These days, it's common for musicians to recruit visual artists to direct or creatively inform their music videos, but once in a while, the artist gets to make a powerful appearance only. In the case of Kendrick Lamar and Eddie Peake (and Jamie xx and Sophia Mattioli) the collaboration happens before the viewer's eyes, and the artist is also on the screen. In other cases, like Antony and the Johnsons and Marina Abramovic, the artist is simply present (bad joke?).
Regardless of what their presence meant for each of these videos, the appearance of visual artists in music videos is important. It's a way for a musician to show who their friends are and highlight their usually lesser known faces and work. Enjoy this list of 16 Music Videos Starring Visual Artists and see some unexpected collaborations take place.
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"God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash, 2006
Artist: Dennis Hopper
American artist Dennis Hopper is only one of the celebrities who appear in the music video for "God's Gonna Cut You Down," which was directed by Tony Kaye and released three years after Johnny Cash's death. The video for "God's Gonna Cut You Down" has a haunting, voyeuristic feel as it shoots celebrity after celebrity, from Johnny Depp to Dennis Hopper to Jay Z, in black and white.
"Oldie" by Odd Future, 2012
Artist: Terry Richardson
Odd Future's "Oldie" video offers a rare opportunity to see the rappers "behind the scenes" of a photo shoot, specifically a spontaneous Terry Richardson shoot. The group lip syncs their verses and jokes around with one another in front of a bright white background, clearly relaxed and having fun. At the very end of the video, the camera pans around to find Terry Richardson in action, behind his camera.
"Cut the World" by Antony and the Johnsons, 2012
Artist: Marina Abramović
Abramović stars alongside Willem Dafoe and Carice van Houten in "Cut the World," a haunting video depicting the tragic relationship between a businessman and his secretary, played by Dafoe and van Houten. At the end, van Houten exits the office building and meets Abramović, exchanging one meaningful look with her before the screen goes black. Antony, of Antony and the Johnsons, wrote the song for a play directed by Robert Wilson called The Life and Death of Maria Abramović.
"Sleep Sound" by Jamie xx, 2014
"Sing About Me" Part 1 by Kendrick Lamar, 2014
Artist: Eddie Peake
Kendrick released a two-part video series for the track "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" from his debut album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. The first part, directed by Darren Romanelli, follows the rapper as he drives through his hometown. Then, he and multi-talented artist Eddie Peake work on a piece of art together to correspond with the song.
"Picasso Baby" by Jay Z, 2013
Artist: Mickalene Thomas, Sanford Biggers, Dustin Yellin, Ryan McNamara, Marina Abramovic, Marilyn Minter, Dana Schutz, Rashid Johnson, Lawrence Weiner
The video "Picasso Baby," officially known as "Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film," is more a record of performance art more than it is a traditional music video. Inspired by Marina Abramovic's The Artist Is Present at MoMA, Jay Z invited a large group of artists and people of influence in the art world to attend his performance at Pace Gallery in New York. The video was met with mixed reviews yet still nominated for Best Music Video at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Bad Dancer" by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, 2013
Artist: Yoko Ono
Rolling Stone describes Yoko Ono's 2013 video as "charming," and it's probably the first word that comes to mind when defining "Bad Dancer." Ono invited her New York friends, among them Ad-Rock and Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Questlove, to attend the filming of the clip, where all participants were told to bust an awkward move. The video begins with Yoko painting a backdrop, which itself can be seen as a form of dance.
"Rapture" by Blondie, 1980
Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lee Quiñones
Blondie's music video for the song "Rapture" features artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Lee Quiñones, both of whom often used their art to spread political messages. The music video, filmed in the East Village, is the first rap video ever broadcasted on MTV.
"I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)" by Grace Jones, 1986
Artist: Andy Warhol and Keith Haring
Hello, 1980s. This video embodies retro glam in the form of pop idol Grace Jones. It also includes Andy Warhol, who appears on camera for just a few moments, long enough to affirm that, "Grace is perfect." Keith Haring also appears throughout the video while he adorns a giant circle with his iconic designs (at the end of the video, Grace wears it as a 60-foot-long skirt).
"Sonne statt Reagan" by Joseph Beuys, 1982
Artist: Joseph Beuys
We're going out on a limb by guessing that most people reading this aren't fluent in German, so let us summarize Joseph Beuys' song for you. "Sonne statt Reagan" translates into "Sun, not rain" and it essentially is Beuys' mission statement as an artist. The song specifically targets the Reagan administration and the military complex, while also speaking more generally about pacifism and progressiveness. Though Beuys chose to state his beliefs in this form, he did not consider the song a piece of pop music, but rather as a work of art. As an artist, Beuys was a bit of a Renaissance man, working in sculpture, graphic arts, performance art, installation art, and art theory.
"Monsters" by Fred Schneider & The Shake Society, 1983
Artist: Keith Haring
This 1983 video was actually banned from MTV for its not-so-subtle allusions to the monster in Fred Schneider's pants. Featuring not only Keith Haring, but also members from the Talking Heads, Ethyl Eichelberger, and plenty of claymation creatures, the song was written and performed by the lead singer of the B-52's, Fred Schneider. Keith Haring appears in the video for only a few seconds with a look of horror on his face as he turns from a painting and lays sight upon a monster. We hope Fred Schneider learned to keep it in his pants after this.
"Misfit" by Curiosity Killed the Cat, 1986
Artist: Andy Warhol
A year before his death, Andy Warhol had a cameo in the music video for "Misfit" by '80s boy band Curiosity Killed the Cat. In this video, he holds a boom box and shadows the band while its members prance along the New York streets. Another scene has the artist chucking wordless placards to the ground, perhaps mocking Bob Dylans' "Subterranean Homesick Blues" promo.
"Hello Again" by The Cars, 1984
Artist: Andy Warhol
Aligning himself with the cutting edge mid-'80s music of The Cars, Andy Warhol appears as a bartender in the video for "Hello Again," which also features actress-dancer Gina Gershon. There were two versions of the music video: one is the extended, uncensored version, which didn't make the rounds on MTV. Instead, the channel played the censored, less-sexy version, which also features a lot less Warhol. Warhol died three years later, so this video is among his last work.
"Dumbass" by Ai Weiwei, 2013
Artist: Ai Weiwei
Having faced harsh repression from his government, one would think that Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei would back down. In fact, he's done the opposite. He uses his difficult experiences as source material and inspiration for art that goes beyond the visual; he started releasing music last year. This video is for Ai Weiwei's first single, "Dumbass," a track from his so-called "heavy metal" record (don't expect Metallica), a musical project and "a kind of self-therapy."