Death Bop
the wind in the trees
{ Public Service Publishing }
isbn 978 1 9161687 8 7
50pp105 × 148 mm
Wiro bound, full colour on 240gsm gloss with 380gsm gloss laminated covers
First printing of 100
31 October 2022
£7
Gertrude Abercrombie (1909–77) was an American surrealist painter, active in Chicago and acclaimed as “the queen of the bohemian artists”.
Her most famous image became known as “Charlie Parker’s favourite painting”, and Dizzy Gillespie said of her: “She is the first bop artist ... she has taken the essence of our music and transported it to another art form”.
Her often tiny works, elaborating a repertoire of very personal motifs and symbols rendered in a near-naïve but fully considered style, constitute a captivating universe of deadpan strangeness. Once exchanged as mere curiosities between friends, her paintings are now highly prized and appreciated.
The only book devoted to her work is now rare and unaffordable to most, so this is a small, unauthorised, unofficial bootleg introduction to a peculiarly compelling artist who deserves to be more widely known.