Art Of Music Exhibit
By Russ Allsup
On February 28th, I went to The Art of Music Exhibition at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale to check out a huge exhibition of original music art and album covers. I had gone to the cemetery about three weeks earlier to check out some graves of popular celebrities like Humphrey Bogart, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. While there, I happened to stop by the Forrest Lawn Museum where they had a bunch of great original artwork from different rock ‘n roll album covers, paintings, and pictures of musicians and bands.
I had no idea about any of the things in the museum were even going to be there. I was only there to check out the celebrity graves, but was pleasantly surprised when I stepped into the museum. Who would’ve thought that a cemetery would have so much incredible rock ‘n roll history? My mind was completely blown. As soon as I stepped inside, I saw the original album cover for the KISS record “Rock and Roll Over”. There were three big rooms full of original album cover artwork, portrait photographs, paintings and other works of art related to rock ‘n roll.
While I was there, I asked someone at the museum if there was going to be in exhibition or official opening with some of the artists and they told me it would happen in three weeks. So on the 28th I went back and not only was there a full parking lot, the museum was packed with people. There was an official reception with some of the artists on hand, along with free wine and drinks. Everywhere you looked there was music history, including the original album covers for Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, The Yardbirds, YES, Alice Cooper, KISS, and many more. Also plenty of original Fillmore posters and original paintings, sketches and photos of such rock luminaries as Elvis Presley, The Doors, Tina Turner, and George Harrison. I got to meet several of the artists during the course of the show including Drew Struzan, Gary Null, Ernie Cefalu, William Stroud, and David Edward Byrd; all legends in the world of music art. They were all very approachable and seemed very happy to have their works on display to an adoring public.
One piece that really caught my attention was a painting by YES artist Roger Dean that was valued at a one million dollars. Definitely one of the best shows or exhibits that I’ve ever witnessed. While I was there I bumped into the Guess Who singer Burton Cummings, who I talked to for a bit, and even gave him a CD of my band DAM. He had some great stories about being on the road and rock art in general. One of the artists I met there was Ernie Cefalu, the man who created the iconic Rolling Stones lips and tongue logo. Having conversations with him and some of the other artists there felt like I was talking to royalty.
The exhibition was well-planned, with all the works of art placed in such a way that the show was visually engaging and kept my attention the whole way through. This has got to be one of the best collections of original music art in one place. There is so much music history and iconic pieces of art under one roof. It’s shows and experiences like this that really recharge my batteries and get the ‘ole creative juices flowing. I highly recommend anyone in the Los Angeles area to go see the show while you have a chance before it ends on August 2nd.
