Jefferson Airplane Handbill
BG026 is Wilson's first poster to incorporate a nude portrait of his wife Eva, although the unclad female form would soon become a recognizable feature of his work. Motown legends Martha and the Vandellas were a new addition to the San Francisco fare of The Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead.
The 1st printing handbill was printed once before the concert and measures 5 1/8" x 8 5/6". Some handbills were cut with 1 1/8" border above the image and a narrow border below, and some were cut with top and bottom borders less than 1/4".
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.