The final guitar in Adam Jones’s Epiphone Les Paul Custom Art Collection features Mark Ryden’s Queen Bee
It’s the seventh and final guitar in the collection.
Credit: Epiphone
TOOL guitarist Adam Jones has unveiled that Mark Ryden’s ‘Queen Bee’ will grace the final guitar in his Les Paul Custom Art Collection.
Serving as the seventh piece in his uniquely curated collection, the ‘Queen Bee’ model is the first model to have art on the front of the body as well as the back.
The series, combining Jones’ love of guitars and his appreciation of gorgeous fine art, comprises 7 unique Les Paul Custom Silverburst models. Each model boasts a mahogany body, maple top, three-piece maple neck and ebony fretboard, with an intricate art piece on the back of each guitar.
Jones has selected five unique artists for the series. Two models feature work by Mark Ryden and Julie Heffernan, with the remaining three pieces featuring art by Frank Frazetta, Korin Faught and Ernst Fuchs.
Speaking on what drew Jones to Ryden’s work, Epiphone explained that Jones was attracted to Ryden’s penchant for “blending themes of pop culture with techniques of the old masters.”
“Mark Ryden blurs the traditional boundaries of high and low art in a new genre of ‘Pop Surrealism’,” Epiphone stated.
Each piece holds its own unique charm, ranging from Frazetta’s Armageddon fury of ‘The Berserker’ to Fuchs’ modern twist on the Greek myth of a trio facing the wrath of Poseidon with ‘Anti-Laokoon 1965’. From spiritual musings to pieces pondering Virgil’s epic Aeneid, each artwork reveal has been a stop-by-stop tour of fine art history old and new. The series is sure to allow music lovers to understand what draws Jones to art.
The series serves as a brilliantly diverse collection, giving a perfect glimpse into the eclectic creative brain of Adam Jones. The series is limited to 800 of each model, with prices ranging from £1,299 to £1,449.