Current Events & Trends | June 2019 | Rebecca Rego Barry

Go Gonzo! Where to Celebrate Hunter S. Thompson & Ralph Steadman this Summer

Courtesy of the Speed Art Museum

Speed Art Museum exhibition title wall, illustrated by Ralph Steadman.

Opening at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 12 is Gonzo! The Illustrated Guide to Hunter S. Thompson, an exhibition of letters, photographs, and ephemera focusing on the years 1964-1974. Collector Joe Yasinski, featured in our current issue, has contributed original Ralph Steadman drawings from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, and an oversized Annie Leibovitz portrait of Thompson, among other items.

The exhibition is timed to coincide with GonzoFest, a literary and musical festival honoring Thompson that will be held at the Louisville Free Public Library on July 20.

Courtesy of the Frazier History Museum

Thompson for Sheriff, 1970. Silkscreen on paper by Thomas W. Benton. Previously in the personal collection of Hunter S. Thompson.

Another exhibition, Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson’s Campaign for Sheriff, at the Frazier History Museum, rounds out this Louisville trio of Thompson festivities. Focusing on the ‘Aspen’ period in which Thompson wrote prolifically about politics, the environment, and drugs, the exhibition features 125 limited edition silkscreen prints, offset lithographs, mimeographs, magazine covers—and even a faithful recreation of Thompson’s Owl Farm kitchen. It runs through September 2.

Steadman fans will want to continue on from Louisville to Kansas City, Missouri, where the KC Public Library hosts the Ralph Steadman Retrospective, a journey through his prolific art career of more than 60 years, on view until September 8.

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