Frank Kozik, a beloved toy designer, graphic designer and artist who created album covers and concert posters for musicians and bands ranging from David Bowie to KISS, Nirvana to the White Stripes, died this weekend. end at the age of 61.
“We are devastated to inform you that Frank Kozik passed away suddenly last Saturday,” said his wife, Sharon wrote on Instagram this week. “Frank was a bigger man than himself, an icon in every genre he worked in. He radically changed every industry he was part of. He was a creative force of nature. No cause of death was given.
Born in Spain, Kozik spent his youth under the dictator Francisco Franco. Self-taught as an artist, he got his start in the mail art community in Austin, Texas, where he was stationed in the Air Force, and then began creating concert posters. He would also exhibit in galleries and set up his own label, Man’s Ruin Records, which released records by Melvins, High on Fire and others.
Talking about his work with riot party, Kozik revealed one of the secrets of his popularity: “I came up with a formula early on where, if it was a massively evil group, I would do something incredibly cute, and it would make it weird,” said Kozik. he declared. “Conversely, if it’s something more normal, I would insert a secret dark element. It was always for personal amusement, but it turned out that if I thought it was interesting, X number of other people did too.”
Kozik didn’t have a great love for education or museums, as he revealed in the same interview.
He said: “I was part of the waste world. I was an uneducated loser and was definitely into hedonistic experiences. Although I appreciate fine art and understand it, I went to punk rock shows, not to college or museums. All of the stuff that really turned my crank was…stuff that we could kind of replicate in our own lives…and a lot of that stuff is really visually arresting. They’re all images of power, and they really convey basic impulses: sex, drugs, violence, weird stuff. »
After conquering the world of designing album covers and posters, Kozik branched out into making toys for Kidrobotwhere he was creative director.
Information about a memorial service will be forthcoming, his wife posted on Instagram. The message is signed “Sharon and the cats”.
Check out some of Kozik’s most memorable posters and album covers below.
Frank Kozik’s poster for the 2016 Lollapalooza concert, featuring bands like Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and LCD Soundsystem.
Frank Kozik’s cover for the Melvins album Houdini.
Design by Frank Kozik for the Offspring disc American.
Design by Frank Kozik for a Pearl Jam concert in 2013.
Design by Frank Kozik for an undated Melvins concert.
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