How Posters Helped Shape America and Change the World
One enthusiast's collection, on exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California, offers a sweeping look at grass-roots movements since the 1960s
- By Jeff Greenwald
- Smithsonian.com, May 23, 2012
(Bonnie Maclean, Bill Graham Presents in San Francisco: New Years Eve 1967-1968, 1967. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California, All Of Us Or None Archive. Gift of The Rossman Family)
Cushing argues that poster production was jump-started in the late 1960s by concert impresario Bill Graham. With Graham’s support, visually stunning (and highly collectible) posters were produced not for protest, but to promote rock concerts and counterculture events. This one was created by Graham’s then wife, Philadelphia-born artist Bonnie MacLean. The two met in 1964, when the 21-year-old MacLean moved to San Francisco and took a job as a secretary at a manufacturing firm; Graham was her manager. This beautiful poster suggests welcoming 1968 with Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver—all for $6, breakfast included.
Comments (4)
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT All of the posters included are (at least were in their own day) clearly expressive of left-of-center views. Discuss.
Posted by Berel Dov Lerner on February 24,2013 | 02:49 AM
Stanley is a very talented guy. His dad worked in the Disney studios. I had never seen this one before. Great image.
Posted by Mary Miller on December 6,2012 | 10:08 AM
I love seeing all these posters. very inspiring and memory-provoking. just one small "correction" for Cushing ---- Martin Luther King came out against the war in Vietnam in April 1967, during major anti-war protests in NYC and SF. Still, cushing's point is well-taken ---- it took a few years for opposition to the war to build up....and it took a few years for civil rights leaders to link their own cause with the anti-war movement.
Posted by bill cohen on May 30,2012 | 09:26 AM
This is a terrific exhibit about a very interesting time - well worth seeing if you're in the Bay Area, along with the companion 1968 exhibit. Many of the artists in the poster exhibit choose to produce their work anonymously, and unfortunately this allowed interlopers to insert themselves into the history of at least one of the groups, claiming the legacy of others. Sad, but this doesn't take away from the significance of the work displayed in the exhibit.
Posted by Peggy White on May 25,2012 | 04:15 PM