Dreaming Light: The Art of Mati Klarwein
Who was Mati Klarwein? Mati Klarwein created two of rock music's most memorable album cover paintings, Santana's 'Abraxas,' and Mile Davis' 'Bitches Brew.' "Anyone who has ever owned a copy of either of those albums," write Conny Lindstrom and Peter Holmlund in their essay, 'The Manic Landscape: Mati Klarwein,' "can testify that the cover paintings are as integral to the experience as the music itself." What do Lindstrom and Holmlund mean? How can cover paintings be integral to the experience of the music?
Until very recently, I had never heard the name 'Mati Klarwein.' A few weeks ago, I was watching Ralph J. Gleason's documentary film, 'A Night at the Family Dog,' featuring a 1970 performance by Santana, and I began to think about Santana's albums. I used to own the first one, with the black and white cover, but I never owned 'Abraxas.'
Great album covers, like the ones Klarwein created and many others, contribute to a listener's experience of music by stimulating our other senses. When we eat, the way food looks and smells - not just its taste - contributes to our enjoyment. Likewise, when we listen to music, especially vinyl records whose cover size creates a large canvas for visual expression, the images on the packaging become an important part of our experience of that record. I remember countless hours lying on my bed as a kid, listening to records, poring over their covers, studying hairstyles and clothes, lettering and illustrations, looking for clues to the personas and personalities of the singers and musicians I so enjoyed.
Many great albums of the past have been graced by memorable cover designs. Sometimes its a memorable photograph - think Dylan's 'Highway 61 Revisited' or Springsteen's 'Born to Run' - and sometimes its a painting. But there are few painters like Klarwein, so connected with the music itself.
Part of the reason for Klarwein's ability to understand and interpret this music in paint was his personal familiarity with the musicians themselves. He hung out with them, partied with them - they were his friends. Jimi Hendrix and Mati Klarwein even had the same suit maker. "We would spend afternoons dropping acid and trying on new sets of clothes," Klarwein recalled of his friendship with Hendrix, who is pictured below with Klarwein at a party together.
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Apart from these two album covers, Klarwein created many others for some of the most progressive musicians of the 1960s and 1970s, including Eric Dolphy, Leonard Bernstein, and Gregg Allman.(www.matiklarweinart.com) He also painted portraits - everyone from Jackie Kennedy to Brigitte Bardot and Richard Gere sat for Klarwein. "I still paint portraits to make money," he once said, "but I also do it in exchange for services or things that I want." Here is Klarwein's portrait of Bernstein which was later used for an album cover:
Mati Klarwein died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 69. The strange thing about my recent discovery of the work of Mati Klarwein is that it came so close to his birthday - today would have been Klarwein's 77th. Towards the end of his life, when he was already battling cancer, he said, "There was a time I dreamed of sex, and then I dreamed of drugs....
Soon, I will be dreaming light."
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