“Art of the Grateful Dead” Exhibition Opening October 12
The Bahr Gallery, an art gallery dedicated to vintage, first-edition, psychedelic rock poster art, will feature vintage Grateful Dead posters in an exhibition opening October 12, running through December 23.
The opening reception with refreshments and period music is scheduled for Saturday October 12 from 5:30-8:00pm. Bahr Gallery is located at 95 Audrey Ave., Oyster Bay NY 1177. The Bahr Gallery is open Friday through Sundays from 1:00-6:00pm and by appointment.
The Grateful Dead were in the epicenter of the psychedelic poster revolution. With their exotic sounding name, their heritage as part of the early “Acid Tests” in San Francisco and their improvisational music often featuring extended jams, the Grateful Dead were creative gold for the San Francisco poster artists.
While each of San Francisco’s “Big Five” poster artists; Wes Wilson, Stanley Mouse, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, and Alton Kelley made posters advertising Grateful Dead concerts, Griffin and Mouse and Kelley were most closely associated with the band’s visual expression.
On display is the famous 1966 “Skeleton & Roses” poster by Mouse and Kelley that became a core part of the Dead’s iconography as well as a first edition “Aoxomoxoa,” by Rick Griffin, an oversized 1969 poster later used for the band’s third album cover. More than 30 works in total comprise the Exhibition.
Virtually all pieces are first editions, printed before the concert occurred and are accompanied with meticulous background and history, placing each piece in context. Many are signed by artist and/or performers. Much of this art currently hangs in the Smithsonian, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA, the Louvre, and other leading museums and institutions around the world.
“We are curating the visual experience for admirers of this art, the music, and its special time in history,” said gallery owner and curator Ted Bahr. “It’s time for these 50-year-old works of art – already highly prized by collectors and connoisseurs of the period – to be properly displayed in a beautiful, elegant setting as they seek new homes.”
The Bahr Gallery, which opened in April 2018, has several rooms totaling 1,200 square feet and features nearly 60 psychedelic master works on rotation highlighting posters from
The opening of The Bahr Gallery continues the recent renaissance in Oyster Bay, marked by a slew of hot new restaurants, innovative family attractions, and its proximity to the Long Island Sound. The Bahr Gallery is open Friday through Sundays from 1:00-6:00pm and by appointment.
