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Daniel Johnston
You've Got to Pretend You Are Dead - Ink Drawing, Outsider Art, Duck Wars Series

2010

About the Item

Daniel Johnston was a prolific visual artist and musician. He gained a cult following in the 1990s when Kurt Cobain wore a T-shirt with the artist’s frog illustration from his Hi, How Are You (1983) album cover to the MTV Video Music Awards. Johnston’s art was inextricably connected to his music, and his pen and marker drawings of superheroes and anthropomorphized animals were critical to his cult appeal among music fans and art aficionados alike. Johnston lived with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which contributed to his work’s on-and-off categorization as outsider art; his visionary world-building and use of religious symbolism echoed the poems and engravings of William Blake. Johnston’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited in Los Angeles, Zurich, and Berlin, as well as at the 2006 Whitney Biennial in New York. The previous year, he was the subject of the award-winning documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. This ink on paper drawing titled "You've Got to Pretend You are Dead," is one of thirty-two unique artworks belonging to Johnston's "Duck Wars," series. The artist's hand-signed signature is visible on the front of the work.
  • Creator:
    Daniel Johnston (1961 - 2019, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2010
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 11 in (27.94 cm)Width: 8.5 in (21.59 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Houston, TX
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1468213565122

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