Matt D McCarthy

Jimi Hendrix was an innovative musician and performer who had a profound influence on the music scene in the late 60’s. His reputation soon spread, and the rock elite, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, The Stones and Beatles amongst others, all flocked to see him perform in the London clubs and theatres. Hendrix was of mixed black and Cherokee Indian descent, an enigmatic, exotic figure whose musical origins were firmly rooted in the American blues tradition. For the young white musicians, he was the ‘real thing’. 

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Balsa wood, mahogany stain, acrylic paint, grain-filler, wire, jack socket and spray paint.

Butterfly Effect – Hendrix in London, 1967. 86×60x6cm
Birch-ply, balsa wood, polystyrene, velvet, silk, metal-leaf, ink-jet decal, acrylic, Canford card, spray paint, clay and found objects.

 This is a collage of photographs taken during the process of making the ‘Hendrix in London’ assemblage. I tried various colour and textural permutations throughout the construction, and a few of the alterations are documented here.  Many changes were made; some of the original ideas for ‘components’ were discarded altogether, whilst others were added as the work neared completion.

The gold frogging on the jacket was reworked; I hand twisted some finer cord, as the original was too clumsy, and the guitar headstock was covered with an image based on the carved frieze on the Saville Theatre building in London; I wanted the image to look like Japanese lacquer work.