Counter culture was born in rebellion against the movements of government bodies and war. The art of the time was designed to spread a message and lived at the same time as the ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’ mentality, and also took the bright colours from the peace protests, to create the visually complex, powerful, colourful psychedelia movement.

First, I looked towards Santana posters, Carlos Santana was known to use recreational drugs – “I used to take a LOT of LSD,” (Farber and Farber, 2017) – so understandably his album covers and posters are designed with a crazy, experimental feel. I really like the psychedelic effect it makes the piece more interesting. Work such as this requires a longer look, they capture the eye and keep it, until you can work out what is going on. The red over the black creates a high contrast that emphasises the  confusing effect.

Next I looked at the graphic artist Wes Wilson, who pioneered the psychedelic poster. He is known for his fluid fonts that shape around the other objects in the poster, which he combined with the bright, complimentary colours, inspired by the lighting of the music events he was making posters for. “I think what inspired my art was a little bit of both music and the times, and basically, I wanted to do a poster that people liked to look at … so it was kind of the combination of a whole bunch of things, and all based on this idealism of ‘things are going to get better” (NPR.org, 2017). I am a huge fan of his work, the simple aesthetic, fluidity of the lines and bold colours capture the spirit of the 1960s and 70s.

I find Wilson’s work relevant to my own practise, I enjoy using a face motif because it is easily recognisable and therefore I find it easier to abstract, I enjoy using bright colours in my work to draw the eye. I am a fan of using typography in artworks, and Wilson has developed such an encompassing way to do so where the font itself adds shape and tone to the piece.

Farber, J. and Farber, J. (2017). Santana recalls days of Woodstock, drugs & music. [online] NY Daily News. Available at: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/santana-recalls-days-woodstock-drugs-music-article-1.1994624 [Accessed 2 Dec. 2017].

NPR.org. (2017). Psychedelic Font: How Wes Wilson Turned Hippie Era Turmoil Into Art. [online] Available at: https://www.npr.org/2016/05/13/477900499/psychedelic-font-how-wes-wilson-turned-hippie-era-turmoil-into-art [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].