Poster Art in Music, Helping to Bridge the Gap?
Poster art seems to be popping up more than usual in various discussions and interactions I’ve been having as of late. Billboard Magazine recently posted their list of The Top 25 Rock Posters Of All Time which, being a fan of poster art, I was really interested in. Hendrix, Zeppelin, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Radiohead, all made the list.
Ironically, a few weeks later, I crossed paths with Linda Postenrieder, owner and curator of The Pelican Art Gallery, in Petaluma, California. In a few months, she will be featuring the art of Stanley “Mouse” Miller. The exhibit will include some of his original poster art, and also display his more recent fine art works. Mouse is best known for his psychedelic art designs for 1960s rock concert posters, and was heavily influenced by Art Nouveau graphics, particularly the work of Alphonse Mucha. (Mucha believed that art existed only to communicate a spiritual message, and nothing more, and was frustrated when he gained fame as a commercial artist.) 
Mouse was integral in founding the Berkeley Bonaparte distribution agency in order to produce and sell psychedelic posters. In 1971 he worked together with Alton Kelly as of part of Mouse Studios and the Monster Company, producing album art for legendary concert promoter Bill Graham (The Fillmore), and rock bands the likes of Greatful Dead, Journey, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver, and Hot Rod memorabilia. Mouse and Kelly are also said to have influenced the Zig-Zag rolling paper brand. Some of their most recognizable art collaborations include creating the skeleton and roses image that became the Grateful Dead’s archetypal iconography, and Journey’s wings and beetles.
As Mouse produced a significant amount of art for Graham, I felt putting Postenrieder in touch with Bill’s son, Alex Graham, seemed like a logical connection to make, as Alex maintains a temperature controlled vault preserving his father’s collection, much of which contains Mouses’ work.
Shortly after, in mid December, in yet another ironic twist, I was involved with a holiday party in Brooklyn, at the Williamsburg Music Hall. The party was produced by Metromix, and featured performances by Santogold, The Rapture, White Williams, and David Bruno. The event producer, Mara Ingram, envisioned producing limited edition poster art for the party, which I thought was a brilliant idea. She asked for my input on artists, being a longtime fan of Dan Stiles work, I naturally suggested Stiles + Co. who’s award winning company specializes in branding and identity, creating logos, interactive and web design, print, information design, and packaging. Their clients range from independent record labels to technology giants. Some recent projects include poster art for The Hold Steady, Cat Power, TV on the Radio, Fiest, Bumbershoot Festival, Klaxons, Lady Sovereign, Ween, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Dizzee Rascal, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
So with poster art swirling in my head, as well as plummeting music sales, I wondered if custom designed poster art is becoming an increasingly hotter commodity as of late? Not that it’s ever lost its luster, but I wondered if perhaps poster art could be one avenue for artists to explore to help place more tangible value on music? I got in touch with Stiles to ask some questions and get some insight.
Audio Pimpstress: Dan, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me about this
Dan Stiles: Great questions, you’ve thought this farther through than most people I’ve talked to
AP: What do you think of Rolling Stone’s list?
DS: Wow, I sort of agree with maybe 3 of those being the best, another couple being good, and the rest are barely average. What a crappy list. Maybe they could have gotten an actual poster expert like Paul Grushkin (author of the Art of Rock) to put a list together. Because that one sucked.
AP: So, with all of these recent events/connections, it got me thinking, is poster art, as of recent, becoming, for lack of a better word, “popular” again? Or has it remained a consistent part of music culture all these years? I am very aware there are hardcore collectors, and the value of past works, Wolfgang’s vault, etc.
DS: It has persisted in many forms. However, in the last decade we have seen an explosion of artists making posters and working in the screen printed medium. This is all thanks to people following the success of Frank Kozik coming out of the late 80’s early 90’s “grunge” explosion. He really brought the full color poster back to life. Before that the only person of any real note doing color work was Art Chantry in Seattle. For the most part the 80’s were all about DIY Xerox posters. There were tons of people doing them, and lots of them were really good (in a DIY kind of way), but very few people were doing good color work. Too expensive and too time consuming for punk bands. So yes, it is popular again, with both artists and fans and collectors. But no, people never stopped making them, its just that it went underground for about a decade.
AP: What I’m wondering is, was there was at any point a decline, or leveling off, and if perhaps it’s on the rise again, now that physical music sales have plummeted?
DS: You are the first person to draw the connection between a media sales dropping and poster sales rising. I have no idea if there is a connection, but it’s a great hypothesis.
AP: I am hardcore music fan, myself, and I know other fans, still like to have something tangible from an artist, or a show. I’m not one to by t-shirts at a merch table, but I would easily shell out $20 – $30 for a poster.
DS: Yes, I often find this to be the case. Especially among fans who are old enough to have real jobs. The kids still spend all their money on beer, and maybe a CD. $20 for “a piece of paper” seems really steep to someone slinging coffee for $6 an hour.
AP: So my question is this, is poster art, (outside of other forms of artistic packaging ie: Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”) perhaps a valid avenue that should be explored or given more attention, as perhaps a way to fill this void in the un-tangible digital era? As bands are not making money selling physical music, perhaps this is a somewhat overlooked avenue/art form for artist or label to tap into (once again) to alleviate loss of physical sales?
By no means do I think I’m on to something new with my line of thinking, taking an educated guess, I would think here are lots of bands/performers that do in fact commission, print, and sell on a regular basis, or do they? Perhaps this is already happening and I’m just not aware?
DS: The poster “industry” is at a cross roads right now. When I first started (in about 91) I was doing hand drawn xerox prints for whatever cool bands came to town. I worked for the promoters, I got $20, free admission, and all the beer I could drink. Around ‘93 I first saw a Frank Kozik screen print (remember this was the pre-internet stone age) and it blew my mind. I went out and immediately taught myself to screen print so I could do color work. Back then you just did some posters for the promoter, or the venue, or maybe the band, if they knew you (usually because they saw the work you did for the promoter). There was no poster industry (aside from what Frank was starting) and the only posters that people bought and sold were 50’s, 60’s and 70’s classics. Fast forward to now. There are hundreds of artists making posters. Many of them very well. And, thanks to the internet it is very easy to sell them. It used to be maybe one or two artists in any major city that had a music scene. Now some cities have literally dozens of artists. Every decent show that comes to town has a poster, sometimes two or three. It is literally a cottage industry. The bands and merch companies are sitting up and taking notice, because this is a product that is selling, and often they aren’t making any money off of it, depending on what channel the artist was hired through. Many people I know are predicting that the music “industry” is going to clamp down and take ownership of the whole poster thing via lawsuits, which would be unfortunate. Because everything “the suits” touch turns to shit.
AP: My other question, who commissions your work the most? Promoters? Bands? Labels? And do you usually just get commissioned for shows? Or do you also get commissioned for album releases?
DS: I started out working for promoters. Promoters are the ones who are in charge of promoting a show, and they are the ones who make all those crappy xerox posters you see on every telephone pole in town. I rarely work with venues, as they often just giant rental facilities that house the show, they have nothing to do with the band or promotion. Over the last couple of years I’ve been getting more work directly from the bands and their merch companies. Which can be ideal, but can also lead to the final product being “art directed”. Nothing kills good art and design faster than amateur art direction. Wilco is a great example of a good band to work with. They love posters, and have one for almost every show. But when you work with them they either say “yes or no” to a design. None of this “make the logo bigger” bullshit, that has totally watered down just about every other form of visual communication in this country.
AP: I’m wondering if creating poster art to coincide with releases is something that’s viable, and something that music fans would invest in? I personally feel that it’s a win, win for everyone, and I would do it, but that’s just me : ) I also wonder if poster art may be something that only is appreciated and would appeal to a more mature audience? But with that said, I did have a Michael Jackson poster on my wall when I was 10. (Although I would be hard pressed to call “Tiger Beat” or “Bop” art – but I would concede on the vintage issues!)
DS: Yes, I think bands that commission tour posters, release posters, gig posters and anything else is a great thing, and it does happen. The only problems with this is that the designer has to be able to make some money. Meaning a good fee for the design as well as some kind of cut of sales. And the commissioned piece can’t be overly art directed. If you hire an artist to do their thing then let them do their thing. Don’t step in and mess it up, it won’t sell as well. Out of all of them I still think the gig poster will rein supreme, as it is a piece of memorabilia. A little chunk of time. My favorite band, my favorite show, such and such a band at its peak. A release poster would be more like a piece of merchandise. It’s a really good idea, since all the ones I see in record store windows are terrible.
Since initially speaking to Dan, we’ve been having an ongoing discussion about music and art. We’ve been reminiscing about fanzines, re-capturing culture, the value of making something you can physically hold in your hands, the relevancy of music charts, to name but a few of the topics we’ve touched on. I’ll be posting a follow up in the coming weeks. If you’re an artist, fan, label, and would like to weight in, we would love to hear hear from you. Feel free to leave comments here, or email: Audiopimpstress@trashmenagerie.com
Mouse Studios
Stanley Mouse in Rolling Stone: Poster Art on Acid
I think great art always draws attention. Alphonse Mucha became famous because his style was new and draw enormous attention. And that’s what everyone wants, right? – attention! So a great poster draws attention which benefits everyone connected with the message.
Comment by art-noveau Tom — July 10, 2008 @ 7:08 am