VISUAL TRIPS THE PSYCHEDELIC POSTER MOVEMENT IN SAN FRANCISCO VISUAL TRIPS THE PSYCHEDELIC POSTER MOVEMENT IN SAN FRANCISCO Interpretive Text SCOTT MONTGOMERY Exhibition Overview DAN JACOBS This exhibition overview and prospectus document was prepared in connection with an exhibition organized by the University of Denver and appearing at its Vicki Myhren Gallery, September–November, 2014. This prospectus is for information only, and for use in consideration of a possible exhibition tour. The content of the interpretive texts included in this document was prepared by Visual Trips curator, Professor Scott Montgomery of the University of Denver School of Art & Art History. No part of this document may be reproduced or distributed without express written permission from Dr. Montgomery or from the Vicki Myhren Gallery at the University of Denver. Visitors at the Visual Trips exhibtion, Vicki Myhren Gallery, University of Denver, Fall 2014 CONTENTS EXHIBITION OVERVIEW 6 VISUAL TRIPS: THE PSYCHEDELIC POSTER 10 MOVEMENT IN SAN FRANCISCO THE JOINT SHOW: AN ARTISTIC MANIFESTO 12 THE POSTER AS PROPAGANDA, POLITICAL 18 AND COMMERCIAL EXPANDING CONSCIOUSNESS AND PSYCHEDELIA 24 THE INEFFABLE AND THE ILLEGIBLE 30 ARTISTIC INFLUENCES AND STYLE 34 IMAGE AND IDENTITY 40 THE SOUND 46 THE FOURTH DIMENSION 52 LIGHTSHOWS AND THE PERFORMANCE CONTEXT 56 MAKING A LITHOGRAPHIC POSTER 58 Dan Jacobs and Kaitlin Maestas University of Denver School of Art and Art HIstory 2121 E. Asbury Ave. Denver, CO 80210 www.myhrengallery.com Editor: Dan Jacobs Design: Mary Junda This document is prepared for informational purposes only and is not available for sale. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without Visual Trips installation, Vicki Myhren, University of Denver, Fall 2014 permission in writing from the copyright holders. SCHOOL OF ART & ART HISTORY EXHIBITION OVERVIEW I was very pleased to organize and present Visual Trips: The Psychedelic Poster Movement in San Francisco at the Vicki Myhren Gallery as our major exhibition of the 2014-2015 season (October 2 through November 16, 2014). Visual Trips developed over a period of years as an exhibition concept created and curated by Scott Montgomery, a member of the art history faculty of the University of Denver’s School of Art & Art History. The exhibition combined 150 psychedelic posters from the San Francisco Bay Area and over 40 closely related items never before exhibited. These included drawings, paste-ups and transparencies used in the collaborative design and printing process--many of them surviving through the decades in the basement of a shuttered San Francisco print- shop. These special materials were invaluable in presenting the the extraordinary confluence of artists and markets (both the burgeoning music scene and the wider counter-culture of which it formed a key element) that nurtured what Dr. Montgomery has termed a movement in the art historical sense. Our “Visual Trip” pun is very much in keeping with the playful spirit of nearly every poster included in this exhibition; the journey or “trip” was truly a central idea during the late ‘60s counterculture that had San Francisco as one of its most important hubs. Dr. Scott Montgomery, our guest curator, infused Visual Trips with this same spirit, making the project a real pleasure. A native Californian, a musician and an aficionado of the Bay Area psychedelic music scene of the 1960s, he really knows something about psychedelic culture. He also brings an art historian’s approach (he is an Associate Professor of Art History and a medieval specialist here at the School of Art & Art History). I’ve long been interested in working with Scott to reinterpret the material on view here. Especially significant is his developing concept of a Psychedelic Poster Movement, which he articulates as a number of artists sharing a coherent philosophy of art-making. Seen in this light, psychedelic posters are more than simply illustrations of a turbulent and exciting time and place; they represent the conscious creation of a focused and highly productive group of artists. Visual Trips installation, Vicki Myhren, University of Denver, Fall 2014 6 7 PROJECT STAFF: STUDENTS AND RECENT GRADUATES Kristin Brown Publications Assistant (M.A. ‘16 – anticipated) Nessa Kerr Assistant to the Director (M.A. ‘15) Sabena Kull Collections Manager, University Art Collections (M.A. ‘15) Kelly Flemister Lighting and Lighting Effects, Former Graduate Gallery Assistant (M.A. ‘15 – anticipated) Kaitlin Maestas Senior Graduate As presented in Visual Trips, their collaborations and Gallery Assistant (M.A. ‘15 – anticipated) shared methods help to unify what can appear to be confusingly diverse visual styles. The texts appearing Lauren Greenwell Graduate Gallery Assistant throughout the exhibition, unless otherwise noted, are (M.A. ‘16 – anticipated) Scott’s contributions. Kate Woestemeyer Collections and research assistant (B.A. ‘14) I am now pleased to present a print version of the Natalie Metzger Former interpretive texts for the exhibition, along with a sampling Collections Assistant (M.A. ‘13) of the posters and other materials included in Visual Janna Keegan Former Collections Trips, as a prospectus of a possible traveling version of Assistant (M.A. ‘14) Visual Trips. Dr. Montgomery is currently preparing a book-length expansion of the Visual Trips concept. While Moira Heffernan Former Collections Assistant Visual Trips was installed in just over 2100 square feet at (M.A. ‘15 – anticipated) the Vicki Myhren Gallery, a number of installation photos Matthew Swisher Student poster demonstrate that it was densely packed with material; design (BFA ‘15) the exhibition could easily fill a space twice the size. In addition, the nature of the interpretive approach and of the material allows for easy addition and substitution PROJECT CONSULTANTS of materials. We look forward to discussing additional Mary Junda Graphic design presentation of Visual Trips in other venues, and can Tom Ward iWave Media, Exhibit present a complete checklist of all exhibition materials. I fabrication look forward to receiving your inquiries directly! Dan Jacobs Director, Vicki Myhren Gallery Above: Exhibition Curator Scott Montgomery, PhD leads a gallery tour Facing: Visual Trips installation, Vicki Myhren Gallery, University of Denver, Fall 2014 8 9 VISUAL TRIPS THE PSYCHEDELIC POSTER MOVEMENT IN SAN FRANCISCO The counterculture that flowered in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s not only had a look, but a way of looking—both of them psychedelic. The psychedelic vision emerged among a group of artists expressing ideas of mutability, organic morphing, optical puzzles, imaginative exploration and a playful questioning of reality. In the visual arts these ideas were best developed in the psychedelic poster—an art charged with bold color, mellifluous line, and surreal imagery. The poster was central in formulating and propagating a look that expressed the values of the emerging counterculture. Psychedelia was a way of seeing and experiencing the world in new and unexpected ways and therefore it had an inherently political element. What do these posters say? What do they mean? Letters and words emerge and slip away again. Forms reconfigure as if to undermine themselves. Legibility is often sacrificed in order to enable visual play and exploration. These posters conduct us on a visual trip to the dawning of a new visual experience. In referring to a Psychedelic Poster Movement, we point to the intentional creation of this style by a small group of skillful artists who developed and promoted the psychedelic poster as a visual art form. 4 10 11 THE JOINT SHOW: AN ARTISTIC MANIFESTO Several psychedelic artists demonstrated their stylistic and cultural unity early on, especially in the Joint Show, which opened July 17, 1967 at the Moore Gallery in San Francisco. Wes Wilson, Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley and Victor Moscoso displayed their explorations of psychedelic possibilities as more than a reflection of the psychedelic counterculture—they went further, defining themselves as founders of psychedelic art. Each of the five created his own poster promoting the exhibition [1-5, pgs 14-15]. While the show omitted Bonnie MacLean (a key artist already active in the movement), other important artists such as Lee Conklin and David Singer hadn’t yet begun to publish psychedelic work. We include a poster designed by MacLean around the time of the Joint Show in order to address the historic omission of her work in most discussions [6, facing]. Their collective display was a statement of cultural and aesthetic accord—a manifesto. This was not the art world going psychedelic, but the psychedelic world going “high art.” While validating and celebrating a new artistic and countercultural movement, the Joint Show presented itself as a bona fide art event. 6 12 13 THE JOINT SHOW: AN ARTISTIC MANIFESTO continued 2 1 1 3 4 5 14 15 THE JOINT SHOW: AN ARTISTIC MANIFESTO continued Bringing the art of the poster to widespread attention, such as Lee Conklin and David Singer hadn’t yet begun The Joint Show was the most visible early exhibition the new offices of advertising firm J.Walter Thompson the September 1, 1967 issue of LIFE Magazine featured to publish psychedelic work. dedicated to the evolving psychedelic poster movement [9]. The show opened on Tuesday May 23, 1967, two a cover story on “The Great Poster Wave” [7]. Illustrated in the area, but it wasn’t the first. Wilson’s design for the months before the Joint Show. prominently were works of the major American The Joint Show used the ritual and material culture of Rock & Roll Poster Exhibition held at the San Francisco Art poster artists of the moment, with Wes Wilson, Victor formal art exhibitions, including an official opening Institute Gallery from November 2-28, 1966 documents Soon after the Joint Show, a Victor Moscoso design Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Rick Griffin and and an invitation designed by Wes Wilson.