Daniel Johnston: A Book Launch and Celebration

Please join us in celebrating the release of Daniel Johnston: I’m Afraid of What I Might Draw (Rizzoli) with a special conversation featuring book editor Lee Foster; musician and artist Adam Green, whose work has long been influenced by Johnston; and Gibby Haynes, a peer and contemporary of Johnston’s from the underground music scene.

The book coincides with Daniel Johnston: I Think, I Draw, I Am, an exhibition curated by Foster and currently on view at Pioneer Works. Together, the show and book offer a rare, intimate, and expansive look at Johnston’s drawing practice.

A significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative scenes, Johnston has inspired musicians and listeners for decades. From his origins in the Austin scene in the mid-1980s––where he performed at local venues while working at McDonald’s––to his appearance on MTV and championing by Kurt Cobain, and eventual rise to global fame, Johnston’s distinctive compositions and raw lyrics earned him lifelong fans.

Johnston’s passion for art predated his interest in music and persisted throughout his life. Daniel Johnston: I’m Afraid of What I Might Draw presents drawings spanning four decades of Johnston’s output, including many rare and previously unseen works. His brightly colored illustrations—featuring pop culture figures, devils, heroes, and original characters—range from the iconic “Jeremiah the Innocent Frog” to surrealist landscapes. Johnston's family and estate supported the creation of this comprehensive compendium of his work, the first since his passing. It includes remembrances from his brother, fellow musicians, and artists, and benefits the Hi, How Are You Project—a nonprofit promoting health awareness in honor of Johnston’s legacy.

Books will be available for purchase.

Lee Foster is the general manager and co-owner of Electric Lady Studios, the legendary recording studio in Greenwich Village commissioned by Jimi Hendrix. He is also the Curatorial Advisor for the Daniel Johnston Trust.

Adam Green is an artistic polymath—a songwriter, filmmaker, visual artist, and poet. A co-founder of The Moldy Peaches and author of eleven solo albums, his songs have been performed by artists as diverse as The Libertines, Carla Bruni, Kelly Willis, Dean & Britta, and Will Oldham. Green’s paintings and sculptures have been the subject of exhibitions in America, Asia, and Europe, including a 2016 show at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland. He wrote and directed the first feature film shot entirely on an iPhone, The Wrong Ferarri (2010), and Adam Green's Aladdin (2016), which BuzzFeed.com described as “the trippiest movie ever made." In recent years, Green has authored a series of graphic novels and poetry books. In 2023 the album Moping In Style: A Tribute to Adam Green was released featuring cover versions of Green’s songs by Regina Spektor, Father John Misty, Frankie Cosmos, Devendra Banhart, and Sean Ono Lennon, among others.

Gibby Haynes is a musician and the lead singer of the group Butthole Surfers. He is the son of actor Jerry Haynes, best known as Dallas-based kids' TV host "Mr. Peppermint." Gibby also appears with Ministry and the new Revolting Cocks CD entitled Cocked And Loaded. Gibby was just a few credits shy of an MBA when he formed the Butthole Surfers. He was a star on his high school's basketball team, and by his own admission, once touched President Jimmy Carter's suitcase with his… you know.