Psychedelic Design Rock Posters from the Mel Byars Collection, 1966–1971

From the collection of esteemed design historian and Columbia native Mel Byars, this exhibition offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the rock poster renaissance of the late 1960s San Francisco Bay area. While still promotional, these posters were radically different from Madison Avenue’s fast-paced commercial advertising. Designers interwove text and image in a complicated game, requiring viewers to stare meditatively in order to read band names and concert dates. Featuring 18 original posters from 10 artists, including Victor Moscoso, Wes Wilson, Alton Kelley, Bonnie MacLean, and Stanley Mouse, this exhibition nostalgically recalls some of the most famous musicians of the era, including Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and Muddy Waters.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Whether or not you go, Electrical Banana: Masters of Psychedelic Art documents the great virtuosos of psychedelic art: men and women whose work combines avant-garde design with highly sophisticated image-making. From advertising and fashion to music and film, the psychedelic aesthetic defined the look of the 1960s. Compiling hundreds of unseen images plus exclusive interviews and essays, the book revises and expands the common perception of psychedelic art, revealing it to be more innovative, compelling and revolutionary than is usually acknowledged. 

Electrical Banana: Masters of Psychedelic Art