Rock On! The Art of the Music Poster of the 60s and 70s:
The Mark del Costello Collection

Annex Gallery from May 4 through August 29, 2004

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This exciting exhibition features posters created for such musical greats as The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and more. The importance and visual strength of these works expands very much beyond their initial short-lived function as advertisement and has made a place for them in the realm of fine art. Expressing the San Francisco scene's experimental, anti-establishment attitude, were the major artists Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Rich Griffin, Wes Wilson, and Victor Moscoso. These artists drew influence from such movements as Art Nouveau, Jugendstel, Viennese Secessionism and Surrealism as well as the poster work of Frenchmen Jules Cheret and Toulouse Lautrec.

Curator Graziella Marchicelli, of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art states, "...their posters epitomized the Bay area's spirit by incorporating contemporary countercultural imagery: LSD visions, long hair, bright, colorful clothes, joints, patterns and colors displayed in light shows." Notable inclusions to the exhibition are Mouse and Kelley's "Skeleton and Roses" poster (1967) for the Grateful Dead, which the band later adopted for an album cover and their enduring logo; photographer Brian Duffy's shot of David Bowie dressed as alter-ego Ziggy Stardust for his "Aladdin Sane" album and poster (1973); and the internationally renown emblem of the punk movement, James Reid's poster for The Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" (1978) in which the official portrait of the queen is displayed in front of a torn Union Jack with blackmail lettering over the queen's eyes and mouth.

This exhibition is drawn from the permanent collection of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Loretto, Pennsylvania, from a major donation by concert photographer Mark del Costello.

A reception will be held on Friday, June 18, 2004 from 7-9 p.m and will feature live music by classic rock band The Lake Erie Monsters. This exhibit is being sponsored by Velocity.Net/SOFTEK.