Two and a quarter years ago, I responded to this thread indirectly (via my own 'Comment on art/music thread', in the Forum Questions section of the Harley Forums).
Now I'm going off on a slight tangent,
Edvard Munch / Steve Harley
The visual narrative artist and
The sound and visual narrative songwriter and performer
Each admired by their respective audiences
The 'edge' of a Norwegian 'madman'
The 'edge' of a 'rebel insane'
Pushing EMOTIVE boundaries and conceptual creativity
By a fan of each, based on my knowledge of Harley and the records and 'Beyond The Brush', Sky Arts, The Scream, Edvard Munch and other reading, watching and listening.
Munch's sister, Laura, suffered from schizophrenia. She may have been the inspiration behind his painting of 'The Scream'. Munch's main versions of this work were painted in 1893, 1895 and 1910.
Harley touched upon similar subject matter in 'Muriel The Actor' (1973), Psychomodo (1974) and 'It Wasn't Me' (1975), similar in the sense that there may have been references in the second two songs to other psychosis (maybe paranoia, for instance, '...someone's listening in again...' and maybe at least one other psychosis is referenced, besides schizophrenia (in 'Muriel...)
The intense red skies which featured in several of Munch's paintings were thought to be the evocation of suicidal feelings. Here I think of Harley's tracks 'Death Trip' (1973), 'Cavaliers' (1974) and 'Red Is A Mean Mean Colour' (1976), for both similar and differing reasons.
Juxtapositions of vibrant colours, almost aggressive or orchestral (The Human Menagerie of Cockney Rebel, 1973, comes to mind). The colours that belong to the inner psyche (Harley's 'sacral blues in their various hues' also enters my consciousness.
Illness and Death were sources of inspiration for both Munch and Harley, in my view.
Munch's embrace of imperfection was considered modern. Marc Bolan and (his later friend) Steve Harley and David Bowie in their personas embraced androgyny (and were amongst the first in their field to do so. Brian Eno too).
Bring in Costume for 'Tristan Insane'. The Ship. Salvador Dali (1942/1943). A Surrealist figurative image with sail rig, 'The Lighthouse ' by Harley (1992), enters my mind, along with 'Riding The Waves (For Virginia Woolf)' (1978), also by Harley.
Fans, viewers, listeners of the respective artists and musician songwriters, are entitled to open their minds to free thought via action potentials, stimulated by the work, in front and around them, and to comment by others on the work.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944)
Steve Harley (1951-2024)
Marc Bolan (1947-1977)
David Bowie (1947-2016)
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
Brian Eno (born 1948)
"The only difference between a madman and me is that I am not mad!", Salvador Dali.
