Norman Hathaway and Dan Nadel: Electrical Banana (Damiani)

Norman Hathaway and Dan Nadel

Electrical Banana: Masters of Psychedelic Art

Published by Damiani

Jul 06, 2012 Issue #41 - Yeasayer By Frank Valish

Electrical Banana is an exploration of psychedelic art of the 1960s. Its focus, however, is not on hippie culture and the West Coast California scene. Instead, Hathaway and Nadel hone in on international psychedelic artists that made a mark with their work. After a short interview with Paul McCartney and a brief introduction, seven artists are profiled. Short histories are provided, followed by more comprehensive interviews and striking collections of their works. Included is Heinz Edelmann, who is famous for his illustrations for The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, but who also, incidentally,

illustrated the complete works of Tolkien in German. Martin Sharp and his iconic cover images for Cream’s Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire are featured, as is Dudley Edwards’ psychedelic car and exquisite painting on Paul McCartney’s piano. Keiichi Tanaami did record sleeves for The Monkees and Jefferson Airplane, and Mati

Klarwein, who Andy Warhol once called his “favorite painter,” produced the paintings used for Santana’s Abraxas cover and Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. Both are discussed here. Taken as a whole, Electrical Banana becomes less about “psychedelic” and more about art. The stunning works from the talented artists featured here are worth much more in-depth examination than any fleeting hippie-dippie appreciation. (www.artbook.com)

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