Psychedelic Design Hero
On July 15, 1937, Wes Wilson, the pioneer of the 1960s rock concert poster, was born in Sacramento, California. His interests as a child ranged from artistic hobbies to a strong appreciation of the beauty of nature. His post-secondary education echoed similar interests; he studied forestry and horticulture before settling on philosophy. Over the latter half of the 1960s, Wes had found tremendous inspiration in San Francisco’s avant-garde districts, and he quickly found himself creating fine art for the public. His approach, influenced by the Master of Art Nouveau, took what was known about promotional art and twisted it inside out. Letters that were nearly cryptic covered every available space, lines melted into lines, colours clashed… and the psychedelic poster was born.
Wes Wilson
Bill Graham, the Fillmore Auditorium’s music organiser, commissioned the following concert posters from Wes Wilson between 1966 and 1968.
In only 14 months, he made 56 posters for Bill Graham, averaging one poster per week for the Fillmore.
These are some of my favourite posters from his Bill Graham posters collection.
In 2010 Wes joined the Moonalice tribe, launching a decade of creative expression. Moonalice, a psychedelic rock band based in California, provided Wes the opportunity to get back to his poster-making roots. Love, unity, and creative expression are all pillars of the Moonalice tribe.
These are some of the posters that particularly stood out to me.
Works cited:
https://people.com/music/wes-wilson-dead-psychedelic-poster-artist/