Former METALLICA Bassist JASON NEWSTED Talks About His Art At Exhibition Opening

Bassist Jason Newsted's (VOIVOD, METALLICA, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM) first exhibition of original art is being held May 4 - June 27, 2010 at Micaëla Gallery (49 Geary Street, No. 234) in San Francisco, California.

The Micaela Gallery
49 Geary Street, Number 234
San Francisco, CA 94108
415.551.8118
www.micaela.com

The exhibition opened to the public with a launch party this past Thursday (May 6) from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with Newsted in attendance.

"I started out figuring out what techniques would allow me to draw and paint while my arm was in a sling, so I threw things at the canvas using a spatula, with one hand," Newsted — whose show features just six of his roughly 1,000 paintings — told Rossiter Drake of SFWeekly.com. "It was purposeful. I wanted each piece to mean something, and I wanted to paint a picture each day, as a reflection of what I was living and breathing at that time. The mentality was the same as my approach to writing music."

Newsted told SFWeekly.com that he never thought about having an art show until 2006. At that time, he was working on "Rock Star: Supernova" for CBS, and the network wanted to decorate the contestants' house with his gold and platinum records. "The art director came to my home, saw my paintings, and asked who my influences were," Newsted explained. "I told him Hanna-Barbera — 'The Flintstones', 'The Jetsons'. I'd never studied with anyone. He asked if I'd like the pictures to be featured on the TV show, at the house where all the karaoke kids stayed. I said sure. And people started offering me money for my pictures. So with that, and all the positive feedback I was getting, I started taking painting seriously."

He added, "There are some people who are not going to like what I do, and they already made up their minds beforehand. They see another musician who paints, or another writer who paints. That's fine. I saw some people making fun of the paintings tonight, but it didn't bother me. I don't want everyone to like my stuff.

"It's just like the music. There are a lot of painters, and a lot of musicians. But you've got to be good. You have to be. I've convinced myself that this is a good idea, and the positive vibrations I've felt tell me I made the right decision."

Read more and check out photos from the opening party at SFWeekly.com.

Immersed in creativity from an early age, Jason Newsted learned about beauty, life and death from his upbringing on his family's farm in Battlecreek, Michigan. These early surroundings would come to heavily influence his music career and artistic imagery.

Newsted joined METALLICA in 1986, successfully toured the globe as METALLICA's bass guitarist through 2001, and achieved worldwide recognition. He recorded multiple albums that won six Grammy awards, sold 100 million units, and earned his 2009 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2005, Newsted turned his attention to painting, where he found solace and a new manner for expressing his creativity. His experience with painting is a joy to behold, filled with wonderment and the uninhibited freedom of a mature creative soul.

Newsted's paintings express raw visual energy. He uses rich color and an expressive manner to translate his characteristic intensity into hard-hitting paintings.

You can check out some of Newsted's paintings at this location.

Dunlop TV recently conducted an interview with Newsted about his bass gear and his interest in painting, having turned out hundreds of large original works of art over the last half a decade. Watch the eight-minute chat below.