On Feb. 7, 30 artists from around the world show their work at Dead Rockstars!, an annual art event, now in its 14th year, at Blunt Graffix in West Eugene.
The animating principle behind the show is the inspiration pop musicians provide with their images, not just with their music. The works feature recognizable stars from Joe Strummer and Jimi Hendrix to Sly Stone and Kurt Cobain, sometimes mashed up with pop culture iconography like Star Wars.
Matt Dey from Blunt Graffix, a nationally recognized brand and printshop with a large production space on Tyinn Street, originated the event. This time, it’s co-curated by Dey and California artist Brian Cox, who will also present works.
Like Dey, most Dead Rockstars! artists have a background in the concert poster industry. Many of them are printmakers. “It’s also not limited to the rock genre,” Dey says. “It could include punk, hip hop and everything in between. It could be an attitude as well.” Chuck Sperry, from San Francisco, first showed work at Dead Rockstars! 10 years ago. “Everyone has a favorite rock musician,” Sperry says, “one that symbolizes youth and joy and exploration. These archetypes are burned into our psyches.” This year, he will present a blotter art piece called “Joe Strummer, London 1975.”
Mishka Westell is an Austin, Texas-based concert poster silk-screener originally from the UK. Unlike Sperry, this year is her first time participating. “I’ve drawn a psychedelic Sly Stone,” Westell says, “whose historical contribution to civil rights has been on my mind recently, and who died only last summer.”
Meanwhile, Los Angeles painter Joey Feldman, whose work already features dead rock stars, plans to show a selection of past works, “alongside an exclusive, show-only version of a recent piece I just completed,” Feldman says.
Feldman adds, “Music plays a huge role in almost everyone’s life, and when these artists pass, there’s a real sense of loss that follows. Grief shows up differently for everyone.” For Feldman, the work isn’t about nostalgia; it’s about connection. “These artists helped shape moments in our lives, and revisiting them through art keeps that energy alive.”
“I hope people walk away from the show feeling something familiar, something personal and maybe even discovering a new layer to artists they thought they already knew,” Feldman says.
Additionally, this year’s Dead Rockstars! is part of The First Saturday Warehouse District Art Hop, where a group of artists and businesses, including Blunt Graffix, have come together for their own art-walk-like event in West Eugene.
“We’ve been doing it for about six months,” Dey says, “and it’s been pretty successful. We’ve been getting a lot of traffic out here.”
Of Dead Rockstars!, Dey adds, “When I started doing my own artwork, I was heavily influenced by the artists of that time who were doing concert posters. That’s what made me want to do art. And so to have a show that focuses on what inspired me to make art in the beginning is, for me, what it’s about.”
Dead Rockstars! is 5 pm to 10 pm Saturday, Feb. 7, at Blunt Graffix, 3709 West 1 Avenue Admission is free. The artwork will be listed for sale on BluntGraffix.com the next day. For more information about The First Saturday Warehouse District Art Hop, go to WarehouseDistrictArtHop.com.