Counterculture of the 1960s was a period of time where everything was about going against the ‘normal’ ways of thinking, and people were experimenting different styles.

My first image is an untitled piece by Harold Cohen showing a lithograph of a person in red and cyan. This is a part of the psychedelia movement, which was based on drugs such as LSD and their effects. I like this piece because the colours are very contrasting against eachother, and, although there are only two colours, the details are still visible and you can still tell it’s a person.

 

My second image is a photograph taken in 1969, showing the first night of the Stonewall riots, a riot which broke out after police raided a gay bar in New York City called the Stonewall Inn. Because of this, members of the LGBT community began to protest the oppression that they were receiving.

The photo shows homeless young people begin to fight

with the police as they were protesting. The Stonewall Inn had “become home to these kids” (Mattachine Society Newsletter, July 1969), and I think this is an important photograph as it shows the beginning of the LGBT movement in the United States, and it was a very important event at the time, as gay Americans in the 50s and 60s were oppressed, and just wanted to fit into society. The Stonewall eventually added a sign in their window reading “we homosexuals plead with our people to please help maintain peaceful and quiet conduct on the streets of the village” (Mattachine Society, September 1969).

 

My final image is a poster created by Stanley Mouse for the “Human Be-In”, an event hosted in San Fransisco and created by Michael Bowen. This poster uses a photograph of artist Casey Sonnabend and layers on top of it the illuminati symbol; adding in details of the gathering above and below the photograph. The colours are very muted, yet the symbol really stands out against the rest of the poster.

 

In conclusion, I think counterculture images are important in displaying rebellion against the conventional ways of thinking at the time.

 

 

 

Image One: [no title] Harold Cohen, 1968 [online] available at: (http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/cohen-no-title-p02291) [accessed 6 December 2017]

Image Two: The Stonewall Riots, The New York Daily News, 1969 [online] available at:(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots#/media/File:Stonewall_riots.jpg) [accessed 6 December 2017]

Image Three: The Human Be-In Poster, Stanley Mouse, 1967 [online] available at: (http://www.pbagalleries.com/images/lot/1467/146799_0.jpg) [accessed 6 December 2017]