Grateful Dead collaborator exhibits art in Davis

Bob Bralove, who worked as a producer and sideman with the Grateful Dead during the 1990s, will exhibit his paintings at the Davis Cemetery’s Gallery 1855 during February.

An open house with the artist is planned for 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, at the gallery at the Cemetery District office, 820 Pole Line Road. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, through Feb. 28.

Bralove’s career as an artist includes work as a musician, composer and painter. He studied classical piano as a child, jazz piano with veteran recording artist Art Lande and composition with Wayne Peterson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who taught at San Francisco State for many years.

Bralove was the producer for the Grateful Dead’s live album “Infrared Roses,” and worked with the band as a sideman and songwriter in the 1990s.

At the same time, Bralove developed a growing interest in the visual arts, first in the form of computer-generated visuals, and later drawing and painting. He recently had an exhibit at the Gualala Art Center in Mendocino County.

“One of the most compelling things about music and therefore any performance based on music is that it exists over time,” he said. “When you paint a canvas, on the other hand, you have to compress the story into a moment. Whether that story is representative or abstract, you have to be clear enough to communicate the main idea, yet subtle enough so that the viewer can have a relationship with the image in which his or her perception of it can grow. ”

Bralove’s paintings at Gallery 1855 represent three categories of his work:

* Psychic tattoos, which are paintings in acrylic and India ink, “examining the internal and external realities that go into the makeup of who we are”;

* Organic color studies, in the form of a series of three diptychs, each 24 inches wide by 48 inches tall in acrylic and India ink; and

* Tubular textures, which are experiments in pure paint color. Created with acrylic paint, Bralove paints a background color and then applies paint directly from the tube.

For information,  visit www.daviscemetery.org or call 530-756-7807.