
It’s fitting that the art of Jerry Garcia is on a national tour.
After all, Garcia spent a good chunk of his life on the road with the Grateful Dead before he died of a heart attack Aug. 5, 1995.
Local fans have a chance to view one of the largest collections of Garcia’s watercolors, silk screens and lithographs this weekend when “Jerry Garcia: A Visual Journey” is exhibited at the Chicago Marriott Hotel.
“Jerry wasn’t one of those guys who dabbled in art after he got famous in a band,” says Margaret O’Brien, exhibition coordinator at Image Makers Art, which is overseeing the tour. “He went to art school in his youth. When his musical career took off, he didn’t concentrate as much on his drawings but he always made sketches and kept up with his art.”
Bold and colorful, much of Garcia’s work has a whimsical flair. One recurring theme in several of his pieces is his pet gecko lizard. The most grandiose is “Lady with Elaborate Headdress and Gecko,” a 6-foot by 8-foot original that sells for $15,000. Garcia’s lithographs start at $500.
The tour has attracted some lookyloos who are curious about whether a famous musician could really draw, but O’Brien says the majority of people at the exhibits are nostalgic Grateful Dead fans eager to show their support.
“The fact is, his art really stands on its own,” she says. “But he is also a very famous man who was beloved by millions. . . . I think people are surprised at how beautiful and diverse his work really is.”
Garcia, who had studied at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) renewed his interest in painting in 1986. After coming out of a diabetic coma, he would paint as part of his physical therapy.
