In celebration of music icon and visual artist Mickey Hart, The Haight Street Art Center presents Mickey Hart: Art at the Edge of Magic. The exhibition will open July 24 and run through Sept. 21, and is free to all museum visitors during regular hours.
Where music meets paint
Hart is best known as a member of The Grateful Dead. From 1967 to 1971, he was the drummer for the iconic San Francisco band. During his tenure, he was known for using polyrhythmic styles, influences from world music, and unconventional percussion instruments. Hart has made numerous contributions to popular culture, including his 1991 album, Planet Drum, which topped the Billboard World Music Chart for 26 weeks. Among his many awards and honors, he received the inaugural Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.
As an improvisational player, it’s no surprise that Hart has taken this same freeform approach to visual art. Brushes are used sparingly in Hart’s painting methodology; instead, he approaches the canvas by pouring paint directly onto the surface. The wet, still-evolving image is exposed to gravity, centrifugal forces, and intense gamma-wave vibrations — generated by placing each piece on a powerful Meyer Sound subwoofer. This subwoofer reproduces the tones of the Beam, a modern version of the Pythagorean monochord — a single-stringed instrument used to illustrate the mathematical relationships between musical intervals. The Beam was initially constructed for the Apocalypse Now sessions and long used in Hart’s legendary “Drums and Space” performances. The slowly drying paint is shaped by these vibrations traveling through the surface, shaping the final composition in real time.
When I paint, I can feel the vibration; I can see it in the colors. It’s vibrational expressionism.
— Mickey Hart
I love the flow of things, to be in the moment, to experience magic. When I paint, I can feel the vibration; I can see it in the colors. It’s vibrational expressionism. This mix is exotic and profound in a vibratory and sensual way. I use musical instruments to create and power the paintings out of the vibrations that are formed. When I approach a canvas, it is just like I approach my drums in performance, with an open mind. Life is really all about the rhythm of things. As in my paintings, and as in my music, as in life.
For his exhibition at the Haight Street Art Center — his largest ever — Hart is presenting his paintings lit from behind alongside pieces on plexiglass rendered in pigments sensitive to blacklight. Two large paintings highlight the exhibition: both are mounted onto walls like picture windows so viewers can enjoy both their blacklight and natural-light sides. Also on view are the devices Hart uses to create his poured paintings. A musical audio experience will complement the art installation.
The hybrid of intention and happenstance informs the vibrant surfaces of Hart’s psychedelic paintings. The pigments are chosen, and decisions are made about how much force to subject his pieces to. Then, the magic happens when the influence of sound dictates the final product. This balance remains as Hart’s primary location for inspiration. “Just like the Grateful Dead’s music transcends the surface level of rock and roll, my art serves as a vessel for raising consciousness, striving to create a slightly better world,” said Hart.
Join The Haight Street Art Center on July 31 for an opening celebration from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. — the evening before Dead & Company kicks off three sold-out shows in Golden Gate Park honoring the 60th anniversary of The Grateful Dead. Visitors will have the opportunity to purchase a limited-edition show poster, a collaboration between Mickey Hart, Je Noodle, and legendary poster artist Stanley Mouse.
