Art Appreciation. (#1)

 Artist Larry Hubbell (aka Harry Lyrico) displaying his preliminary work for the cover of  

A Western Capitol Hill.

A few years ago, I wrote about artist Harry Lyrico, mentioning how I enjoyed a surrealist sort of cartoon strip of his that used to run in the Denver arts magazine Icon back in the early '90s.

What I didn't know about Lyrico back then is that his real name is Larry Hubbell--the name he's also produced work under, on and off, over the years. I also didn't know that he once did a split-comic for Last Gasp back in 1973. Or that his 1983 newave mini-comic White Boy Goes to Hell was reproduced in a book published by Fantagraphics. Or that he once did a strip called "Homeless in Hollywood" published in the LA Weekly. Hubbell has been a long-time Denver illustrator and print maker; in fact, I became reacquainted with him at an exhibit at the McNichol's Building organized by master printmaker Mark Lunning, whose collaboration with Harry Lyrico was one of the oldest pieces on display.

It's been a pleasure getting to know Hubbell/Lyrico better over the past few months, while having him produce my novel's cover illustration. And although I'm never quite sure whether to address him as "Harry" or "Larry" whenever I call him on the phone (often alternating), he doesn't seem to mind.