Don Van Vliet: Captain Beefheart 1985-1995 (Anton Kern and Michael Werner, 2007)

48 pages, 32 color & 4 b/w illustrations
Softcover
ISBN: 9781885013583

Catalog includes an introduction by Polly Jean (PJ) Harvey.

Published on the occasion of the exhibitions Don Van Vliet: Paintings, 31 May - 6 July 2007 at Michael Werner Gallery, New York (in collaboration with Anton Kern Gallery, New York) and Don Van Vliet: Bilder, 3 September - 20 October 2007 at Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne.

Don Van Vliet (January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. Vliet began performing as Captain Beefheart in 1964 and joined the original Magic Band line-up the same year. The group released their debut album "Safe as Milk" in 1967 with Buddah Records. After being dropped by two consecutive labels they signed to friend Frank Zappa's Straight Records, where they released 1969's "Trout Mask Replica;" the album would later rank 58th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Van Vliet made few public appearances after his retirement from music in 1982; he eventually pursued a career in painting.