Psychedelic rock concert posters and fashion of the 1960s at Portland Art Museum until March 30

(FEBRUARY 20, 2025) Visitors to the Portland Art Museum have only a few weeks left to see a special exhibit of colorful, surreal, and fun rock concert posters from 1960s San Francisco. The exhibit will close on March 30, 2025.  

In the 1960s, music promoters Chet Helms and Bill Graham hired young artists from San Francisco to create unique posters for their concert halls, the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore Auditorium. These artists designed posters to capture the exciting and wild feeling of rock concerts. They mixed styles from different times in history, such as French Art Nouveau, Wild West posters, Victorian engravings, and Renaissance art. They also used bold and unusual designs to reflect the "psychedelic experience" that many people at the time sought, often with the help of LSD.  

Bright, clashing colors were very important in these posters. Artist Victor Moscoso, who studied color theory at Yale University, compared his use of color to loud rock music. He said, “The musicians turned up their amplifiers until they were almost too loud. I did the same thing with colors.”  

Another key feature of these posters was their unique lettering. Inspired by Viennese posters from 1900, artist Wes Wilson created a new way of writing that became a signature style of the time. Other artists followed his lead, developing creative and sometimes hard-to-read lettering that still connected with their audience.  

The exhibit includes almost 200 rock posters by famous designers known as the "big five"—Rick Griffin, Alton Kelley, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, and Wes Wilson—along with other talented artists like Bonnie MacLean, Jim Blashfield, and Bob “Raphael” Schnepf. Some of these artists were trained in art schools, while others taught themselves. They were all young, creative, and full of new ideas. Their posters range from fun to deeply meaningful, and they still appeal to people today.  

The exhibit also features 20 vintage clothing styles, including buckskin fringe, velveteen, and silk, to show how fashion influenced and was influenced by psychedelic poster art.  

“There are many ways to explore this artwork,” says exhibition curator Mary Weaver Chapin. “We are looking at how these artists created a style that was new, exciting, and easy to recognize, while also borrowing ideas from the past.”  

Portland was part of this creative movement too. Many bands played in Portland and Eugene on their way to Seattle, inspiring a local wave of psychedelic posters. A special gallery in the exhibit will focus on Portland concert venues, including Beaver Hall, Pythian Hall, Springer’s Ballroom, and the Masonic Temple, which is now part of the Museum. To complete the Portland display, local fashion designer Adam Arnold has created custom cushions inspired by the posters.  

For more information and tickets: https://portlandartmuseum.org/