Daniel Johnston - by Lee Foster (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The legendary artist and musician as seen through the most comprehensive collection of his drawings ever published.

A significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative scenes, Daniel Johnston inspired musicians and listeners for decades. From his origins in the Austin scene in the mid-1980s, where he performed at local venues while working at McDonald's, to his appearance on MTV and championing by Kurt Cobain, to eventual world fame, Johnston's singular compositions and raw lyrics earned him lifelong fans.

Predating his interest in music and continuing alongside it, art was Johnston's longest-running passion. This publication presents drawings spanning four decades of Johnston's production, including many rare and previously unseen pieces. The artist's brightly colored illustrations, incorporating figures from pop culture, devils, and heroes, blended with his own original characters, range from his iconic "Jeremiah the Innocent Frog" to surrealist landscapes. With the support of Johnston's family and estate, the first comprehensive project since his passing includes remembrances from his brother, musicians, and artists, and benefits the Hi, How Are You Project.

Review Quotes

"His career hamstrung by bipolar disorder and stints in psychiatric hospitals, Daniel Johnston first found acclaim as an unguarded and guileless songwriter in the late '80s with tunes that cut instantly to the emotional quick. But he drew obsessively for more than half a century, too, creating a cosmos of characters -- affable ghosts, flying eyeballs, his famously friendly frog, Jeremiah -- that revealed his insecurities and hopes, sexual frustrations and religious aspirations ... Daniel Johnston: I'm Afraid of What I Might Draw is the first authoritative collection of Johnston's art and a revelation about how he experienced the world." -- The New York Times

"The talents of the late American musician Daniel Johnston first came to light when he worked at McDonald's in Austin, Texas, in the mid-1980s, where he would give customers homemade tapes of his alternative and lo-fi music. This book focuses on the drawings he made alongside his musical career. The colorful illustrations give new insight into the childlike quality of his songwriting." -- Financial Times, HTSI

About the Author

Lee Foster is the general manager and co-owner of Electric Lady Studios, the legendary recording studio in Greenwich Village commissioned by Jimi Hendrix. He is also the Curatorial Advisor for the Daniel Johnston Trust. Dick Johnston is Daniel Johnston's older brother, former manager, and a director of the Hi, How Are You Project. Robin K. Williams is a former curator of the Contemporary Austin. She is currently the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.