The California spirit of innovation and transmogrification showed itself when Alex Grey’s “Purple Jesus” oil-on-wood painting made its way to San Francisco. It was purchased by a shrewd collector, Mark McCloud, who turned the image into what became Purple Jesus Blotter in the early 1990s. Through a complicated history and even more complicated philosophy of psychedelia, the lasting significance of Jesus for both McCloud and the California narrative highlight the significance of this trippy Jesus story.
Keywords:
Jesus,
Purple Jesus blotter,
LSD,
San Francisco psychedelia,
Mark McCloud,
Alex Grey,
blotter art
This content is only available via PDF.
© 2015 by the Regents of the University of California
2015
