Cryptical Envelopment, Joan LeMay's Grateful Dead paintings.

CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT is an exhibition of over 80 works on paper by painter Joan LeMay, shown at 14BC Gallery with an opening reception and a three-day run. It gathers gouache paintings from her book FRIENDS OF THE DEVIL: West Texas Cowboys, Brown-Eyed Women, and Other Sunshine Daydreamers from the Songs of the Grateful Dead (Random House, 2026), which explores the history and cultural mythology of the Grateful Dead through the characters and narratives in their songs. Continuing her collaboration with writer Alex Pappademas, whose earlier joint book Quantum Criminals (University of Texas Press, 2023) was about the songs of Steely Dan, LeMay invited current-day Deadheads to model for her character portraits and paints in her own visual language. Also on view are previously unseen portraits, including ones of Elvis Costello and Greg Ginn, that did not make it into the final publication; the artist is present throughout the run.