Grateful Dead Poster
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Psychedelia was in full flower in this Wilson poster. Only the finely drawn female face featuring delicate sensory pathways is firm, and the words curl around about it like smoke from a pipe. The music of headliner Otis Rush, the Grateful Dead and Canned Heat offered something for everyone.
The 1st printing is on vellum and measures 13 5/8" x 22". The blue ink in this original run is extremely light sensitive and may fade to gray or even white if overexposed to the sun. This printing was produced before the concert.
The 2nd printing is on smooth plated stock and is a bit longer than the 1st printing, measuring 13 11/16" x 22 3/8". The blue tends to be a little darker than the original. This reprint was printed after the concert.
The 3rd printing is on smooth opaque cover stock and has a Wolfgang's Vault notation in the lower right hand margin. It was printed in 2006 by the Bill Graham Archives LLC in a 1000 copy run. This reprint measures 13 5/8" x 22 3/8".
The 4th printing is on glossy cover stock and also bears a Wolfgang's Vault notation in the lower right hand margin. It was printed in 2006 by the Bill Graham Archives LLC in a 1000 copy run, and is larger than the other printings, measuring 19 3/4" x 32 1/2".
When the Avalon Ballroom and Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium began to hold weekly dance concerts, Wilson was called upon to design the posters. He created psychedelic posters from February 1966 to May 1967, when disputes over money severed his connection with Graham. Wilson pioneered the psychedelic rock poster. Intended for a particular audience, "one that was tuned in to the psychedelic experience," his art, and especially the exaggerated freehand lettering, emerged from Wilson's own involvement with that experience and the psychedelic art of light shows.