Mark Arminski Contributes to ROCKIN'

Mark Arminski is as identifiable with Detroit's rock scene as Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, Kid Rock, and the MC5. He took up that city's postermaking crown after first Stanley Mouse and then Gary Grimshaw both left for San Francisco.

Arminski's body of work is detailed in my ART OF MODERN ROCK (Chronicle Books, 2004, co-authored with Dennis King); Grimshaw's is portrayed in my ART OF ROCK (Abbeville Press, 1987). Mark most recently handled the very last poster for CBGB, the celebrated New York City punk club which closed this month (the bill starred Mark's good friend Patti Smith and her band).

I'm hugely proud that Mark painted ROCKIN's Chapter Six opener, which we both titled "How the MC5 Got Their Sound," a direct reference to members of that legendary band having worked in auto factories. Mark was in San Francisco this weekend taking part in an exhibition, and I presented him with ROCKIN', which is here open to his pagespread.

Mark has a wonderful loft studio in Detroit. There, he paints, creates posters, and also does bodypainting, for which he's greatly renowned. At his studio is one of Mouse's original hats, which Mouse wore when airbrushing monster shirts at Autoramas and state fairs in the early '60s (see pages 60 - 63). I took the high impressionistic photo of Mark with that hat--sorta the 'flame of inspiration' which touches both Mark and Stanley.