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A Journey Through Psychedelic Graphic Design
Psychedelia
UNDERSTANDING THE ART OF
PSY
“ The psychedelic style was the result of a highly productive interaction between art, technology, politics, drug culture, music and many other influences, creating an extraordinary aesthetic exemplifying the spirit of liberation and freedom. Most important, however, was the environmental aspect of psychedelic art and culture - the expansion of form, colour, media, and space in response to an expanding conciousness.”
- Christoph Grunenberg
Psychedelia was an important period of design because it symbolizes the rebellious faze that people of the 1960’s were experiencing, against the conservative ways of previous years. This Psychedelic style was often used for band posters, album covers, murals, comic books, fashion, and underground newspapers. Through the art you see the admiration for change, promoting the use of drugs and America’s new love for Rock n’ Roll. This psychedelic period was not just representational of this new style in design, but also a new behavior and outlook for society.
Paul Himmel Untitled 1965
The world was changing; the way people dressed, the way people spoke, art, literature, and even philosophy. There were many controversial issues being faced in the 1960s and 70s including civil rights, the Vietnam War, nuclear proliferation, and the environment, to drug use, sexual freedom, and nonconformity.
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YCHEDELIA Lynda Benglis Contraband 1969
Psychedelia is thought of as a period of design that visually exemplifies the expansion of the mind during the use of psychedelic drugs which were common during the 1960s.
Paul Himmel Untitled 1966
“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite.”
- William Blake
Psychedelia was an era of design that focused on intense, highly saturated colors with similar hues and intensities, twisting, melting, and distorted forms, and bizarre surrealism that makes one feel “dazed”.
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P O P ! T R A Andy Warhol “John Lennon” 1985-1986
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Pop Art is the use of commercial and popular illustration to portray objects and scenes from everyday life. Pop art originated in Britain in 1955 but quickly became admired by Americans when Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg brought it to attention. Pop Art had an enormous influence on the creation of psychedelic art. The most famous artist to emerge from pop art was Andy Warhol. He was admired for his industrial silkscreen process and his creation of images of commercial products and portrayal of famous celebrities including Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor.
Andy Warhol Self Portrait 1986
TYPES OF
art OPTICAL ART
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Victor V “Zebras”asarely (1908-1 997)
Optical Art consists of illusions and often tricks the human eye into the thought that the image is moving or breathing. “MoMA 1965: The Optical Eye” was a catalog that first introduced Op Art. The book is 56 pages of illusionistic works created by artists such as Josef Albers, Paul Feeley, and again Victor
ART NOUVEAU & Psychedelic graphic design was greatly inspired by a style of art known as Art Nouveau meaning New Art. It was a style of art that began in the United States and Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century, that was known for it’s curvilinear lines, outlines, and it’s stylized natural forms. These characteristics of Art Nouveau were carried on through the development of psychedelic art and design. “The work of Art NoUveau was inspired by Asian art which arrived in Europe as the result of increased trade between Europe and Asia.”
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Alphonse Mucha “Gismonda” 1894
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& WES WILSON PSYCHEDELIC FONT
Art Nouveau
Wes Wilson, one of the best known artists for psychedelic poster design, was known for creating the famous “psychedelic” font in 1966. He created the letters to look as if they were melting or moving. “His style, inspired by the Art Nouveau masters, took what was understood about promotional art and turned it inside-out. Nearly cryptic letters filled every available space, lines melted into lines, colors clashed... and the psychedelic poster was born.”
PSYCHEDELIC Bonnie MacLean Bill Graham Presents The Yardbirds, The Doors, James Cotton Blues Band, Richie Havens Fillmore Auditorium San Francisco 1967
OZ Cover Design: Martin Sharp Bob Dylan: Blowin in the Mind, 1967 Lee Conklin Bill Graham Presents The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, James Cotton Blues Band, Albert King, Fillmore Auditorium San Francisco 1968
BAND POSTER DESIGN
Stanley Mouse The Family Dog Presents Love, Congress Of Wonder, The Sons of Champlin, Jeryy Abrams Headlights, Avalon Ballroom, 1968
Cream Disaraeli Gears 1967
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis: Bold as Love 1967
PSYCHEDELIC Victor Moscosco Moscosco was born in Spain but studied art in New York City at Cooper Union, then at Yale. In 1959 he moved to San Francisco where he attended San Francisco Art Institute where he eventually became a professor. He was known for using bright, highly contrasting colors, and became well recognized for this through the publication of “Summer of Love”, 1967.
Neon Rose #2 1967 One of Moscosco’s most popular posters and the first to get the name “Neon Rose”. It was printed three times total.
Neon Rose #12 1967
ARTISTS Stanley Mouse Mouse was born in California in 1940 and later moved to Detroit where he got his degree at Detroit’s School for the Society of Arts and Crafts. He collaborated a lot with Alton Kelley. Their most famous works included their poster for Zig Zag rolling papers, along with a poster for the Gratefule Dead.
Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley Grateful Dead 1966
Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley
BIBLIOGRAPHY Summer of Love, Christoph Grunenburg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5sIxQd5HSsA/T8e6EWou4PI/AAAAAAAAApo/oWbqDjdDkVQ/s320/andy-warhol-pinacoteca05.jpg http://www.whitehotmagazine.com/UserFiles/image/ANDY/frightwig.jpg http://artobserved.com/artimages/2008/10/andy-warhol-marilyn.jpg