Joe Nolan is a 21st-century Renaissance man. He’s a poet, singer-songwriter and intermedia artist — as well as one of the Scene’s most longstanding cultural critics. In his new column "Critic/Ally," he’ll muse about art, culture and whatever else comes across his periphery. Strap in, fans of the strange and obscure — the Scene’s about to get a whole lot weirder.
In February 2012, Lipscomb University hosted an art exhibition and a concert by the late, great Daniel Johnston, who died on Sept. 11 following years of failing health and struggles with mental illness.
I visited the exhibition, called Is and Always Wars, a number of times and saw Johnston perform a live set with a collection of student musicians at the show's reception. Fans of the artist, and Nashvillians who caught the show, won't be surprised if I say the art and music were startling and magical — they were. But my favorite memory, and the first thing that came to mind when I heard about Johnston's passing, was a particular moment in the show when a beaming Johnston introduced "True Love Will Find You in the End" by saying, "This is my Christmas wish for you." It was just a Friday in February, back in 2012, but Johnston managed to make that night strangely sacred.
The following is an edited version of a review I wrote about the art exhibition for the also-passed-on Art Now Nashville:
Daniel Johnston's Is and Always Wars is both the most harrowing and heart-rending exhibit of this year's winter art season. The display at Lipscomb University includes 100 drawings by the artist, and manages to be both an homage to the comic book heroes Johnston loves as well as a deep and dark examination of the artist's favorite subjects: the nature of truth, right versus wrong and women.
Johnston's self-produced music cassettes featured his original artwork and made him an underground sensation in the 1980s, and a darling of the alternative music scene in the 1990s.
Fans of Johnston's music know that The Beatles are his rock ’n’ roll heroes and it's no coincidence that the band's influence spills over into Johnston's visual art. In one piece, the “dead dog's eye” that John Lennon sings about in “I Am the Walrus” runs up the side of the Eiffel Tower. Another piece pictures Johnston himself at a piano, surrounded by portraits of the Fab Four. The accompanying text reads: “God bless them what they done.”
The exhibit is brimming with the likenesses of Johnston's favorite comic book icons like Captain America and the Hulk. It's also full of women. All of Johnston's female nudes are big-breasted and thick-thighed, recalling the iconic females who populate R. Crumb's underground comic art. Johnston also portrays some as headless — their necks like ragged cuts of meat. This seems to be another borrowing from Crumb's similarly dismembered nudes.
In the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, viewers learn of the artist's tendency to become embroiled in unrequited romantic relationships, and Johnston's women embody both idealized love as well as a kind of paranoia about the devouring mother archetype. In one piece, Captain America and what looks like quasi-Orientalist take on the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, float in pure negative space. Captain America stares in an expression of longing at a halo of voluptuous female nudes circling above him. Unlike nearly every other piece in the show, there is no text accompanying this image. In another piece, a topless mother with a bright red face and fangs sits at a dinner table with her young son. She has scooped the brains from his skull with her bare hands. “You been a bad boy,” she says. “Yes, Mommy,” he answers.
Johnston was raised in a strict Christian household in West Virginia and his pursuit of rock music put him at odds with his parents as a young adult. As his struggles with manic depression and schizophrenia became more apparent, his rebellions became more pronounced. In Johnston's artwork there is a profound sense of conflict between the morality of his upbringing and his pursuit of an artistic calling — it’s a split that seems magnified by the intensity of his illness.
A number of works in the show demonstrate Johnston's concern with the nature of truth. In one drawing, Johnston's signature frog character states, “It's difficult to be true.” In another drawing entitled “Let's pretend that all those bad things never happened,” a redhead in a bikini quips, “The truth is crazy.”
The artist's struggles with Christian morality are on display in “Death to Sin.” A bald man in a red jacket is confronted by a green creature and a floating demon head. Through pointed fangs, the head orders the man to “Stop the art. Feed the poor.” In another piece, an orange cat with a human face sighs: “I might as well give up I guess.” One of the artist's iconic anthropomorphic eyeballs shrugs: “Give up and sin.”
If you missed the concert or want to revisit it, I compiled this YouTube playlist of Johnston’s Lipscomb show shot by YouTube user Tony Dreher, and Lipscomb's Lumination Network posted the video below on its Vimeo channel.
Daniel Johnston. You may not recognize his name, but you’ve probably heard his music. You may have even seen his “Hi How are you” frog, an iconic image of Austin, Texas. Daniel Johnston started his artistic and musical career in his basement, but he’s influenced and been covered by acts such as Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, and Pearl Jam. So what brought this world-renowned songwriter to play a free concert in Alumni last Friday on February the 10th? As it so happens, one of our own musical faculty, Dr. Sally Reed, is the sister of Daniel Johnston. Thanks to this connection, Lipscomb’s music department was able to put on one of its most unique and highly attended performances of the year, with a crowd of over 700. Johnston was glad to be able to perform in a venue where people of all ages were able to attend. In addition to his performance on the 10th, Johnston’s art will be featured in an exhibit in the Hughes center through March 15th. Johnston has suffered from schizophrenia and manic depression since his 20s, which has had a large effect on his music and art. His art is full of the angst that goes hand in hand with his ongoing struggle with manic depression. From vibrant cartoon images to the prolific struggle between good and evil, it leaves the viewer yearning to learn more of the mystery. Some would call his pieces a trendy interpretation; others say it is a trip through his though process, or of a man searching for sanity. Even after a lifetime of albums and artwork, Johnston is still excited about his future prospects, especially in working with comics. Zac Swann, Michael Do, Mack Hoskins, and yours truly Clay Smith, were privileged enough to actually perform as Johnston’s backup band for the latter part of his set. As the Nashville Scene put it, we’re going to “Have cooler stories than everyone else we graduate with." Daniel Johnston: an incredibly talented individual with a crazy story, and one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. -Clay Smith
Daniel Johnston Performs on Campus from Lumination Network on Vimeo.
