Pedro Bell, the psychedelic painter behind Funkadelic's visual vibe, RIP

Pedro Bell, the visionary painter whose astonishing psychedelic art (and liner notes) appeared on numerous Funkadelic albums and helped inspire the band's visual aesthetic, died on Tuesday at 69. Free your mind, and your ass will follow. From the New York Times:

The artwork of Pedro Bell was an essential component of the alternately utopian and dystopian world of P-Funk, which placed African-American reality in the context of a science fiction future that was both scary and hopeful, (art curator Pan) Wendt said by email. Pedro was a brilliant autodidact who was a key source of George Clintons ideology through his readings of science fiction, media theory and environmentalist tracts, as well as his knowledge of Sun Ras Afrofuturism..."

Mr. Clinton was especially fond of what Mr. Bell came up with for Funkadelics Standing on the Verge of Getting It On (1974): an alien landscape that was both scary and whimsical.

It was a combination of Ralph Bakshi and Samuel R. Delany and Superfly and Fat Albert and Philip K. Dick and Krazy Kat and Flash Gordon, he wrote in his book, all mixed together in Pedros brain with some kind of blender that hadnt even been invented yet.

We lost the Master Mind behind the Graphic's & Artwork of Funkadelic. Mr. Pedro Bell is an American artist and illustrator best known for his elaborate cover designs and other artwork for numerous Funkadelic and George Clinton solo albums. Thxs for yr service our brother. pic.twitter.com/PsD8TRxlRU

— Bootsy Collins (@Bootsy_Collins) August 28, 2019

'Free your mind & the rest will follow...We believed where the funk was going to take us.' Chicago's Pedro Bell told his funk-tastic philosophy to @kspak in @Suntimesstory.