Cal Schenkel

    Cal Schenkel
    Cal Schenkel     Cal Schenkel     Cal Schenkel

Calvin Schenkel was born in 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, grew up in suburban Willow Grove, and attended the Philadelphia College of Art. After just one year in art school, he met and began working for Frank Zappa in 1967, immediately becoming his entire art department. He spent a number of years as a free-lance designer in Los Angeles producing iconic album cover images, including in addition to Zappa, covers for Tom Waits, Tim Buckley and Three Dog Night, among others. His design for Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica is listed as one of the 50 greatest album cover designs of the 20th Century.

Among the many album covers he produced for Zappa since his first design work on We're Only in It for the Money (a parody of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album), Schenkel also provided artwork and graphics for Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, Uncle Meat, Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Chunga's Revenge, Fillmore East - June 1971, Just Another Band from L.A., The Grand Wazoo, One Size Fits All, Bongo Fury, Tinseltown Rebellion, Does Humor Belong in Music?, The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, Playground Psychotics, Ahead of Their Time, and Cheap Thrills.

His art has been noted for having an “idiosyncratic blend of absurdist humor ...for being highly articulate and often wildly narrative.” Underground cartoonist Gary Panter dubbed Schenkel the “king of the ragged edge,” and Matt Groening (The Simpsons) has cited him as an early influence. His credits also include Production Design and animation for two feature films.

After returning to Pennsylvania in recent years, Schenkel has spent time more as a painter and print-maker. He has exhibited his work internationally and has a world-wide following from his many years of highly visible music artwork, but also continues working on freelance projects in illustration and design in all media.

    wikipedia entry

    eye magazine interview

    Cal Schenkel blog post about his album covers

album covers:

1. Grand Wazoo 2. Just Another Band From L.A. 3. One Size Fits All 4. Trout Mask Replica
5. Grand Wazoo (back) 6. Burnt Weeny Sandwich 7. Uncle Meat 8. Bongo Fury

1. [ac_GW.jpg] album cover: Frank Zappa, "Grand Wazoo," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

2. [ac_JABFLA.jpg] album cover: Frank Zappa, "Just Another Band From L.A.," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

3. [ac_OSFA.jpg] album cover: Frank Zappa, "One Size Fits All," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

4. [ac_TMR.jpg] album cover: Captain Beefheart, "Trout Mask Replica," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

5. [ac_GWb.jpg] album cover: Frank Zappa, "Grand Wazoo (back)," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

6. [ac_BWS.jpg] album cover: Frank Zappa, "Burnt Weeny Sandwich," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

7. [ac_UM.jpg] album cover: Frank Zappa, "Uncle Meat," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

8. [ac_BF.jpg] album cover: Captain Beefheart, "Bongo Fury," acrylic on paper study, 13 x 13 in.

recent work:

1. untitled 2. untitled 3. untitled
4. untitled 5. untitled 6. Flies
7. untitled 8. untitled 9. Flies

1. "Tank No. 42," acrylic and enamel on panel, 32 x 48 in.

2. "A. Jet," acrylic and enamel on panel, with artist's frame 14 x 16 in.

3. (untitled) acrylic and enamel on panel, 32 x 48 in.

4. (untitled) acrylic on paper, 9 x 12 in.

5. (untitled) acrylic on paper, 9 x 12 in.

6. "Chunga," acrylic and ink on paper, 6 x 9 in.

7. "Mojo," acrylic on paper, 9 x 12 in.

8. "Jets," acrylic and ink on paper, with artist's frame 17 x 22 in.

9. "Flies," acrylic on canvas, 80 x 68 in.

for larger images contact the artist: calvin@ralf.com