Psychedelic rock posters take over CMA Paper Gallery
December 12, 2016
Exhibition on View December 16, 2016, through March 12, 2017
The Columbia Museum of Art presents the exhibition Psychedelic Design: Rock Posters from the Mel Byars Collection, 1966–1971, on view in the BB&T Paper Gallery from Friday, December 16, 2016, through Sunday, March 12, 2017. This exhibition offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the rock poster renaissance of the late 1960s San Francisco Bay area. Reflecting the psychedelic music scene and greater countercultural movement of the era, this movement drew inspiration from Op Art, Art Nouveau, Americana, and antiestablishment philosophies and figures ranging from surrealism to Sitting Bull.
“This exhibition continues our museum’s commitment to 20th-century design, and it does so with a visual jolt,” says Curator Catherine Walworth. “These ephemeral posters are not often seen in person, and we let ourselves be a little playful with the installation. Psychedelic Design is a rare opportunity to have a radically new kind of visual experience at the CMA.”
Featuring 18 original posters from 10 artists, including Victor Moscoso, Wes Wilson, Alton Kelley, Bonnie MacLean, and Stanley Mouse, the exhibition nostalgically recalls some of the most famous musicians of the era, including Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and Muddy Waters. Weaving bold colors, optical experiments, layered iconography, and kaleidoscopic fonts in a visually complex dance, these posters are meant for slow, contemplative viewing, antithetical to mainstream commercial advertising.
Mel Byars, the collector, is an esteemed design historian and author of The Design Encyclopedia (1994; 2004) published by The Museum of Modern Art, among many other important writings on design history. Byars, who grew up in Columbia, S.C., has recently returned home after living and working in New York, Paris, and Tel Aviv.
