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Image credit: Flickriver

Daniel Johnston’s “Jeremiah the Innocent,” also known as the “Hi, How Are You” frog, is arguably the single-most iconic piece of street art in Austin. Though many who pass it by everyday assume that it is graffiti which has been preserved, Austin news station KXAN reports that the “Hi, How Are you” frog is actually a commissioned mural for which Johnston was reportedly paid a sum of $100 by Sound Exchange, a popular music store. To the dismay of Austinites, Sound Exchange closed down in 2004 and was replaced by a Baja Fresh. At the time of Sound Exchange’s closing, customers rallied to protect the mural, and won. “Jeremiah the Innocent” was the cover of Daniel Johnston’s 1983 album Hi, How Are You: the unfinished album. Throughout the years, various vandals have tried to deface the mural, but time and again it has been salvaged by popular demand.  

Most often, the term "iconic" is the province of photographs like Alfred Eisenstadt’s “The V-J Day Kiss” or Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother.” These are the kinds of photos which appear on t-shirts, tote bags, advertisements, and other unexpected and sometimes ill-fitting places.  It’s so rare to think of art created with spray paint as iconic, but if any place pays homage to a select few vagabond artists and artworks -- it’s Austin. Along the lines of Jenn Shapland’s post about graffiti and advertising, one reason we memorialize these select murals is because they are a part of Austin’s unique “Keep Austin Weird” franchise.

The 1990s, when the iconizing of Jeremiah began, was characterized by an exaltation of the underdog celebrity. Wielded as a symbol of subcultural coolness, “Jeremiah the Innocent” was first introduced to the mainstream through Kurt Cobain, who frequently wore the image on a t-shirt during the 1991 promotion of Nirvana's album, Nevermind. 

Image credit: collapseboard.com

In many ways, “Jeremiah the Innocent” encapsulates everything the ironically elite of the grunge era came to hate about their own fame. Originally designed as an artifact of the underground music scene, by the oughts the iconic Austin graffiti could be seen worn by sorority sisters, babies in onesies, soccer moms, and soccer dads.

Image credit: austinrockstexas.com

The latest addition to the “Hi, How Are You” wall is perhaps, the most ill-fitting and puzzling yet: St. Austin's Catholic Church has aped the style of Jeremiah to spawn a new creature. The tadpole-esque cartoon is on a vinyl poster (can a vinyl poster be graffiti?) across the street from the iconic frog, in order to capitalize on the cultural cache of Johnston’s icon, thus making the church seem a little more hip. This seems the ultimate twist of irony. What was once a record cover and mural associated with the indie music scene has been appropriated to tell students to come to Jesus.

Photo credit: Stellatex's Instagram, with permission

As with internet memes, and all images truly iconic, “Jeremiah the Innocent” has been unmoored from his context. My impulse was to preserve and protect this context. Searching for more information, however, I found that Daniel Johnston’s own site hihowareyou.com actually sells a number of their own “Hi, How Are You” onesies and other products. I’m uncertain of copyright laws here, but it seems best that if someone is going to profit off of “Jeremiah the Innocent,” that it should be Johnston himself. Whether Johnston would have opted to sell the onesies on his own, or simply needed the income and saw no reason for the Weird Austin franchise opportunists to be the only ones profiting off of his art is unclear. I emailed Daniel Johnston’s brother who manages questions from the press, specifically about the Catholic Church’s poster, but have had no response so far. Still, as far as Jeremiah’s new Catholic neighbor is involved, I’d love to know: What Would Daniel Johnston do?  

 For more on graffiti, see this week's other contributions:

What is graffiti and who does it belong to?

Graffiti?  I'll know it when I see it.  Or not.

Graffiti as Advertisement