How much more artistic could Paul Grushkin’s presentation, The Art of Rock, have been? The answer is none. Not any more artistic.
Last night, Grushkin, author of “The Art of Modern Rock,” presented his historic collection of rock posters to a small gathering of students in the Conference Theater of the Ohio Union. The posters ranged from the simple posters of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll to the cutting edge artists of today.
“I subscribe to the big bus theory of rock ‘n’ roll,” Grushkin said. “It’s not about when you got on the bus, it’s that you got on the bus.”
He welcomed the audience to follow him on a journey through rock history. He then said the greatest rock posters are being made today.
He presented a number of modern rock posters featuring modern bands, such as Modest Mouse and Bright Eyes, highlighting a number of different artistic styles and mediums poster artists were using. He specifically highlighted pieces by Mike Martin, Jeff Wood and other artists who were present at the lecture.
One of the pieces Grushkin highlights was an advertisment for Bright Eyes featuring two vinyl records woven together to form the “infinity” symbol.
After his introduction of modern art pieces, Grushkin said he was taking the audience back to the beginning. He then presented a series of the original rock posters featuring Elvis Presley and jazz artists.
Among the posters highlighted was one advertising Buddy Holly on the day he died in a plane crash.
One faded poster of the Everly Brothers was the highest priced poster in history, selling for $45,000, Grushkin said.
Grushkin moved on to the ’60s, in which psychadelic images and lettering gained popularity. Some current artists still use the psychadelic style today, Grushkin said.
He highlighted the “Skull and Roses” poster made in 1966, which still defines the Grateful Dead today.
In the ’70s, advertisers learned that they could make money on rock ‘n’ roll, Grushkin said. As a result, posters became more commercialized and less artistic.
He then highlighted Frank Kozik, an artist who began the new and current era of rock posters which Grushkin called “somewhere between psychadelic and badass.” He highlighted a poster by Kozik made for the band, Helmet, which featured a close, distorted shot of Lee Harvey Oswald’s face from the picture in which he was shot. Another of Kozik’s posters had Fred Flintstone saying, “Acid is groovy!”
From this era, Grushkin returned to the modern artists featuring posters made for modern bands. Grushkin said his favorite was a drawing of a topless woman with a wall covered in blood behind her, which he displayed.
Grushkin explained that rock art is going strong today. It still influences society, he said, citing the store, Hot Topic, which uses many of these artists’ work.
Grushkin ended the presentation by promoting his Eye Damage presentation Friday that will give the artists behind the posters the chance to talk about their work.
