Those who had looked forward to the current NY Historical Society Exhibit “Bill Graham and the Rock and Roll Revolution” can enjoy The Bahr Gallery’s online exhibition of dozens, maybe hundreds of museum quality representations of the art of that era, the psychedelic rock poster.
The Bahr Gallery is located in sleepy, timeless Oyster Bay, NY. I’m pleased to have a neighbor like Ted Bahr, who is a cordial host.
Close up in the bright gallery back in October, our party was mesmerized by the detail of works like Rick Griffin’s Grateful Dead poster “Aoxomoxoa-1969.” You don’t have to be a Boomer or a Deadhead to see the artist’s vision of the cycle of birth and death in the iconic piece. I had seen the image many times, but never really saw it before.
The Wes Wilson and Victor Moscoso Dual Retrospective (March 7 – May 30, 2020) is currently hanging in the gallery. It can be seen one piece at a time on The Bahr Gallery website. Soon I found myself lusting after these first printing original lithographs, which are for sale, at around $1500 and up, framed. “The vast majority of our inventory consists of rare, first-edition posters that were printed before the concerts and used to sell tickets to the events.” The ephemeral nature of these objects make good condition copies rare. The era only lasted from 1966-1970, and was dominated by five artists in San Fransisco, including Griffin, Wilson and Moscoso.
To experience this art virtually, there is nothing like Bahr’s representation of his museum quality pieces and their educational descriptions. He loaned seven to the current NY Historical Society Exhibit “Bill Graham and the Rock and Roll Revolution”. If collecting is an art, then Bahr is a master.
Karin Falcone Krieger 