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Joe Petagno

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Full Name
  
Joe Petagno

Role
  
Artist

Name
  
Joe Petagno

Notable work
  
War-Pig

Nationality
  
American




Born
  
January 1, 1948 (age 76) (
1948-01-01
)
Portland, Maine, United States

Books
  
Orgasmatron: The Heavy Metal Art of Joe Petagno

Joe petagno motorhead artist 1


Joe Petagno (born January 1, 1948) is an American artist known principally for creating images used on rock album covers for bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nazareth, Sweet, Motörhead, Roy Harper, Marduk, Bal-Sagoth, Autopsy, Attick Demons, Illdisposed and Sodom.

Contents

Petagno was born in Portland, Maine and left the United States in 1972. He worked with Hipgnosis before meeting Motörhead's Lemmy in 1975, he designed "War-Pig" (a.k.a. Snaggletooth, The Iron Boar, The Bastard or The Little Bastard) for the band's Motörhead album and has continued to design the majority of the album and single sleeve covers for the band. Petagno refers to Motörhead's mascot as The Bastard (or The Little Bastard). Joe Petagno came with the concept after studying skulls of wild boars, gorillas and dogs.

Joe Petagno Joe Petagno USA 1948 Band Angel Corpse Album

He is also known for his science fiction book covers, notably for the Corgi SF Collector's Library edition of Ray Bradbury's The Silver Locusts a.k.a. The Martian Chronicles.

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He also did non-heavy metal album covers. When Graeme Edge left The Moody Blues he teamed up with Adrian Gurvitz to form The Graeme Edge Band. Their two releases Kick Off Your Muddy Boots released on the Decca subsidiary label Threshold released in 1975 as a gatefold depicted a rider on horseback in a desert coming across a dead man in American Western-style garb and even included a rendition of the Threshold swooshing face icon. Paradise Ballroom issued in 1977 was also illustrated by Petagno, this time depicting a dancing woman using mainly blues.

Joe Petagno joe petagno art eyecandy 2 visual cavities Pinterest

When Adrian Gurvitz joined forces with Ginger Baker to form The Baker Gurvitz Army Petagno illustrated their first two vinyl releases, the self-titled The Baker Gurvitz Army in 1975 on the legendary Vertigo label which depicted the three members of the group on horseback; and Elysian Encounter, 1975 on the Mountain label depicted almost certainly as "spacemen" or possibly religious figures in the typical early Petagno style, fabulously exotic outfits and suits or armour.

Joe Petagno 13 SatanInspired Metal Album Covers By Joe Petagno Yell Magazine

Joe petagno motorhead artist 2


Publication

Joe Petagno Metal Master Illustrator Joe Petagno Illustration Pages

  • Orgasmatron, The Heavy Metal Art of Joe Petagno – Foreword by Lemmy, introduction by Steffan Chirazi. Covers his work with Hipgnosis, designing for Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and Motörhead. Also contains reproductions of paintings on display in Denmark. ISBN 1-932595-00-7

  • Joe Petagno Motrheadster Petagno Paints his last Snaggletooth

    Joe Petagno And Justice For Art Motorized An Interview with Motorheads

    Joe Petagno Motrheadster Petagno Paints his last Snaggletooth


    References

    Joe Petagno Wikipedia