cover image Art of the Dead: A Celebration of the Artists Behind the American Rock Poster Movement

Art of the Dead: A Celebration of the Artists Behind the American Rock Poster Movement

Edited by Philip Cushway. Soft Skull, $45 (208p) ISBN 978-1-59376-502-6

This handsome, lavishly illustrated volume chronicles the rock poster movement from the mid-1960s through the mid-1990s via profiles of artists who created and nurtured the genre. Propelled by The Grateful Dead%E2%80%99s famous "Skeleton and Roses" image created by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley, the art form spawned numerous personalities and styles. Along with Mouse and Kelley, Victor Moscoso, Wes Wilson, and Rick Griffin were considered "The Big Five," introducing "pulsing" color, the "psychedelic" font, and concepts from mythology and mysticism, respectively. Renowned poster curator Cushway also devotes pages to artists like Lee Conklin, known for his sophisticated use of blacks and whites; Robert Rauschenberg, whose "combines" mixed paint, sculpture and found objects; and Bonnie MacLean, one of the movement%E2%80%99s few female artists, who pioneered the use of Gothic themes. Cushway notes, "The psychedelic world of the [S]ixties may have produced incoherent lettering and confusing juxtapositions of images and text. But that was exactly the point%E2%80%94confusing times bring forth chaotic art." Cushway%E2%80%99s loose organization and haphazard prose doesn%E2%80%99t do justice to his subject matter, but revealing essays by Greil Marcus and longtime Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart nicely complement the 140 images showcased here. (Dec.)