Psychedelic artist and Oz magazine founder Sharp dies

Australian psychedelic artist Martin Sharp, a founder of the controversial Oz magazine who designed posters for the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, has died aged 71. His death on Sunday, after a long struggle against emphysema, was confirmed by artist and friend Garry Shead, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“We’ve lost a major figure and a great character,” said Wayne Tunnicliffe, head of Australian art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sharp studied at the National Art School in East Sydney before founding the famed Oz magazine in the early 1960s with Richard Neville and Richard Walsh. The three were twice charged with printing an obscene publication.