Rick Griffin

His work within the surfing subculture included both film posters and his comic strip, Murphy.

Rick Griffin studied at Narbonne High School and Chouinard Art Institute. The recorded working language is English. Work by Rick Griffin is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum. Distinctions recorded are Inkpot Award.

• Birth Name — Richard Alden Griffin • Born — 18 June 1944 • Birthplace — Palos Verdes, California, U.S. • Died — 18 August 1991 • Place of death — Petaluma, California, U.S. • Nationality — American • Cartoonist — y • Area — Underground Comix, Psychedelic Posters, Album Covers, Paintings • Notable Works — Flying Eyeball, Aoxomoxoa, Pow Wow: A Gathering of the Tribes, Tales From The Tube, Man From Utopia, Zap Comix • Awards — Inkpot Award (1976)

Griffin was born near Palos Verdes amidst the surfing culture of southern California. Griffin biographer Tim Stephenson notes: • "His father was an engineer and amateur archaeologist and as a boy Rick accompanied him on digs in the Southwest. It was during this time that Rick was exposed to the Native American and ghost town artifacts that were to influence his later work. Rick was taught to surf by Randy Nauert at the age of 14 at Torrance Beach. The pair had met at Alexander Flemming Jr. High, and were to become lifelong friends, Rick producing much of the artwork for Randy's future band, the Challengers." While attending Nathaniel Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, he produced numerous surfer drawings, which led to his surfing comic strip, "Murphy" for Surfer magazine in 1961, with Griffin's character featured on the front cover the following year. In 1964, he left Surfer and briefly attended Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts), where he met his future wife, artist Ida Pfefferle as well as the Jook Savages, a group of artist-musicians with whom he took part in Ken Kesey's Watts Acid Tests on February 12, 1966. Griffin was intrigued by the psychedelic rock posters being designed by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley so after taking time out for a Mexican surfing trip, Rick and Ida headed to San Francisco to check out the scene.

Griffin and the Jook Savages arranged an art show, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Psychedelic Shop on Haight Street for which Griffin designed his first psychedelic poster. Organizers for the Human Be-In saw his work and asked him to design a poster for their January 1967 event. Chet Helms was also impressed by Griffin's work and asked him to design posters for the Family Dog dance concerts at the Avalon Ballroom, and later for The Family Dog Denver ballroom in Denver, CO.. In 1967, Griffin, Kelley, Mouse, Victor Moscoso and Wes Wilson teamed with photographer Bob Seidemann as the founders of Berkeley Bonaparte, a company that created and marketed psychedelic posters. In February 1968 Griffin began to design posters for Bill Graham shows, first at The Fillmore Auditorium and later at the Fillmore West. The first of these posters was to become one of his best known works, the "Flying Eyeball" poster for Jimi Hendrix.

Griffin was a key figure and founding member of the Zap Comix collective. Man from Utopia (1972), Tales from the Tube (1972), and his Zap pages are considered to be his most notable comic works.

Griffin became a born again Christian in November 1970, which led to fundamental changes in his lifestyle and in the style and content of his art. His 1973 painting Sail on Sailor for the band Mustard Seed Faith is an example of his fine art painting from this period. His most significant 1970s project was the creation of hundreds of paintings and drawings for The Gospel of John, published by the Christian record label Maranatha! Music. He also produced much album art for Maranatha! during the 1970s and 1980s.