Meet The Painter Adorning Phoebe Bridgers’s Guitars
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TL;DR

Pasadena painter John Griswold has created several custom-painted instruments and other artwork for musician Phoebe Bridgers. Their collaboration began with an Instagram message in December 2022 and included a vintage Gibson guitar shown during Bridgers’s appearance on The Tonight Show. The source report also links Griswold to projects for Bridgers’s forthcoming album, Lost Weekend.

Painter John Griswold has made several custom artworks for Phoebe Bridgers, including a vintage Gibson guitar the musician showed during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, according to a report by Hyperallergic. The collaboration began with an Instagram message in December 2022 and grew to include another guitar and album-related objects.

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Griswold, a Pasadena-based painter described by Hyperallergic as a surrealist classicist, told the publication that Bridgers contacted him to ask whether he had painted on a guitar before. “I remember she said ‘big fan,’” he recalled. Griswold said he was amused that the message came from a musician whose work he admired.

The report says the pair worked together over four years to develop the design for the vintage Gibson. They wanted to retain the guitar’s aged black surface and visible wear rather than refinish or otherwise alter it. Griswold applied small images using oil paints mixed with an alkyd medium, creating a contrast against the dark, worn instrument.

Beyond that guitar, Griswold has painted another instrument Bridgers has taken on tour. Hyperallergic also reports that he worked on a lyric book, a vinyl cover and a puzzle connected with Lost Weekend, described in the article as Bridgers’s much-anticipated third solo album. The report does not disclose the puzzle’s contents.

At a glance
reportWhen: Reported after Bridgers’s Tonight Show…
The developmentA Hyperallergic report details painter John Griswold’s multi-year collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers, including the custom-painted vintage Gibson guitar she showed on The Tonight Show.

A Personal Design for the Stage

The guitar brings a visual artist’s work into a performance setting, where it can be seen alongside Bridgers rather than only in a gallery or on a printed object. Its preserved wear also makes the instrument itself part of the artwork: Griswold’s images were added to an existing surface instead of replacing its signs of use.

The wider collaboration shows how a musician’s visual identity can extend across instruments and album-related materials. In this case, Hyperallergic describes a sustained exchange between two artists, not a one-off decoration. The story offers a closer look at the work behind an object audiences may have noticed during Bridgers’s television performance.

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How the Collaboration Began

According to Griswold’s account to Hyperallergic, Bridgers first reached him through Instagram in December 2022. Her initial question was practical—whether he had ever painted on a guitar—but the project developed into an extended creative partnership. The publication characterizes his paintings and collages as works that draw on Renaissance and Baroque iconography.

The vintage Gibson was shown publicly during Bridgers’s appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which Hyperallergic identifies as the first time viewers saw this particular commission. The same report places the guitar among a number of projects made in connection with Bridgers, including another touring instrument and objects associated with Lost Weekend.

““I remember she said ‘big fan,’””

— John Griswold, speaking to Hyperallergic

Album Projects Still Undisclosed

Hyperallergic does not provide images or detailed descriptions of every item Griswold made for Bridgers. The puzzle’s design and purpose remain undisclosed in the report, and it does not specify when the lyric book or vinyl cover will be released or shown. The article describes Lost Weekend as Bridgers’s forthcoming third solo album, but offers no release date in the supplied material.

The report also does not give a price for the guitar commission or explain whether Griswold has made additional instruments beyond those it mentions. Those details should not be inferred from the account of the collaboration.

Further Album Details Await

The next public details depend on Bridgers’s plans for Lost Weekend and any further appearances or releases that show the collaborative work. The source report does not announce a launch date for the album or indicate when the puzzle, lyric book or vinyl cover will be revealed. For now, the confirmed public showcase in the account is the vintage Gibson’s appearance on The Tonight Show.

Key Questions

Who painted Phoebe Bridgers’s guitar?

John Griswold, a Pasadena-based painter, created the custom artwork, according to Hyperallergic.

How did Bridgers and Griswold begin working together?

Griswold told Hyperallergic that Bridgers sent him an Instagram message in December 2022 and asked whether he had painted on a guitar before.

What kind of guitar did Griswold paint?

The report identifies the instrument shown on The Tonight Show as a vintage Gibson with an aged black surface. Griswold used oil paints mixed with an alkyd medium.

Did Griswold make other work for Bridgers?

Yes. Hyperallergic reports that he painted another guitar Bridgers has taken on tour and worked on a lyric book, a vinyl cover and a puzzle connected with Lost Weekend.

The supplied report gives no release dates for the album-related objects or for Lost Weekend.

Source: rss

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