Alton Kelley

Alton Kelley
Born	Alton Kelly (1940-06-17)June 17, 1940 Houlton, Maine
Died	Petaluma, California
Nationality	American
Known for	concert posters, logos, album covers, fine art
Movement	Psychedelic art

Alton Kelley (June 17, 1940 in Houlton, Maine – June 1, 2008 in Petaluma, California) was an American artist best known for his psychedelic art, in particular his designs for 1960s rock concerts and albums. Along with artists Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Victor Moscoso and Wes Wilson, Kelley founded the Berkeley Bonaparte distribution agency in order to produce and sell psychedelic poster art.

Along with fellow artist Stanley Mouse, Kelley is credited with creating the wings and beetles on all Journey album covers as well as the skull and roses image for the Grateful Dead. Kelley's artwork on the 1971 self-titled live album, Grateful Dead, incorporated a black and white illustration of a skeleton by Edmund Sullivan, which originally appeared in a 19th-century edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

In 1995, Kelley designed and printed a limited edition poster of Jack Kerouac to raise money for the Jan Kerouac Benefit Fund. Kelley is also credited for the cover art from the 1996, King's X album Ear Candy.

He was brought up in Connecticut and worked as a welder there.

He died on June 1, 2008, at the age of 67, after a long illness.

See also

• Robert Crumb
• S. Clay Wilson

External links

• documentary film featuring the work of Alton Kelley