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Jefferson Airplane & Grateful Dead

Poster
1966 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Wilson, Wes (artist)
Graham, Bill (publisher)
Place of origin
San Francisco (made)

Wes Wilson is probably best known for his work designing posters for Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium from its opening in 1966. Wilson described his approach to design as "visual poetry set into poster formats." Working in bold, fluorescent colours, his posters complemented the psychedelic light shows which took place during performances at the Fillmore. BG#26 was typical of Wilson’s style, featuring a female nude, in this case a depiction of his wife, Eva, and the lettering, drawn free-hand, is stretched, curved and manipulated to fill the remaining space.

Object details

Categories
Posters
Entertainment & Leisure
Object type
Poster
TitleJefferson Airplane & Grateful Dead (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Brief description
"Jefferson Airplane" psychedelic poster #26 by Wes Wilson. USA, 1966. Nude woman, pink lettering.
Physical description
Nude woman seen from behind, twists torso to look at the viewer, head in profile. She is circled by text of bands which are going to be preforming. Her hair makes up the border of this circle.
Dimensions
  • Height: 83.3cm
  • Width: 34.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS, IN SAN FRANCISCO / JERFFERSON AIRPLANE, P.H.PHACTOR, JUG BAND AND ANDREW STAPELS FRI-SAT 2, 3 SEPT/GREATFUL DEAD, QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH, SUNDAY SEPT. 4 / ON MONDAY SEPT. 5, MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS WITH JOHNNY TALBOT AND DE THANGS, FILLMORE AUDITORIUM.
  • Tickets: San Francisco: City Lights Bookstore; The Psychedelic Shop; Bally Lo (Union Square) The Town Squire (1318 Polk); Mnasidika (1510 Haight). Berkeley: Campus Records; Discount Records; Shakespeare & Co. Mill Valley: The Mod Hatter, Sausalito: The Tides Bookstore, Rexall Pharmacy
  • All admissions Monday night will be $3.00 – Tickets at the door only
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Psychedelic
Music
Summary
Wes Wilson is probably best known for his work designing posters for Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium from its opening in 1966. Wilson described his approach to design as "visual poetry set into poster formats." Working in bold, fluorescent colours, his posters complemented the psychedelic light shows which took place during performances at the Fillmore. BG#26 was typical of Wilson’s style, featuring a female nude, in this case a depiction of his wife, Eva, and the lettering, drawn free-hand, is stretched, curved and manipulated to fill the remaining space.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.514-2004

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1024616/jefferson-airplane--grateful-dead-poster-wilson-wes/
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