Jimi Hendrix Experience Poster
Jimi Hendrix and the Flying Eyeball are images indelibly linked in the psychedelic poster art of the late Rick Griffin. Griffin discovered The Eyeball, in a much more benign form, in the 1950s auto detailing art of California pinstriper Von Dutch and reworked it over time to become the winged, bloodshot figure parting a ring of fire with serpent-like tentacles. The highlighted lettering, vivid color, and complicated imagery reflect Griffin's attention to precise details and the influence of Indian lore on his work.
The 1st printing poster is identified by the placement of the "105" in which the "0" falls over the "I" in "Tickets" in the bottom left hand corner. It is on uncoated index, was printed before the concert and measures 14" x 21 1/2".
The 2nd printing is on glossy stock and places the "5" of "105" over the "T" of "Tickets" in the bottom left hand corner. It was printed after the concert on 12/14/1968, and it measures 14" x 21 11/16".
The 3rd printing (see BG105-3) is easily identified by the presence of a white bubble in the lower right hand corner that says "The Fillmore Poster Ties" in black. It was produced in September 1993, and is significantly smaller, measuring 13 1/16" x 19 9/16".
The 4th printing is on smooth opaque cover stock and has a Wolfgang's Vault notation in the lower right hand margin. 4th printings were printed in 2006 by the Bill Graham Archives LLC in a 1000 copy run. This reprint measures 13 1/2" x 21".
The 5th 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 21" x 32 1/2".
The 6th printing is on glossy cover stock and bears the notation "Wolfgang's Vault 2014" in the lower right hand margin. It was printed in 2014 by the Bill Graham Archives LLC in a 1000 copy run and measures 21" x 32 1/2".
The 7th printing is on uncoated matte stock and has "W 2020" in the lower right hand margin. It was printed in 2020 by Wolfgang's in a 500 copy run. This reprint measures 14" x 21".
The 8th printing is on coated matte stock and has "W 2020" in the lower right hand margin. It was printed in 2020 by Wolfgang's in a 500 copy run. This reprint measures 24" x 36".
Rick Griffin grew up in the surfing culture of Southern California, a milieu which had a profound influence on his art. After high school, he worked on the staff of Surfer magazine and created the best-known surfing cartoon character of the time, Murphy. After his move to San Francisco in 1967, be began combining eclectic typefaces and decorative borders with brilliant colors in his concert posters. Griffin's compositions were complex without being illegible. A perfectionist, Griffin often applied dozens of overlays and redrew lettering again and again until he was satisfied. In the early 1970s, Griffin became a born-again Christian and religious themes dominated his work until his death in a motorcycle accident in 1991.