RIP

Underground filmmaker, musician and artist Joe Linhart (better known as Joe Christ) passed away on Father’s Day during the evening hours of June 21 in his Atlanta home. According to toxicology reports released to his family today, Linhart died of a heart attack in his sleep.

Born in Washington D.C., Linhart relocated to Atlanta during the late 1990s following a nomadic lifestyle of producing shock art that made him a respected regular within the underground scenes of New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, and such far away locales as Manila in the Philippines.

During his Atlanta years, Linhart regularly worked with the shock website Consumption Junction. He released a steady stream of independent films, including 2005’s That’s Just Wrong! co-starring Atlanta sex author and mistress Dolores French, and other rousing titles including Amy Strangled a Small Child (1998) and Acid Is Groovy Kill the Pigs (1993). In addition to his film and visual art productions, Linhart also produced an equally balanced collection of rock recordings with such acts as Joe Christ and the Healing Faith and Los Reactors.

Famous for wearing black T-shirts and jeans accented by macho tattoos upon his forearms, Linhart may have appeared menacing at first glance but upon further inspection most people discovered a truly kind soul and passionate artist. He was a father and friend whose untimely death leaves countless people in shock. But would Joe Christ have had it any other way?

According to his eldest son Alan, he was famous for his dark sense of humor: “I was talking to my Dad’s friend Roy and he told me as bad as I am feeling, Dad is probably laughing his ass off because what a better way to go than to die in your sleep of a heart attack on Father’s Day.”

Linhart had recently been living between Atlanta and Manila and was preparing for a return trip to the Philippines on July 2, where he had an art opening scheduled for July 3. Consumption Junction’s relocation opened the door for Linhart’s earlier travels to Manila where he’d begun to make an impression on yet another city’s underground scene.

Not only was Linhart hosting regular art and film exhibits in the Philippines, he was in pre-production with a Filipino television show entitled “Hey Joe!” in which he would serve as the primary writer, producer and host.

Linhart’s son Alan is currently producing a tribute album for Scrape Records in Baltimore entitled The Second Coming of Christ.

Joe “Christ” Linhart is survived by his parents Joseph and Marilyn of St. Petersburg, Fla., sons Alan Linhart (34, Baltimore), Eric Abner (23, Dallas, Texas.), 7-year-old granddaughter Zöe Linhart, along with four sisters and one brother.

- by Jason Hatcher, Creative Loafing, June 23, 2009