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The other day I started blogging about the museum’s cool collection of psychedelic posters.  These posters were displayed mostly in hippie boutique windows and on the streets of the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco from the mid 1960’s through the early 1970’s.  Although they were produced as advertisements for concerts, these posters became the background of the psychedelic scene and were works of art in their own right.

David Singer (American). [Untitled] (Boz Scaggs/Cold Blood…), 1971. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 7/8 x 28 in. (55.6 x 71.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.27. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

The posters were created by a diverse group of talented artists hired by concert promoters Chet Helms and Bill Graham.  The principal designers in the group were Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley and Rick Griffin, who were often called the “Fillmore Five”.  Some of the artists, such as Moscoso and Bob Fried, had formal art training while others, like Greg Irons and David Singer, were mostly self taught.  A few were natives of San Francisco, many others migrated there.  They were possibly drawn to the artistic climate and the sense of freedom and experimentation that had been emerging in the San Francisco area since the 1950’s.  Bonnie MacLean was the only female artist in the group steadily employed in making posters.

Left: Greg Irons (American). [Untitled] (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), 1969. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/8 x 14 in. (53.7 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.193.  ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com. Right: Bonnie MacLean (American). [Untitled] (The Doors/Chuck Berry), 1967. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/16 x 14 in. (53.5 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.100. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

What these artists had in common was that they attempted to unify, through their art, the ideas and spirit of the counterculture movement of which they were a part.  With the use of florescent color, surreal imagery and, often times, to the uninitiated, illegible text, they vividly captured the heady vibe of the time. This may have been easy for them to accomplish because, it has been said, they were stoned much of the time!  Their imagery often made subtle, and sometimes obvious, reference to the flourishing drug culture.  The loud, vibrating colors in their work also echoed the high-decibel music and light shows which these artists were commissioned to advertise.

Left: Bob Fried (American). [Untitled] (Big Brother and the Holding Co….), 1968. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 7/8 x 13 13/16 in. (55.6 x 35.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.123.  ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com. Right: Lee Conklin (American). [Untitled] (Steppenwolf/Staple Singers/Santana), 1968. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/8 x 14 1/8 in. (53.7 x 35.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.133. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

Although each artist developed a very distinct style of expression, you can see various influences in their work, from Early American illustrators, the Vienna Secession and the Art Nouveau style, to comic book art, pop culture and advertising graphics.  They manipulated these forms, used bizarre optical effects and collage, and sometimes photography.  Two of the photographers whose work was incorporated into the poster designs were Herb Greene and Jim Marshall (who was the chief photographer at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival).  Greene and Marshall are also featured in the current museum exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll:  A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present.  Check out the blog next week for more on these posters and the artists that created them.  Please also visit the museum’s Contemporary Collection pages to view more posters and the rest of our contemporary collection.

Once permanent installations are set into place, the opportunities for placing previously unseen works on view are rather rare—even with a collection as deep (with over 6000 objects) and well-regarded as Brooklyn’s collection of African art (ranked among the most important holdings of art from the African continent in North America). The chief opportunities come from outward loans of objects on display in the permanent galleries, allowing an equally intriguing work from storage a “guest spot” in the open casework, or through textile rotations. (Look for more on the latter in another posting.) Thus, it was with considerable pleasure that I, along with our crack Art Handling, Conservation and Design teams, was able recently to return our Kuosi Society Elephant Mask, by an unknown artist working in the Bamileke style, to view from an extended hiatus in storage.

The circumstances for the Elephant Mask’s return were a bit unusual. As you may have noticed, it currently has pride of place in our shop, gracing the cover of the newly published catalog of the African collection, African Art: A Century at the Brooklyn Museum.

The mask was one among a series of candidate objects, of the roughly 130 in the book, for the cover slot on the catalog (more on this process another day, as well). Once it was selected, our Chief Curator and I met and decided that it needed to be returned to view in the permanent galleries.

The Elephant Mask had last been on view in 2001, when the current version of the “Arts of the Africa” galleries was last completely reinstalled. After a brief sojourn on the 1st floor, it was returned to storage the following year, out of conservation concerns (the cloth background, from which it is primarily constructed, is best preserved with limited long-time light exposure). Unfortunately, the casework and mount in which it was displayed were not retained.

While a new case was being constructed, our Conservation team set about re-examining the work, first determining if it was stable enough for display—and, if so, for how long. Once convinced that it could be returned, our mount-maker began the task of studying the construction of the mask, in order to best design a metal mount that would both bear the weight of the entire composition and, in particular, support the large, round projecting ears, which are only loosely sewn on to the edge of the mask’s face.

The result was cleverly simple—a post that runs from the bottom of the case (largely obscured by the trunk) into a round, foam support behind the face, with two half-circles extending from the central core, running along the edge of the face and the back and bottom of the ears.

(When you examine the object closely next time in the galleries, note how the mount was painted with specks of color, to mimic the beaded patterns on which it is overlaid.)

Consultation with our Chief Designer determined that the mask could be inserted into the existing installations with minimal disruption. A late 19th century funerary headdress, or tugunga, in the neighboring Bamum or Tikar styles was re-oriented in the gallery, from the current location of the Elephant Mask onto an axis in direct line of sight with the (former) Hall of the Americas.

After a few, small paint touch-ups on the walls, the Elephant Mask was ready for its return last month.

The mask itself is among the boldest and most colorful examples of Bamileke beadwork that I know - a genre that ranges from certain types of clothing and items of personal adornment, to the decoration of large, ceremonial or political objects, like stools. Moreover, the mask remains in stunningly good condition (most such masks would have been discarded - or sold - only after they had become worn, no longer suitable for continued use). The artist has, very cannily, used a combination of complimentary shades of blue beads, against an indigo-blue cloth background, in contrast with a smaller number of red, white and ochre beads to add visual interest to the radiating circular and wedge motifs covering most of the surface. The mask, as a persona of political enforcement within the Kuosi Society, was used by the Bamileke fon, or king, in periodic displays reinforcing his own authority. (For the full gallery label, visit the object in our online collections). Better still, come examine it in person, and re-discover the depth and variety of Brooklyn’s world-class African collection.

Terence Koh’s Untitled, a stack of thirty-three glass cases, is a striking presence in the Contemporary galleries.  Almost every case contains an artifact that’s been painted white. Some of these date back to the artist’s childhood while others are from friends and lovers, or flea markets. The sculpture is like a shrine that preserves meaningful relics from various chapters of Koh’s life. Unlike many artists, he embraces the effects of entropy and decay on his work, such as mold, or glass shattered in transit.

Terence Koh (born China, 1977). Untitled (Vitrines), 2006. Mixed media, variable. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Peres Projects, Inc., 2008.34.

The piece is part of a larger body of monochrome work in which Koh explores the meanings of white in different cultures, ranging from purity to mourning. With its investigation of temporality and allusions to eventual death, the Brooklyn Museum’s glass stack provides an introspective counterpoint to Koh’s flamboyant public persona. (See his website) Sex and death are themes that run obsessively throughout all aspects of his work.

As part of Performa 09, Koh will be at the Brooklyn Museum on November 7^th for Target First Saturday to perform Saaqiou. At 9:30 p.m., he will be performing and DJing in the Rubin Pavillion, incorporating the Rodin sculptures.

With the exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll:  A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present, opening tomorrow at the museum, I thought now would be a great time to acquaint our readers with the museum’s vintage collection of psychedelic posters.  I started documenting these posters a few years ago after I noticed a wooden box high up on a shelf in the museum’s Works on Paper storage area.  In this box I found close to three hundred stunning posters.

Norman Orr (American). [Untitled] (Poco - Siegal - Schwall), 1970. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 7/8 x 28 in. (55.6 x 71.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.266. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

I thought it was interesting that these were part of our collection so I did some research.  I found that they had been brought into the museum by the museum’s then print curator, Jo Miller.  At the time they were purchased, in 1972, these posters were relatively unknown outside of San Francisco, although there had been an exhibition of Fillmore posters at the Museum of Modern Art around this same time. Since their purchase, almost forty years ago, these posters have never been shown at the Brooklyn Museum.  You can view a few here and a larger selection on the Museum’s contemporary collections pages.

Left: Bonnie MacLean (American). [Untitled] (The Who / Loading Zone), 1967. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 22 x 14 1/16 in. (55.9 x 35.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.70.  ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com. Right: D. Bread (American). [Untitled] (Janis Joplin…), 1969. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 x 14 1/8 in. (53.3 x 35.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.164. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

Between 1966 and 1971 posters were being produced as publicity for dance concerts, or dance parties, at venues such as the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore West in San Francisco. These concerts featured loud, live bands, colorful light shows, often poetry readings or performance art, and were mostly fueled by LSD or acid.  These unique events were part of what became known as the psychedelic experience.

Left: Lee Conklin (American). [Untitled] (Buffalo Springfield / Richie Havens / Chambers Brothers), 1968. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/8 x 14 in. (53.7 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.121.  ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com. Right: Bonnie MacLean (American). [Untitled] (Blue Cheer / Vanilla Fudge / Sunshine Co.), 1967. Offset lithograph, Sheet: 21 1/4 x 14 3/16 in. (54 x 36 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 73.39.84. ©Bill Graham Archives, LLC, www.Wolfgangsvault.com.

Organized respectively by Chet Helms and Bill Graham, major promoters on the West Coast art and music scene in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, these concerts helped introduce performers that would go on to become legendary Rock Stars, such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath, to name a few.  Amazingly, on these same concert bills were Rhythm and Blues greats such as Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding, and veteran Jazz and Blues musicians including Miles Davis and Albert King!  Please stop by next week for more on these posters and the artists that created them.

You better believe we are going to be watching the True Blood season two finale, which is airing on HBO this Sunday night at 9pm! If you read the blog, you saw Madeleine blogging about the discovery that our Bird Lady statue was spotted in the first episode of the season.  Soon after, the awesome people at HBO got us in touch with Production Designer, Suzuki Ingerslev, who answered our questions about why this object was selected and they gave us some subtle hints as to the significance. Throughout the season we’ve continued to see various references to our object, but things started to really heat up again in episode ten…

Here’s the character Maryann creating a “meat tree”…see the resemblance to the Bird Lady? Michelle Forbes (the actress who plays Maryann) gave an interview for TV Guide in which she talks about the tree: “It was filled with real meat and reeked as the weeks wore on. There are bobcats and coyotes roaming around that ranch where we shoot, so they had someone sit by the tree with a gun at night to protect it.”  Love that—all bird ladies warrant protection.

(Conservators please avert your eyes!)  Bird Lady is spotted several times in Sookie’s house where Maryann is squatting.  Seen here in episode ten, she’s covered in eggs and eggshells and if you watched episode eleven those eggs have even more meaning. Now, as we *try* to wait patiently for Sunday’s season finale, we’ll leave you with a few things to ponder….

…this quote we found from Michelle Forbes:

…this awesome finale still shot (!!!!!)  sent to us from the fabulous people we’ve been speaking with at HBO:

…lastly, don’t forget to stop by and see our Bird Lady—she’s 5,500 years old and waiting for you on our third floor in Egypt Reborn….