You know him for his crazy, curly hair, mind-bending, psychedelic live shows, and imaginative songs such as “She Don’t Use Jelly.”
Now, Wayne Coyne is adding a Baltimore art exhibit to his list of accomplishments. The Flaming Lips front man will have his work included in an exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum that opens in October called The Big Hope Show, which, along with the theme mentioned in its title, will explore transcendent survival.
“Wayne Coyne’s work is among the most jubilant in our The Big Hope Show,” AVAM founder Rebecca Hoffberger, who is curating the exhibition, said in a news release. “Surviving a violent, near-death experience awakened in him a joy and a tsunami of endless creativity rarely seen in anyone.”
After surviving a robbery attempt in the 1980s, where a loaded gun was pointed to his head, Coyne began to explore what his imagination could accomplish. He brought costumes, inventive lighting, and other spectacular visual elements to his alternative rock band’s live shows—remember his trips through the crowd in what resembled a giant hamster ball?
He also opened a funky arthouse venue in Oklahoma City, his hometown, drawn comic books, even directed a Christmas sci-fi movie. And then there’s the art, which includes drawings, sculpture, and an installation that can only be described as a truly sensory experience.
The exhibit will also feature works by photographer and documentarian Bob Adams, who documented John Waters’ productions, and fabric artist Chris Roberts-Antieau, among others. The show will run through August 2016.