Guy Juke
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William De White (born September 4, 1951), better known as Guy Juke, is an
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
–based graphic artist and musician. As a poster artist he created memorable imagery for nightclubs such as Armadillo World Headquarters and was one of the 'Armadillo Art Squad'. His work is recognized for its blocky, sharp-edged figures on angular, geometric settings. Often darkly detailed, his work include shadowy and angular figures inspired by horror films, haunting western landscapes, and loopy cartoon characters.


Personal life

Guy Juke was born in
San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...
on September 4, 1951. Early on his father recognized his son's natural artistic talent and encouraged him by providing him with private art lessons. Juke gave up his formal art training to join a commune in his hometown. After moving to Austin in late 1972 he became Guy Juke. Juke (De White) married Doris Eleanor Bickley (from Corpus Christi) January 1985. Bickley, also an Austin artist, worked mainly in paint and canvas. The two rented loft studios on the top floor of Half Price Books retail store (a former laundry at 16th and Lavaca Austin TX) where the entire building was populated with artists, artisans, dancers and musicians. Bickley worked at one end of the labyrinthal building and Juke at the other end with Sheauxnough Studios and poster artists, Micael Priest, Danny Garret, Bill Narum, Jim Franklin and others on the 16th Street side. He and Bickley divorced in the 90s. Juke later married Austin musician Jo Carol Pierce. They began their relationship in 1990 while working on a show called “The Wedding at the End of the World”. He was contributing art and she was writing monologues for the show.


Graphic artist

Arriving in Austin Juke began his career writing and illustrating underground comics. Immersing himself in the Austin music scene, particularly the Armadillo World Headquarters, Juke became acquainted with local music poster artists. Soon he began creating concert posters himself. He developed a recognizable style using blocky, sharp-edged figures on angular, geometric settings. His work is also recognized for its darkly detailed, sometimes shadowy figures inspired by horror films, haunting western landscapes, and loopy cartoon characters. Poster historian Nels Jacobson wrote about Juke, "More than any other Austin poster artist, his work exhibits a strikingly broad cross-section of styles - from realistic portraits to Merrie Melodies takeoffs, from old-style ersatz woodcuts to New Wave minimalism." His talent earned him recognition as one of the artists collectively known as the 'Armadillo Art Squad', a group centered around the Armadillo World Headquarters music scene. The group includes Micael Priest and Jim Franklin,
Kerry Awn Kerry Fitzgerald (born 1949), better known as Kerry Awn, is an American cartoonist, actor, muralist, comedian, musician, iconographer and poster artist. He is best known for his comedy and the iconic 'Austintatious' mural near the University ...
, Danny Garrett, Bill Narum, and Sam Yeates. He created concert posters using his unique graphic design for many performers including
Joe Ely Joe Ely (; born February 9, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was "one of the main movers" of Austin, Texas' progressive country scene in the 1970s and '80s. He has had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce ...
,
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Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads
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Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American country music, Western swing music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, in 1970, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards, released over 20 albums, and has charted more t ...
, and Roy Buchanan. Juke's posters from the AWHQ era have become sought after collector's items, as are the silkscreened posters he created for The Austin Chronicle Music Awards and Austin's Carnaval. Juke's cubist bepop styled work is featured as the album cover for Joe Ely's 1980 Live Shots album. He is also credited with the cover art of
The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
1981 album ''
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''. Juke provided cover art for
The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...
from their beginning. In 2002, the Chronicle chose his Escher-esque self-meditation work for their 21st anniversary's cover. Video game maker
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sought out Armadillo artists and Juke was one of those who responded, helping infuse funky alternative Austin into Garriott's high tech games. When author and musician
Kinky Friedman Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman (November 1, 1944 – June 27, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and columnist for ''Texas Monthly'', who styled himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Roger ...
campaigned for Texas Governor in 2006, Juke designed the campaign logos and posters.


Musician

In addition to his graphic art, Juke has performed as a guitarist with Butch Hancock, Ponty Bone,
Doak Snead Doak Snead (December 24, 1949–September 16, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. Born in Bronte, Texas, he lived in Nashville, Tennessee until his death. In 1968 he was in a duo with Gosney Thornton called Tom and Billy. The Doak Snead B ...
and as Blackie White in the Cornell Hurd Band.


Exhibitions

The South Austin Popular Culture Center hosted a solo exhibition of Juke's art in 2005, May 21 - June 11. The exhibit drew heavily from the Armadillo World Headquarters era, when Juke's artistic career became popular. The retrospective included posters for shows by Frank Zappa, Talking Heads,
Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...
, as well as Texans Asleep at the Wheel and
Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.
. In 2016 Juke's work was included in the "Homegrown: Austin Music Posters 1967 to 1982" exhibit, mounted by the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University in San Marcos. The exhibit's posters provide a visual definition of Austin as it morphed from a late ’60s quiet college town into a counterculture center.


Partial bibliography

*''Visual Thrills Vol. 1: 44 Posters and paintings by Austin artist Guy Juke'' (Void of Course Publishing Co., Inc.1980)


References


External links


guyjuke.netGuy's page at the South Austin Popular Culture CenterArmadillo Art Squad page at the South Austin Popular Culture Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juke, Guy Living people 1951 births People from San Angelo, Texas Artists from Austin, Texas American illustrators American comics writers American comics artists American country guitarists American folk guitarists American male guitarists American poster artists Songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters