Before you hear the name Neville Garrick, you know his work. From Kingston Jamaica, to California, Garrick’s visuals have lasting impact on all who come across his art.
Neville, was Bob Marley’s Art Director, together with six other art students created The Black Experience mural, including depictions of abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, as well prominent figures in the civil rights era including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, Muhammad Ali, and Angela Davis. The mural can be seen at the UCLA Ackerman Student Union Building. There are several examples such as these that showcase Garrick’s greatness.
Born and raised in Jamaica, Garrick attended Kingston College and attended UCLA on an athletic scholarship. He played for the UCLA Bruins men’s soccer team, reaching the National Collegiate Athletic Association finals in both 1971 and 1972.
After returning to Jamaica, he became the art director for the Jamaica Daily News from 1973 to 1974, and he became the art director for the record label Tuff Gong, creating artwork for Bob Marley and the Wailers. His first album cover art for Rastaman Vibration was ranked number 22 in Billboard’s 2023 list of 100 best album covers of all time. Other Marley album covers designed by Garrick include exodus, Uprising, and the posthumously released album Confrontation. As Marley’s art director, Garrick helped to shape the visual representation of the reggae movement, with his art embodying the essence of the genre. Garrick designed the stage backdrops and lighting for Marley’s concert tours and for the Reggae Sunsplash festival for much of the 1980s. During his career, Garrick also contributed artwork for Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, and many others.
Garrick co-founded the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1986, and served as its executive director. He was author of A Rasta’s Pilgrimage: Ethiopian Faces and Places (1999) and co-producer of the 1992 film Time Will Tell which featured taped interviews from Bob Marley. Neville passed away November 14th, 2023.