2009 GAPERS BLOCK READER SURVEY! Help us get to know you better & improve the site by filling out our survey — win tickets to Jesus Lizard @ Metro New Years Eve!

TODAY

Monday, November 23

Search


A/C
« A Cure for the Bears Blues Fresh Paint »

Art Mon Nov 09 2009

Broke-adelic

Today's front page of the Sun-Times features a story about Pedro Bell. He wrote many of the liner notes and drawings for George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. Sadly, he has never received any compensation for his work. Living in the "shabby" Hyde Park Arms, he is practically blind, living with a wound on his ankle that won't heal, receiving dialysis three times a week, and battling eviction orders.

His work was featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art's traveling exhibit, "Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock 'n' Roll since 1967," but other than that has received little recognition and no money for this art. His younger brother, Maillo Tsuru says, "We're just looking for collectors at this point. There's no reason a world-class artist shouldn't have patrons."

Whitney Stoepel / Comments (5)

LaShawn Williams / November 9, 2009 1:21 PM

What a fascinating story... Wow--you just never know...

Kelly Reaves / November 9, 2009 3:25 PM

Poor Bernie Worrell (immensely talented keyboardist for P-funk) is in the same boat. Who got all the money P-funk made? Did George spend it all on his hair? I just watched an amazing documentary on Worrell- check it out: http://www.strangermovie.com/

LaShawn Williams / November 9, 2009 6:01 PM

Interesting timing; the TVOne "Unsung" special on William "Bootsy" Collins, another artist tied to the Funkadelic family, aired last night

Whitney Stoepel / November 9, 2009 9:12 PM

Kelly and LaShawn-both such interesting references I didn't know about! I bet a tell-all book is right around the corner...

LaShawn Williams / November 11, 2009 10:49 PM

George Clinton was a guest on Mo'Nique's talk show 2nite--nope--no mention of Pedro Bell! LOL...

Add a Comment




Please enter the letter g in the field below:



Live Comment Preview


Notes & Tags

Items marked with a * are required fields. Please respect each other. We reserve the right to delete any comments borne out of douchebaggery or that deal in asshattery.

Permitted tags and how to use them:

To link: <a href="http://blahblahblah.com">Link text</a>
To italicize: <em>Your text</em>
To bold: <strong>Your text</strong>

ADVERTISEMENT

Dance Sun Nov 15 2009

Chicago Human Rhythm Project

By LaShawn Williams

In the American cultural landscape, tap dancing has fought hard to be regarded the same as other dance forms. Lane Alexander, founder and director of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP), explains tap's global impact, and why it is finally...
Read this feature »

Steve at the Movies Fri Nov 20 2009

The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The Messenger, The Blind Side, Planet 51 and La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet

By Steve Prokopy

Read this column »


A/C on Flickr

Join the A/C Flickr Pool.



About A/C

A/C is the arts and culture section of Gapers Block, covering the many forms of expression on display in Chicago.

Editor: David Schalliol, dcs@gapersblock.com
A/C staff inbox: ac@gapersblock.com

Archives

 

A/C Flickr Pool
 Subscribe in a reader.