The ’60s conjure images of peace and love, war and unrest, and—maybe more than anything else—rock’n’roll. The music of the time made as much of a statement as did the youth who listened to it.
The colorful decade—its tumult, its sound, its revolution—shines through in a series of concert posters that have become iconic and prized for their overthrow of traditional graphic design and typesetting. Such posters will be on display at Allan Hancock College through the end of the month.
“Peace, Love, and Rock’n’Roll” will be on exhibit in the Ann Foxworthy Gallery through Nov. 23. The exhibit features four dozen posters from the 1960s San Francisco music scene, revealing the evolution of graphic arts and the psychedelic feel of a turning point in American consciousness.
According to Gallery Director Marti Fast, the posters are on loan from a private collector. The exhibit is presented in conjunction with this year’s faculty lecture series, which examines the cultural, political, societal, artistic, and musical influences of the 1960s.
The posters were originally created as street advertisements to promote dance concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium and the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, but caught the attention of art critics and historians because of their groundbreaking design. “Peace, Love, and Rock’n’Roll” will showcase the work of Wes Wilson, Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, and Alton Kelley, known as the “Big Five.” Their work featured melting and morphing designs and imagery that mimic the atmosphere of the dance concerts with their accompanying light shows and perception-altering drugs.
The show will also feature two posters created for some pivotal historical events. Week of the Angry Arts was a mobilization to end the war in Vietnam and was created by an unknown artist.
Pow-Wow: A Gathering of the Tribes for a Human Be-In was Rick Griffin’s first work for a major event and earned him acclaim. The event featured Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Richard Alpert, and others calling for community and a declaration of identity. The event was considered the spark that started the Summer of Love, which ultimately let to Woodstock.
Re-live the era, or get a trippy glimpse of the past with the exhibit—but see it either way.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone is mad about saffron. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 18-25, 2010.
