Jimmy

The iconic front-man of the Doors was know to play on the psychology of crowds and wrote lyrics that featured prophetic visions. In this painting Jim is crowned with a coral and king snake, one poisonous and one harmless… The interplay is between fear and foolishness, apprehension and foresight.

I considered taking this one step further and giving Jim a tennis-sweatband.. Or depicting him cross-eyed and mystified. But the truth is I like him. His music played a positive role in the tumult that was my adolescence.

Though the persona he created can seem out of place in the 21st century (quirky and even trite), there should always be a place for champions of free thought and individuality. And there is no doubt that his was the road less traveled.

As Daniel Nester puts it:

“.. I have stopped worrying whether James Douglas Morrison—The Last Holy Fool, Sex God, Black Priest of the Great Society—can join the tenuous tribe of poets. He’s been showing up for the meetings for so long now, there’s no sense in throwing him out.”

Read Daniel Nester’s article in full here, at the PoetryFoundation.org

Tags: Art, jim morrison, painting, snakes