May 3, 2010 Paper Cuts: The Art and Science of Rock Posters
Paper Cuts: The Art and Science of Rock Posters
March 25, 2010 – April 25, 2010
Atheneum
201 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Having gone to Paper Jam: The Art and Grime of the East Coast Rock Poster, curator Anthony Dihle’s show at Civilian Art Projects last year, I went into Paper Cuts with a pretty good idea of what to expect. (Admittedly, details of the show have been forgotten, due to the haze of $2 Pabst Blue Ribbons, sweaty hipsters, and the obscenely loud band playing at said venue.)
The rock poster, regardless of medium, possesses a unique attribute that other forms of art typically lack. In its foundation is the element of practicality; the poster represents a band’s identity, aesthetically preparing its audience for the music to come. It’s essentially selling us music, similar to the functions of book illustrations and graphic design/advertising. Needless to say, these types of shows are always drastically different from the run-of-the-mill painting exhibit at a gallery.
Paper Cuts epitomizes this marriage between music and art. Within the spacious Atheneum, the walls are plastered in rock posters, covering music from all genres such as The Melvins, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, and Depeche Mode. Major labels and local acts are all included here and given equal attention. In fact, the music seems secondary to the artwork, given the several instances where I had no idea who the poster was advertising for. The Junior League Band? Never heard of them, but for $25, I’m sold. Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple? Fine, I’ll check them out after the poster’s framed and hanging in my house.
Despite this somewhat homogenous aesthetic spanning rock posters over the last few decades, the prints are undeniably impressive. I feel the exact same way about Anthony Dihle’s shows as I do about Radiohead – they might change with the times but they’ll always exceed expectations.
John Foster / Bad People Good Things, “Rogue Wave” (Silkscreen)
Anthony Dihle / Dirty Pictures, “The Shots Vase” (Silkscreen)
- 2 comments
- Posted under April 2010
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Nicole
said
This writeup is EXCELLENT! I wish I would have gone. Were the posters for sale, and if so, did you snag any?
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districtartreview
said
thanks! no worries, there will definitely be more shows like this in the future. the posters were all reasonably priced (~$20-40), but i didn’t pick up any at the time (though i wanted to!) i was certainly tempted, but i felt i should probably save my money now and contact the artist(s) later if i wanted to buy one. (i also took photos of all the posters i liked and i have a list of pricing information. haha, yeaaaah.)