Gary Grimshaw, the celebrated poster artist whose work memorialized the frenzied music scene in Detroit and Ann Arbor in the 1960s and '70s, is getting his due.
Hobbled by a serious of strokes and stomach problems, Grimshaw has seen his body of work become nationally known and recognized as fine art, and he has watched as it made its way into museums and art galleries, according to Kevin Ransom, writing on Annarbor.com.
Grimshaw's art, which he has continued into the 21st Century, will be the subject of a one-man show this month at the Eastern Michigan University Student Center - a show organized and sponsored by the Intermedia Gallery Group, a student-artist organization at EMU. (See below for details).
Grimshaw, 67, first won renown in the mid-1960s, when he began creating psychedelic posters for concerts at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit’s famous rock music theater, where he was also the light-show artist.
"Many of his '60s / early-‘70s posters alerted the faithful to shows by local bands -- the MC5, The Rationals, the Stooges, the Frost, the Up, SRC, etc. But he also created a steady and heady stream of surreal-looking posters for shows by groundbreaking national / international acts -- like the Who, Cream, the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, the Doors, the original Jeff Beck Group, Jimi Hendrix, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Patti Smith, and on and on. Not to mention posters for early incarnations of the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival."
Grimshaw had the good fortune to grow up in Lincoln Park, and became friends with another resident, the MC5’s frontman, Rob Tyner.
“Gary's mom used to drive Gary and Rob into Detroit to go to jazz clubs and sit with them while they watched sets from jazz greats like Cannonball Adderly and John Coltrane,” says Laura Grimshaw, Gary's wife. “They were both really into jazz, and comics, too. Rob took his stage name from McCoy Tyner.” So, Grimshaw did many, many posters for MC5 shows - sometimes for their own headlining gigs, but more often when they were on a bill with one of the above-mentioned national acts. “But they were definitely my favorite band,” says Grimshaw.
In addition to the EMU show, the Scarab Club in Detroit will present a career retrospective of Grimshaw’s work in January.
EMU details:
What: Exhibit of Gary Grimshaw’s legendary poster art, original artwork, post cards and more.
Where: Eastern Michigan University Student Center, 900 Oakwood St., Ypsilanti
When: The artist reception, with Grimshaw in attendance, is Wed., Sept. 11, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.. The exhibit runs through Sept. 21.
Admission: Free. For info: Call (734) 487-1157
The exhibit had a “soft opening” on Sept. 4, but the real action begins on Wednesday, at the artist reception that will be attended by Grimshaw and wife Laura. “People who come that evening can meet Gary, and talk to him, and the art students can try to pick his brain a little,” says Brad Ruff, the member of the Intermedia Gallery Group who conceived and organized the Grimshaw exhibit, which runs through Sept. 21.
