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Hunter S. Thompson, 1937-2005
In February 2005, Hunter S. Thompson, famous for over-the-top "gonzo" journalism and his unrestrained Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, committed suicide. Ralph Steadman, his illustrator-collaborator and friend, created this print, Gonzo Memorial, imagining Thompson's funeral as a way to raise money to assist his widow. Here, Thompson is represented as a flying peacock wearing the writer's signature hat while the ink-trailing creature in the foreground is a stand-in for Steadman. The two-thumbed fist, a personal logo for Thompson, tops the tower planned to launch his ashes into space. Six months after Thompson's death, his final wishes were realized in a private funeral at his home in Colorado, during which his remains were successfully launched from a "gonzo tower." Below the print are signatures from Thompson's wife and some of his friends, including Bill Murray, Johnny Depp, and Kurt Vonnegut.
Ralph Steadman, 2005 |