What is the meaning of `Counter culture’?

‘The Counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment culture that spread throughout the Western world in the 1960s and lasting into the mid-1970s.’ (1)

When looking into 60’s/70’s art, I found that contrasting coulors and bold lines stood out to me, I also like how the designs fill the whole page from corner to corner. The first artist that I looked at is the designer who created the magazine covers for the famous underground magazine, Kesey / Leary / Grogan. (image (2))

‘OZ was an underground alternative magazine. Appeared in London, England from 1967. The original Australian OZ took the form of a satirical magazine published between 1963 and 1969, while the British incarnation was a “psychedelic hippy” magazine which appeared from 1967 to 1973.’ (3)

The image of the famous painting Mona Lisa has been clearly manipulated in a comedic way suggesting the nature of the magazine and what it has to offer to the readers. Furthermore I also like how the designer has kept a similar colour scheme throughout.

The second illustration, was found online. Created in 1968 and designed by Ken Geering it was a poetry book published by ‘corgi books’.

In this illustration, I have interpreted that the woman is a ‘spirit’ looking over the world, looking to guard/ take care of it. I like how the type is separated into two sections inside of the circle that the spirit/woman is holding, this circle clearly represents the world as it says within the circle, ‘Its world’ and the shape is suggestive of the earth.

Another observation that I made was that the separated type is designed to look like the Yin+Yang sign. The meaning of the Yin+Yang symbol fascinates me and I’ve seen that in many artists in the 60’s and 70’s era used it. (image (4))

The final illustration I have found is by, Polly Apfelbaum.

‘The key visual motif comes from the 1963 book, The Potential of Woman, published in conjunction with a symposium of the same name.’ (5)

The simplicity of this retro design suggests that two women (who are different hence their different colour’s) are either looking at one another or looking ahead. Personally I like the colour’s within this illustration/piece of graphic art as it is very sharp and simple. (image (6))

WorldAtlas. 2017. What Was The Counterculture Of The 1960s and 1970s? – WorldAtlas.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-was-the-counterculture-of-the-1960s-and-70s.html.. [Accessed 17 November 2017].(1)

oz magazine – Google Search. 2017. oz magazine – Google Search. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=oz+magazine&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB767GB767&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPlv32wrLXAhVBDcAKHYyCC1wQ_AUICigB&biw=814&bih=635#imgdii=oBhe-4rnIn1XeM:&imgrc=qFeQFSqK7qn9YM:. [Accessed 17 November 2017].(2) image of issue 3

OZ (magazine) – Wikipedia. 2017. OZ (magazine) – Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OZ_(magazine). [Accessed 17 November 2017]. (3)

Pinterest. 2017. It’s World That Makes The Love Go Round – front by smashingbird, via Flickr | Art | Pinterest | Rounding, Psychedelic and Psychedelic art. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/196821446188303303/.. [Accessed 17 November 2017]. ‘Its the world that makes the love go round’ Image (4)

Widewalls. 2017. Polly Apfelbaum Presents The Potential of Women at Alexander Gray Associates | Widewalls . [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.widewalls.ch/polly-apfelbaum-art-alexander-gray-associates/. [Accessed 17 November 2017]. (5)

Pinterest. 2017. The Potential of Women | Alexander girard. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/282882420314659496/. [Accessed 17 November 2017]. (6) Polly Apfelbaum, The potential of Women.