San Francisco psychedelia
Joe Gomez, Optical Occlusion, poster, 14 x 20 inches, Avalon Ballroom, 23, 24, 25 November 1967.
Optical Occlusion
One of the most striking and colourful of the many psychedelic posters which came out of San Francisco during the Summer of Love era between 1966-8 was Optical Occlusion by Joe Gomez. Announcing a series of concerts to be held at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom on 23, 24 and 25 November 1967 featuring rock bands Big Brother and the Holding Company and Mt. Rushmore, the poster is distinguished by optical resonance induced in its upper section through the juxtaposition of bright (day-glo) pink and light blue inks within circular and rectangular blocks and lines. It is a variation on the then popular whirling, circular, black and white 'Time Tunnel' effect which attempted to artificially produce vertigo when moved or spun. In this instance the focal point is a small version of the Family Dog logo, rather than an inter-dimensional portal. The de Young Legion of Honour Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco describes the poster simply as: Woman with orange face, long eyelashes and hot pink features. Aqua and hot pink background forming optical illusions. The illusions created therein were not accidental, but a meaningful product of the skills of the artist and printer in the application of optical theory and modern printing techniques. The poster was produced using the modern photo-offset lithographic process, resulting in areas of flat colour as opposed to the richer and textured effects usually obtained by stone lithography or silkscreening (Binder 2010). The lower half of the poster contains information about the Avalon Ballroom concert series and utilises the pink and blue against an orange background. The result is an eye-catching, if complex, poster.
One of the most striking and colourful of the many psychedelic posters which came out of San Francisco during the Summer of Love era between 1966-8 was Optical Occlusion by Joe Gomez. Announcing a series of concerts to be held at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom on 23, 24 and 25 November 1967 featuring rock bands Big Brother and the Holding Company and Mt. Rushmore, the poster is distinguished by optical resonance induced in its upper section through the juxtaposition of bright (day-glo) pink and light blue inks within circular and rectangular blocks and lines. It is a variation on the then popular whirling, circular, black and white 'Time Tunnel' effect which attempted to artificially produce vertigo when moved or spun. In this instance the focal point is a small version of the Family Dog logo, rather than an inter-dimensional portal. The de Young Legion of Honour Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco describes the poster simply as: Woman with orange face, long eyelashes and hot pink features. Aqua and hot pink background forming optical illusions. The illusions created therein were not accidental, but a meaningful product of the skills of the artist and printer in the application of optical theory and modern printing techniques. The poster was produced using the modern photo-offset lithographic process, resulting in areas of flat colour as opposed to the richer and textured effects usually obtained by stone lithography or silkscreening (Binder 2010). The lower half of the poster contains information about the Avalon Ballroom concert series and utilises the pink and blue against an orange background. The result is an eye-catching, if complex, poster.
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| A young Joe Gomez drawing the Optical Occlusion poster, 1967. Source: Facebook, 24 November 2021 |
Optical Occlusion is a typical example of the psychedelic art which was being produced in locations such as San Francisco, Detroit and London during the latter half of the 1960s. This coincided with the ready availability of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, and their resultant widespread use by young people and artists. Many participants were seeking to expand the doors of perception or, as Timothy Leary suggested, "tune in, turn on and drop out." In most cases LSD affected a person's visual perception, with users noting a heightened awareness of colour, along with an increase in its intensity and an associated fluidity of the environment around them. Judging by the few known examples of his artistic output, Joe Gomez was one of the many thousands who encountered LSD whilst wandering the streets of San Francisco and the Haight Ashbury district. He likely made use of this experience to inform his art and philosophy of living. If this was not the case - for we do not have a detailed biographical profile - he may, as an artist, merely have been influence by the posters he observed on the streets around him and sought to replicate some of their distinct design elements. When we consider Optical Occlusion, it is possible the label was applied to the commission by Chet Helms, the cultural activist and free-spirited rock concert promoter behind Family Dog Productions. Helms often came up with ideas for various Avalon Ballroom posters and concert events, allocating themes and names for artists to work with or improvise around. As a result, the poster may have been a collaborative work involving Gomez alongside staff and artists of the Family Dog who, by November 1967, had gained extensive experience over the previous 18 months in the production of such material. Optical Occlusion did not appear in isolation. It is in the style of fellow San Francisco artist Victor Moscoso, and reminds one of his classic Rites of Spring and The Chambers Brothers posters from the Neon Rose series of 1966-8.
Victor Moscoso, The Chambers Brothers and Rights of Spring, posters, Neon Rose series, 1967.
Moscoso also worked for Family Dog around this time and was one of the 'Big Five' of the San Francisco rock poster art scene, alongside Alton Kelly, Stanley Mouse, Rick Griffin and Wes Wilson. Other significant artists from that period whose work is now recognized and much admired include Bonnie McLean, Gary Grimshaw and Lee Conklin. Lesser known graphic artists such as Joe Gomez were also involved, adding colour and variety to the many event posters, handbills, album covers and advertising ephemera associated with this rather frenetic period in American history. The posters appeared in association with the counter cultural revolution taking place across the country during the latter half of the 1960s, and most especially in hot spots such as San Francisco where a vibrant music scene supported by entrepreneurs such as Bill Graham and Chet Helms both inspired artists and provided an outlet for their work and experimentation in the field of psychedelic art. Victor Moscoso was a professional artist and art teacher who meaningfully went beyond the psychedelic experience and applied colour theory to his concert and event posters. He sought to produce an optical vibrating effect which replicated visual elements of an LSD trip, including the aforementioned intense experience of bright colour and swirling distortion of reality often spoken about by those who took hallucinogen drugs around this time. In all three posters - Optical Occlusion, Rites of Spring and The Chambers Brothers - the placement by Gomez and Moscoso of pink/red next to blue, and in association with a flat, bright orange background, affects the eyes and creates an artificial pulsation when viewed up close, or if there is a slight movement between the view and the poster. The effect can be enhanced by blue (ultraviolet) light and strobe, both of which were commonly used in the dance halls and light shows of the day. Such artificial light caused the posters to seemingly vibrate, thereby enhancing and supporting the experience of a psychedelic trip, but more importantly fluorescing and bringing to the notice of patrons the venues and events they advertised. A similar effect is seen in the Wes Wilson poster for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band appearance at the Fillmore on 7-8 November 1966 (BG30) and the Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelly poster Bo Diddley Earthquake for concerts at the Avalon Ballroom on 12-13 August 1966 (FD21).
Two San Francisco posters displaying contrasting colours and vibrating effects
Many of the major poster artists of the time experimented with optical effects,
however Moscoso was the most daring in this regard. As Doctor Poster commented on Facebook in 2013 regarding the design elements within Optical Occlusion:
A woman's face with extremely long eyelashes is the main focal point on
this "Poster From The Past". In back of her is a series of concentric
geometric shapes designed to produce a tunnel like effect. There are
also ten circles that reverse the colors of the geometric shapes which
form the tunnel effect. The psychedelic poster artists of the time
worked their lettering into a wide variety of portions of the human
anatomy, but this is the only one that I recall that the words "Avalon
Ballroom" are drawn into a woman's eyelashes. A cool and original
concept! It was 46 years ago on this day back in 1967 that
Big Brother and the Holding Company and Mt. Rushmore began their three
nights of dance/concerts at the Avalon Ballroom here in San Francisco.
Light show preformed by The Diogenes Lantern Works. This rock poster is
Family Dog number #93 in the series entitled "Optical Occlusion". It
was created by the artist Joe Gomez, and to my knowledge, the only
poster that Joe ever did for the Family Dog. There were other artists
that fell into the same circumstance. This led a portion of the Family Dog
series to be diverse, to say the least. This poster was printed only one
time. A pretty trippy one to share with a friend!
The notion of optical occlusion is a scientific one and refers, in part, to perceived motion in an optical array within a natural or artificial environment (e.g. the upper half of Optical Occlusion) induced either by the motion of the observer, or motion within the array (Gibson 1967). The concept was promulgated by James J. Gibson of Cornell University from the late 1950s through to the 1970s in both lectures and publications. Gibson defined it as "the hiding, covering, superposition, or screening of one thing by another." He developed a theory around the natural interaction of the real world with the observer, such that he believed what one saw and observed in, for example, a psychedelic poster (a kinetic array as opposed to a static array), was contingent on the content of the poster and the local environment, and not on the personal traits of the observer. Joe Gomez and the Family Dog team applied elements of this theory to Optical Occlusion, using juxtaposed and contrasting colours to induce an effect on the retina. For example, when the observer looks at the poster and moves their focus or the poster image slightly - in or out, left or right, up or down - the ten circles in the upper middle and right of the image appear to move of their own volition, as do other sections of the poster. The circles can also "disappear" or go out of sight and blend in with the bands of colour. This occurs naturally and temporarily. It may be enhanced by the hallucinogenic drug experience or viewing under ultraviolet or stroboscopic light, however this is not a necessary requirement. As this is the only known poster by Gomez to feature such an optical effect, it is possible that his role in its production for Family Dog was primarily the addition of content to the lower half and transfer of the optical effect to paper.
The mysterious Mr Gomez
Nothing much is known of the artist Joe (Joseph / Joshep) Gomez, and a search of the internet has revealed precious little personal detail. According to the 1940 United States census a person by that name was born in San Francisco in 1939, the son of Manuel and Rose Gomez. This may or may not have been our artist. He may also have been a student or colleague of Victor Moscoso, who taught at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1962, though a number of artists quickly adopted the Moscoso use of juxtaposed colour following the appearance of his first pulsating posters at the end of 1966. The use of colour theory, and the swirling, intensely detailed flower-like designs in the lower section of Optical Occlusion are similar to Moscoso's work from around this time. A single reference to the artist notes that he used to sit in front of the Haight Street Palace store and draw. As a result, in 1968 he was commissioned by the store's owner Martin Jacobs to do a poster. Beyond this, we only know him from his poster work between 1967-8 and a single oil painting (c.f. Appendix 1). A number of posters by Gomez have been identified by the author:
All the posters are discussed in detail below, as is reference to their production and printing, where such information is known.
The Printer
Though the printer details for Optical Occlusion are not given on the poster, the work was most likely carried out by the local firm of Cal Litho. They were responsible for many of the Family Dog and Victor Moscoso posters, including the latter's The Chambers Brothers of 1967. Some information on Cal Litho was provided in association with a Bonham's auction sale on 19 June 2009. It read as follows:
The notion of optical occlusion is a scientific one and refers, in part, to perceived motion in an optical array within a natural or artificial environment (e.g. the upper half of Optical Occlusion) induced either by the motion of the observer, or motion within the array (Gibson 1967). The concept was promulgated by James J. Gibson of Cornell University from the late 1950s through to the 1970s in both lectures and publications. Gibson defined it as "the hiding, covering, superposition, or screening of one thing by another." He developed a theory around the natural interaction of the real world with the observer, such that he believed what one saw and observed in, for example, a psychedelic poster (a kinetic array as opposed to a static array), was contingent on the content of the poster and the local environment, and not on the personal traits of the observer. Joe Gomez and the Family Dog team applied elements of this theory to Optical Occlusion, using juxtaposed and contrasting colours to induce an effect on the retina. For example, when the observer looks at the poster and moves their focus or the poster image slightly - in or out, left or right, up or down - the ten circles in the upper middle and right of the image appear to move of their own volition, as do other sections of the poster. The circles can also "disappear" or go out of sight and blend in with the bands of colour. This occurs naturally and temporarily. It may be enhanced by the hallucinogenic drug experience or viewing under ultraviolet or stroboscopic light, however this is not a necessary requirement. As this is the only known poster by Gomez to feature such an optical effect, it is possible that his role in its production for Family Dog was primarily the addition of content to the lower half and transfer of the optical effect to paper.
The mysterious Mr Gomez
Nothing much is known of the artist Joe (Joseph / Joshep) Gomez, and a search of the internet has revealed precious little personal detail. According to the 1940 United States census a person by that name was born in San Francisco in 1939, the son of Manuel and Rose Gomez. This may or may not have been our artist. He may also have been a student or colleague of Victor Moscoso, who taught at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1962, though a number of artists quickly adopted the Moscoso use of juxtaposed colour following the appearance of his first pulsating posters at the end of 1966. The use of colour theory, and the swirling, intensely detailed flower-like designs in the lower section of Optical Occlusion are similar to Moscoso's work from around this time. A single reference to the artist notes that he used to sit in front of the Haight Street Palace store and draw. As a result, in 1968 he was commissioned by the store's owner Martin Jacobs to do a poster. Beyond this, we only know him from his poster work between 1967-8 and a single oil painting (c.f. Appendix 1). A number of posters by Gomez have been identified by the author:
- Optical Occlusion 1967
- Honoring Muhammed Ali Festival 1967
- Love Haight Ashbury 1967
- Gun in a birdcage 1967
- Haight Ashbury Loves You 1967
- New Haight Ashbury 1968
Artist signature, Optical Occlusion
All the posters are discussed in detail below, as is reference to their production and printing, where such information is known.
The Printer
Though the printer details for Optical Occlusion are not given on the poster, the work was most likely carried out by the local firm of Cal Litho. They were responsible for many of the Family Dog and Victor Moscoso posters, including the latter's The Chambers Brothers of 1967. Some information on Cal Litho was provided in association with a Bonham's auction sale on 19 June 2009. It read as follows:
Cal Litho in San Francisco. This business had printing presses which
ran a maximum paper size of about 20 x 28 inches, this press size
consideration dictating the 20 x 14 inch poster format which Family Dog
predominantly used. For reasons of economy, most concert promoters had
two posters printed per large sheet of paper and then trimmed them out.
The plates were made of thin aluminum and fixed to the large cylinders
on an offset printing press. The plates would be inked and a printed
poster, or at least one color of the design, would be produced. After
the print run was complete, the plates were cleaned and stored. When
they were clean it was often hard to see what was on them, so the
printer would usually pull an uncut printed proof sheet and tape it to
the plate. When Cal Litho went out of business in the early 1970s these
plates with the proof sheets were sold off. They are extremely rare and
help document both the artistic and mechanical aspects of San Francisco
rock concert poster production.
When Joe Gomez received his poster commission from Family Dog - possibly through Jack Jackson who was then running the business for Chet Helm - he most likely took his art and ideas to Cal Litho. Here the printer and artist would work closely together and apply their talent and skills to create the necessary overlays and colour separations in order to bring the imagined poster design to reality. The use of multiple colours, and the need to mix and blend the colours in the printing press for maximum effect, meant that the role of the printer during this period was very important. The spectacular results seen in Optical Occlusion speak to the work of both Gomez and the unnamed printing technicians at Cal Litho if, indeed, it was printed there. Sixties poster artist John Van Hamersveld - famous for his work with the iconic poster for the surfing film The Endless Summer - reminisced in 2012 on the process fellow artist Rick Griffin went through in working with Cal Litho:
In the old days what Rick Griffin would do, he would go down to this place called Cal Litho, and it was this old German guy there who would take the illustration board and spray this kind of stuff on it, and then he would make a positive of Rick's drawing. Then he would make up these four boards, which were all the same boards. Then Rick would take the boards and divide them into colors: the yellow board, the magenta board, the cyan board, and the black board. He would re-draw everything on top of the boards until he got the four boards the way he wanted them to. So in the end he would go down to the press and they would combine that, and then put it into plates and it would be printed. (Juxtapoz 2012)
The use of pink, blue and yellow (orange) inks to produce all the vibrant colours in Optical Occlusion is a perfect example of the skill of the San Francisco printers during this period. Whilst Levon Moscofian of Tea Lautrec Litho is the most famous printer, having produced most of Bill Graham's Fillmore posters, obviously he was not the only skilled technician supporting this artistic movement and the production of literally hundreds of posters, handbills and related ephemera between 1966-8.
Poster and postcard / handbill
Optical Occlusion is listed as FD93 (i.e Family Dog no.93) within the numbered series of Family Dog posters. It bears the identification code 'No93-1' on the lower left corner, indicative of a first printing. A detailed study of the content of Optical Occlusion reveals the 'Family Dog Presents' logo in the upper middle section, with its distinctive head of an aged, top hat wearing American Indian. It is located just above the much larger head of a young woman and is the focus for the radiating strips of pink and blue colour. The eyebrows of the anonymous female are replaced by the balloon-letter words 'Avalon Ballroom' in the Wes Wilson style so distinctive of the period. On her left cheek are the words 'Sutter at Vanness' referring to the location in San Francisco of the Avalon Ballroom, near the corner of Sutter and Vanness streets. Her face is as though painted with psychedelic spirals and streaks, and within and upon these Gomez has added his own unique touches. In regards to the optically active strips of colour which distinguish the upper section of the poster, most of these are solid, though in the middle and upper right section, around the circles / bubbles radiating from the head of the woman, the colour is speckled and granular, as if to indicate the area of a substantial Afro or bouffant hair style, or perhaps the element of mind expansion associated with the LSD experience. The lower half of the poster, containing information about the bands, venue, light show and ticket outlets, comprises finely drawn detail, primarily using a mixture of orange and blue inks. Gomez has hand drawn all the text in the poster, apart from the generic typeset print along the bottom border. His use of fine dots to create text and images is reminiscent of the female profile which features in the Wes Wilson Fillmore poster FD51 of 24-26 February 1967 for a series of concerts by Otis Rush and his Chicago Blues Band. Rather than simple lines, the dots are use to create form.
The original poster, measuring 14" x 20", and a 5" x 7" postcard featuring the same design, were printed and used in both street billboard postings and mail outs to advertise the shows. They were usually available in the week before the concert and distributed throughout localities such as Berkeley, Haight-Ashbury and areas of San Francisco where the young audiences resided. The poster and postcard were only printed once, though there are two variant printings of the latter. This is unlike a number of popular Family Dog and Fillmore posters which were reprinted after the relevant concert and sold through poster and print shops such as the Berkeley Bonaparte and Print Mint in the United States and overseas. It is likely that a substantial first print run of the poster took place - perhaps 5,000 or more copies - in anticipation of future sale, and this accounts for the relative abundance of the poster in present day auction and poster shop sales. The posters were printed individually or two to a 28" x 20" sheet, which was commonly the maximum feed size of the photo-offset lithographic printing presses available at that time. In some cases, as for example for Fillmore events, a poster was printed next to a number of postcards and/or tickets on a single sheet, and subsequently cut to size. The Optical Occlusion postcard was printed on both sides, as was usual for the period, with the rear including a postage stamp area in the upper right corner and an additional swirling design coming off the stamp and flowing down into the centre of the card towards a reproduction of the Family Dog logo, leaving the area to the left for the typed, hand written or labelled address. This design was used on the rear of most Avalon Ballroom postcards throughout 1967 and 1968. An example is shown below.
This original postcard was addressed to 'Trudi C. Dunn, 5929 Laird Ave., Oakland, Calif, 94605' during the week/s prior to the concerts. The postcard exhibits two common flaws, namely a white space in the lower section of the image behind the words 'Mt. Rushmore', and a smaller section of two adjacent white spaces in the face section of the image, where the eye area features the word 'Avalon'. It is likely that only a couple of hundred of these were printed, according to the size of the Family Dog mailing list. The following example reveals both the front image flaws and also the variant of the rear image postage stamp area. This version was most likely printed for post-concert sales and promotion.
Optical Occlusion is by no means a rare poster, despite the fact of a single printing. It is nevertheless relatively unknown, perhaps as a result of the mystery surrounding the artist. There is, for example, no reference to it in Grushkin's The Art of Rock (1987). It is illustrated in Ted Owen's High Art: A history of the psychedelic poster (1999), however there is no discussion of it therein. Optical Occlusion is now regarded as one of the standout psychedelic posters of the era. As evidence of this, it recently featured on the cover of the catalogue for the San Francisco Airport September 2014 - March 2015 exhibition When Art Rocked: San Francisco Rock Posters 1966-1971.
Mounted by the San Francisco Airport Museum in collaboration with the Rock Poster Society, the exhibition brought together all the major posters of the era, with examples from many private collections. A large billboard sign promoting the exhibition near the airport entrance featured a section of Optical Occlusion from the top right corner of the poster, though rotated 90 degrees clockwise. The quality of the original design by Joe Gomez, plus that of the printing by Cal Litho, alongside the bright, attention grabbing colours and reference to Big Brother and the Holding Company will ensure that it maintains its status as one of the classics of the genre and of ongoing interest to fans of the late, great Janis Joplin.
The Music
Optical Occlusion makes reference to Big Brother and the Holding Company which was virtually the house band at the Avalon during 1966-7. At the time of the performances they included Janis Joplin as their singer and were building on the notoriety arising out of an appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June. By the time of the release of the Monterey Pop documentary film at the end of December 1968 Joplin and Sam Andrew had left Big Brother for the Kozmic Blues Band. During 1967 Big Brother played numerous concerts in and around the San Francisco area and were based in Haight-Ashbury. They were very much part of the local scene, supporting both the Avalon and Fillmore ballrooms. The support band Mt. Rushmore is less well known. Also from San Francisco and the Haight-Ashbury district, they played a heavy blues rock style and released two albums during this period. The light show was provided by The Diogenes Lantern Works.
Thanksgiving Day 1967
As a footnote to the above discussion regarding the Joe Gomez poster FD93, a separate handbill was produced for the first concert of the series, which took place on Thanksgiving Day - 23 November 1967. Designed by Rick Griffin and designated FD93a (AOR 2.19) in the Family Dog series, it is distinctive of Griffin's popular cartooning style. With the event designated a 'Turkey Strut & Trot', the small handbill supplemented Gomez's Optical Occlusion poster for the first of the three nights featuring Big Brother and Mt. Rushmore.
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Other Posters by Joe Gomez
#2 - Honoring Muhammed Ali 1967
Prior to Optical Occlusion Joe Gomez produced a limited edition silkscreen poster for the Honoring Muhammad Ali Festival held at Hunter's Point, San Francisco, on 10 and 11 June 1967.
The poster was signed 'Gomez 67' near the lower right edge, in a similar manner to Optical Occlusion. It features a number of common Gomez elements - the peace sign, a collection of flowers and the naked female body. In addition the artist has added a number of native African figures and masks, perhaps in reference to Ali's heritage. A copy of the Ali poster, signed by the famous boxer himself, was offered for sale by Julian's Auctions in 2014. Muhammad Ali did not attend the actual event, which featured well-known San Francisco bands such as The Charlatans, the Steve Miller Blues Band and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. One website mentions a crowd figure of around 700, whilst another questions whether the event actually took place, held as it was on the same weekend as the more famous Mt. Tamalpais rock festival in Marin, featuring the Doors, Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and The Fish and many others. That latter festival had been scheduled for the previous weekend, but was held over to the next due to rain. Why Muhammad Ali? During a brief period in the mid' sixties, whilst exiled from boxing, Ali earned his living largely by making motivational speeches to young people and became a popular figure, hence the festival which sought to honor his work. When offered for sale on eBay during 2015, the poster was described as follows:
"FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE! Offered here is an ULTRA RARE and original MUHAMMAD ALI FESTIVAL POSTER from 1967. This is the best of two worlds, the most recognizable figure in the world mixed with the 60's rock scene. This San Francisco/Bay Area psychedelic poster advertised the FREE June 10, 1967 MUHAMMAD ALI FESTIVAL at Hunter's Point, and featuring THE CHARLATANS, THE STEVE MILLER BLUES BAND, THE SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE, Anonymous Artists of America, the Committee, Radha Krishna Temple, and others. Artwork by GOMEZ. Even though the poster states: "Honoring Muhammed Ali Festival" I guess a number of the approximately 700 folks that gathered expected him to show up. Of course, it did not happen, but we're sure a good time was had by all since it WAS the Summer of Love! This RARE poster is in really nice condition, with no tears at all. The general wear it does have includes, most notably: a water stain in the lower left corner border (does not cover any of the image area), 4 pinholes (one in each corner), soft creasing, but no major folds, one 'tape pull'-like abrasion on the upper left corner edge and a horizontal mark along with some mild tape pulls on the back. 99% of the wear can be easily covered by a mat. The main image of this poster is in EXCELLENT shape and it will frame up beautifully! According to ExpressoBeans.com, only about 200 of these posters were printed! The poster measures 15 7/8" x 22 1/2", and is featured in the ART OF ROCK as AOR 2.245. Three of the recorded sales of this poster on Expresso Beans are over $3000, with the last noted at $3,465.
There are no details on the poster regarding the printing. A photographic image of the boxer is seen amidst a complex psychedelic surround. This work by Gomez is a highly detailed piece of drawing and collage, exhibiting some of the extremely fine penmanship similar to that seen in Optical Occlusion. The printing features the transitioning of black ink (top) to red ink (bottom) and is suggestive of a silkscreen process, as opposed to the multiple colours usually seen in the machine-produced photo-offset lithographed posters of the day, such as Optical Occlusion. With a small print run of only 200 - which was typical for silkscreened posters, due to degradation of the screen with each printing - the Ali poster is today considered a rare item by both psychedelic poster collectors and those fans of boxing and Muhammad Ali. The majority of the Avalon and Fillmore posters from the period saw print runs into the thousands via the photo-offset lithography process, which also enabled additional printings without any discernible loss of quality.
Victor Moscoso at Cal Litho, San Francisco, in front of an ATF Super Chief printing press,1967. The plate on the roller is for the Youngbloods concerts at the Avalon Ballroom 15-17 September 1967. Photograph: Cummings Walker.
When Joe Gomez received his poster commission from Family Dog - possibly through Jack Jackson who was then running the business for Chet Helm - he most likely took his art and ideas to Cal Litho. Here the printer and artist would work closely together and apply their talent and skills to create the necessary overlays and colour separations in order to bring the imagined poster design to reality. The use of multiple colours, and the need to mix and blend the colours in the printing press for maximum effect, meant that the role of the printer during this period was very important. The spectacular results seen in Optical Occlusion speak to the work of both Gomez and the unnamed printing technicians at Cal Litho if, indeed, it was printed there. Sixties poster artist John Van Hamersveld - famous for his work with the iconic poster for the surfing film The Endless Summer - reminisced in 2012 on the process fellow artist Rick Griffin went through in working with Cal Litho:
In the old days what Rick Griffin would do, he would go down to this place called Cal Litho, and it was this old German guy there who would take the illustration board and spray this kind of stuff on it, and then he would make a positive of Rick's drawing. Then he would make up these four boards, which were all the same boards. Then Rick would take the boards and divide them into colors: the yellow board, the magenta board, the cyan board, and the black board. He would re-draw everything on top of the boards until he got the four boards the way he wanted them to. So in the end he would go down to the press and they would combine that, and then put it into plates and it would be printed. (Juxtapoz 2012)
The use of pink, blue and yellow (orange) inks to produce all the vibrant colours in Optical Occlusion is a perfect example of the skill of the San Francisco printers during this period. Whilst Levon Moscofian of Tea Lautrec Litho is the most famous printer, having produced most of Bill Graham's Fillmore posters, obviously he was not the only skilled technician supporting this artistic movement and the production of literally hundreds of posters, handbills and related ephemera between 1966-8.
Poster and postcard / handbill
Optical Occlusion is listed as FD93 (i.e Family Dog no.93) within the numbered series of Family Dog posters. It bears the identification code 'No93-1' on the lower left corner, indicative of a first printing. A detailed study of the content of Optical Occlusion reveals the 'Family Dog Presents' logo in the upper middle section, with its distinctive head of an aged, top hat wearing American Indian. It is located just above the much larger head of a young woman and is the focus for the radiating strips of pink and blue colour. The eyebrows of the anonymous female are replaced by the balloon-letter words 'Avalon Ballroom' in the Wes Wilson style so distinctive of the period. On her left cheek are the words 'Sutter at Vanness' referring to the location in San Francisco of the Avalon Ballroom, near the corner of Sutter and Vanness streets. Her face is as though painted with psychedelic spirals and streaks, and within and upon these Gomez has added his own unique touches. In regards to the optically active strips of colour which distinguish the upper section of the poster, most of these are solid, though in the middle and upper right section, around the circles / bubbles radiating from the head of the woman, the colour is speckled and granular, as if to indicate the area of a substantial Afro or bouffant hair style, or perhaps the element of mind expansion associated with the LSD experience. The lower half of the poster, containing information about the bands, venue, light show and ticket outlets, comprises finely drawn detail, primarily using a mixture of orange and blue inks. Gomez has hand drawn all the text in the poster, apart from the generic typeset print along the bottom border. His use of fine dots to create text and images is reminiscent of the female profile which features in the Wes Wilson Fillmore poster FD51 of 24-26 February 1967 for a series of concerts by Otis Rush and his Chicago Blues Band. Rather than simple lines, the dots are use to create form.
The original poster, measuring 14" x 20", and a 5" x 7" postcard featuring the same design, were printed and used in both street billboard postings and mail outs to advertise the shows. They were usually available in the week before the concert and distributed throughout localities such as Berkeley, Haight-Ashbury and areas of San Francisco where the young audiences resided. The poster and postcard were only printed once, though there are two variant printings of the latter. This is unlike a number of popular Family Dog and Fillmore posters which were reprinted after the relevant concert and sold through poster and print shops such as the Berkeley Bonaparte and Print Mint in the United States and overseas. It is likely that a substantial first print run of the poster took place - perhaps 5,000 or more copies - in anticipation of future sale, and this accounts for the relative abundance of the poster in present day auction and poster shop sales. The posters were printed individually or two to a 28" x 20" sheet, which was commonly the maximum feed size of the photo-offset lithographic printing presses available at that time. In some cases, as for example for Fillmore events, a poster was printed next to a number of postcards and/or tickets on a single sheet, and subsequently cut to size. The Optical Occlusion postcard was printed on both sides, as was usual for the period, with the rear including a postage stamp area in the upper right corner and an additional swirling design coming off the stamp and flowing down into the centre of the card towards a reproduction of the Family Dog logo, leaving the area to the left for the typed, hand written or labelled address. This design was used on the rear of most Avalon Ballroom postcards throughout 1967 and 1968. An example is shown below.
Optical Occlusion postcard - front. Note the white flaw in the lower centre section near the words Mt. Rushmore.
Optical Occlusion postcard - rear side with textual postage information top right. Source: Classic Posters Types B & C.
This original postcard was addressed to 'Trudi C. Dunn, 5929 Laird Ave., Oakland, Calif, 94605' during the week/s prior to the concerts. The postcard exhibits two common flaws, namely a white space in the lower section of the image behind the words 'Mt. Rushmore', and a smaller section of two adjacent white spaces in the face section of the image, where the eye area features the word 'Avalon'. It is likely that only a couple of hundred of these were printed, according to the size of the Family Dog mailing list. The following example reveals both the front image flaws and also the variant of the rear image postage stamp area. This version was most likely printed for post-concert sales and promotion.
Optical Occlusion postcard - front. Note the white printing flaws in the lower centre section and mid section near the right eye.
Optical Occlusion postcard - rear side. Note 'Place Stamp Here' graphic upper right. Classic Posters Type A.
Optical Occlusion is by no means a rare poster, despite the fact of a single printing. It is nevertheless relatively unknown, perhaps as a result of the mystery surrounding the artist. There is, for example, no reference to it in Grushkin's The Art of Rock (1987). It is illustrated in Ted Owen's High Art: A history of the psychedelic poster (1999), however there is no discussion of it therein. Optical Occlusion is now regarded as one of the standout psychedelic posters of the era. As evidence of this, it recently featured on the cover of the catalogue for the San Francisco Airport September 2014 - March 2015 exhibition When Art Rocked: San Francisco Rock Posters 1966-1971.
When Art Rocked, billboard poster, San Francisco Airport, September 2104.
Mounted by the San Francisco Airport Museum in collaboration with the Rock Poster Society, the exhibition brought together all the major posters of the era, with examples from many private collections. A large billboard sign promoting the exhibition near the airport entrance featured a section of Optical Occlusion from the top right corner of the poster, though rotated 90 degrees clockwise. The quality of the original design by Joe Gomez, plus that of the printing by Cal Litho, alongside the bright, attention grabbing colours and reference to Big Brother and the Holding Company will ensure that it maintains its status as one of the classics of the genre and of ongoing interest to fans of the late, great Janis Joplin.
The Music
Optical Occlusion makes reference to Big Brother and the Holding Company which was virtually the house band at the Avalon during 1966-7. At the time of the performances they included Janis Joplin as their singer and were building on the notoriety arising out of an appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June. By the time of the release of the Monterey Pop documentary film at the end of December 1968 Joplin and Sam Andrew had left Big Brother for the Kozmic Blues Band. During 1967 Big Brother played numerous concerts in and around the San Francisco area and were based in Haight-Ashbury. They were very much part of the local scene, supporting both the Avalon and Fillmore ballrooms. The support band Mt. Rushmore is less well known. Also from San Francisco and the Haight-Ashbury district, they played a heavy blues rock style and released two albums during this period. The light show was provided by The Diogenes Lantern Works.
Thanksgiving Day 1967
As a footnote to the above discussion regarding the Joe Gomez poster FD93, a separate handbill was produced for the first concert of the series, which took place on Thanksgiving Day - 23 November 1967. Designed by Rick Griffin and designated FD93a (AOR 2.19) in the Family Dog series, it is distinctive of Griffin's popular cartooning style. With the event designated a 'Turkey Strut & Trot', the small handbill supplemented Gomez's Optical Occlusion poster for the first of the three nights featuring Big Brother and Mt. Rushmore.
Rick Griffin, The Family Dog presents Turkey Trot, Avalon Ballroom, 23 November 1967, 5" x 7" handbill, printed in brown ink on tan coloured medium card stock.
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Other Posters by Joe Gomez
#2 - Honoring Muhammed Ali 1967
Prior to Optical Occlusion Joe Gomez produced a limited edition silkscreen poster for the Honoring Muhammad Ali Festival held at Hunter's Point, San Francisco, on 10 and 11 June 1967.
Joe Gomez, Honoring Muhammad Ali Festival, Hunter's Point, San Francisco, silkscreen poster, 16 1/8" x 22 5/8", 10-11 June 1967. Print run of 200 copies.
Muhammad Ali signature on a copy of the Joe Gomez poster, just below the boxer's chin.
The poster was signed 'Gomez 67' near the lower right edge, in a similar manner to Optical Occlusion. It features a number of common Gomez elements - the peace sign, a collection of flowers and the naked female body. In addition the artist has added a number of native African figures and masks, perhaps in reference to Ali's heritage. A copy of the Ali poster, signed by the famous boxer himself, was offered for sale by Julian's Auctions in 2014. Muhammad Ali did not attend the actual event, which featured well-known San Francisco bands such as The Charlatans, the Steve Miller Blues Band and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. One website mentions a crowd figure of around 700, whilst another questions whether the event actually took place, held as it was on the same weekend as the more famous Mt. Tamalpais rock festival in Marin, featuring the Doors, Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and The Fish and many others. That latter festival had been scheduled for the previous weekend, but was held over to the next due to rain. Why Muhammad Ali? During a brief period in the mid' sixties, whilst exiled from boxing, Ali earned his living largely by making motivational speeches to young people and became a popular figure, hence the festival which sought to honor his work. When offered for sale on eBay during 2015, the poster was described as follows:
"FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY, STING LIKE A BEE! Offered here is an ULTRA RARE and original MUHAMMAD ALI FESTIVAL POSTER from 1967. This is the best of two worlds, the most recognizable figure in the world mixed with the 60's rock scene. This San Francisco/Bay Area psychedelic poster advertised the FREE June 10, 1967 MUHAMMAD ALI FESTIVAL at Hunter's Point, and featuring THE CHARLATANS, THE STEVE MILLER BLUES BAND, THE SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE, Anonymous Artists of America, the Committee, Radha Krishna Temple, and others. Artwork by GOMEZ. Even though the poster states: "Honoring Muhammed Ali Festival" I guess a number of the approximately 700 folks that gathered expected him to show up. Of course, it did not happen, but we're sure a good time was had by all since it WAS the Summer of Love! This RARE poster is in really nice condition, with no tears at all. The general wear it does have includes, most notably: a water stain in the lower left corner border (does not cover any of the image area), 4 pinholes (one in each corner), soft creasing, but no major folds, one 'tape pull'-like abrasion on the upper left corner edge and a horizontal mark along with some mild tape pulls on the back. 99% of the wear can be easily covered by a mat. The main image of this poster is in EXCELLENT shape and it will frame up beautifully! According to ExpressoBeans.com, only about 200 of these posters were printed! The poster measures 15 7/8" x 22 1/2", and is featured in the ART OF ROCK as AOR 2.245. Three of the recorded sales of this poster on Expresso Beans are over $3000, with the last noted at $3,465.
There are no details on the poster regarding the printing. A photographic image of the boxer is seen amidst a complex psychedelic surround. This work by Gomez is a highly detailed piece of drawing and collage, exhibiting some of the extremely fine penmanship similar to that seen in Optical Occlusion. The printing features the transitioning of black ink (top) to red ink (bottom) and is suggestive of a silkscreen process, as opposed to the multiple colours usually seen in the machine-produced photo-offset lithographed posters of the day, such as Optical Occlusion. With a small print run of only 200 - which was typical for silkscreened posters, due to degradation of the screen with each printing - the Ali poster is today considered a rare item by both psychedelic poster collectors and those fans of boxing and Muhammad Ali. The majority of the Avalon and Fillmore posters from the period saw print runs into the thousands via the photo-offset lithography process, which also enabled additional printings without any discernible loss of quality.
#3 - Love Haight Ashbury 1967
Another poster by Gomez has been identified that was printed in a manner similar to the Honoring Muhammed Ali poster, with a gradation from red to black / black to red. Love Haight Ashbury - includes the detailed circular flower-like drawings typical of Gomez and may have been printed around the same time as Ali.
Love Haight Ashbury features the famous street sign on a post, topped by another sign with the word LOVE and then some naked figures frolicking. The pole is surrounded by typical Gomez ornamental elements - a Peace sign and flowers. This relatively sparse poster celebrates nothing less than the strong Peace and Love vibe in the Haight Ashbury district during that period which is generally referred to as the Summer of Love and the height of Hippiedom. The commodification of these elements by Gomez stood beside the harsh realities of life on the streets faced by the thousands of young people who came to the Haight during that period seeking Nirvana, and often finding, instead, homelessness and drug addiction. The Hippie dream came true for many, and Joseph Gomez was perhaps one of those lucky ones.
#4 - Haight Ashbury Loves You 1967
The Oakland Museum of California holds a copy of the Joe Gomez poster Haight Ashbury Loves You from 1967. Printed by Double-H Press, San Francisco, it bears a copyright Joseph Gomez inscription on the bottom left edge and artist signature on the middle right border.
The poster is described as follows on the OMC website: Poster has a purple and white floral pattern border around an oval pink photograph in the center. The photograph shows four women sitting in front of a man wearing a hat that has "Love" written on it. Around the image in purple is "Haight Ashbury Loves You" in bubble lettering. Each letter has a human head at the end kissing the head next to it.
This poster reveals the incredibly detailed nature of the original drawing by Gomez, similar to that seen on Optical Occlusion and Honoring Muhammed Ali. Once again the poster was a photolithographic print, size 14 1/2 x 22 /1/5 inches. The copy in the OMC has been signed by the artist along the bottom right border. Aside from Optical Occlusion, this is perhaps the most famous of posters by Joseph Gomez.
#5 - Gun in a birdcage 1967
The Oakland Museum of California also holds a copy of a Gomez poster allocated the title Gun in a Birdcage. It dates from 1967, size 17 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches and was printed by Double-H Press of San Francisco. It also includes a label "Copyright 1967 Joseph Gomez" in the lower left hand corner of the image.
The OMC description of the item is as follows:
Poster shows a gun in a birdcage. The birdcage is suspended in the air. Below the birdcage are swirls of leafs and a broken peace sign. The bottom right of the poster has a skeleton and skulls in two locations. The skeletons are grabbing onto the roots or paths that are swirling about the poster. There are more swirls of leafs in the upper right of the poster. Printed in tiny font in the bottom left corner of the image is "(c) 1967 Joseph Gomez."
The Hippie sentimentality revealed by the poster is very much typical of the locale and period, reflecting the influences then at play upon the artist, whilst the skeletons and skulls reflect a darker side. Pale pink and mustard brown colours have been added to the black print of the original drawing by Gomez.
#7 - New Haight Ashbury 1968
In 2013 and 2015 a poster by Joe Gomez was offered for sale on eBay. Dating from 1968, it bore the title "New Haight-Ashbury" along the bottom edge, and noted that it had had been produced by Celestial Art of San Francisco. The poster was large, and measured 22 1/4 x 33 1/5 inches.
The poster and its origin was described in the 2015 eBay listing as follows:
The detail in the central portion of the poster reveal the superb drawing skills and fine penmanship of Joseph Gomez. The eBay description by Martin Jacobs contains the only first hand account of Joseph Gomez and his life as an artist. It is strange that this should be the last known example of such a talented artist. What happened to him? Did he simply give up art, or perhaps passed away tragically around 1968? Hopefully further research will uncover answers to these questions.
Another poster by Gomez has been identified that was printed in a manner similar to the Honoring Muhammed Ali poster, with a gradation from red to black / black to red. Love Haight Ashbury - includes the detailed circular flower-like drawings typical of Gomez and may have been printed around the same time as Ali.
Love Haight Ashbury features the famous street sign on a post, topped by another sign with the word LOVE and then some naked figures frolicking. The pole is surrounded by typical Gomez ornamental elements - a Peace sign and flowers. This relatively sparse poster celebrates nothing less than the strong Peace and Love vibe in the Haight Ashbury district during that period which is generally referred to as the Summer of Love and the height of Hippiedom. The commodification of these elements by Gomez stood beside the harsh realities of life on the streets faced by the thousands of young people who came to the Haight during that period seeking Nirvana, and often finding, instead, homelessness and drug addiction. The Hippie dream came true for many, and Joseph Gomez was perhaps one of those lucky ones.
#4 - Haight Ashbury Loves You 1967
The Oakland Museum of California holds a copy of the Joe Gomez poster Haight Ashbury Loves You from 1967. Printed by Double-H Press, San Francisco, it bears a copyright Joseph Gomez inscription on the bottom left edge and artist signature on the middle right border.
The poster is described as follows on the OMC website: Poster has a purple and white floral pattern border around an oval pink photograph in the center. The photograph shows four women sitting in front of a man wearing a hat that has "Love" written on it. Around the image in purple is "Haight Ashbury Loves You" in bubble lettering. Each letter has a human head at the end kissing the head next to it.
This poster reveals the incredibly detailed nature of the original drawing by Gomez, similar to that seen on Optical Occlusion and Honoring Muhammed Ali. Once again the poster was a photolithographic print, size 14 1/2 x 22 /1/5 inches. The copy in the OMC has been signed by the artist along the bottom right border. Aside from Optical Occlusion, this is perhaps the most famous of posters by Joseph Gomez.
#5 - Gun in a birdcage 1967
The Oakland Museum of California also holds a copy of a Gomez poster allocated the title Gun in a Birdcage. It dates from 1967, size 17 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches and was printed by Double-H Press of San Francisco. It also includes a label "Copyright 1967 Joseph Gomez" in the lower left hand corner of the image.
The OMC description of the item is as follows:
Poster shows a gun in a birdcage. The birdcage is suspended in the air. Below the birdcage are swirls of leafs and a broken peace sign. The bottom right of the poster has a skeleton and skulls in two locations. The skeletons are grabbing onto the roots or paths that are swirling about the poster. There are more swirls of leafs in the upper right of the poster. Printed in tiny font in the bottom left corner of the image is "(c) 1967 Joseph Gomez."
The Hippie sentimentality revealed by the poster is very much typical of the locale and period, reflecting the influences then at play upon the artist, whilst the skeletons and skulls reflect a darker side. Pale pink and mustard brown colours have been added to the black print of the original drawing by Gomez.
#7 - New Haight Ashbury 1968
In 2013 and 2015 a poster by Joe Gomez was offered for sale on eBay. Dating from 1968, it bore the title "New Haight-Ashbury" along the bottom edge, and noted that it had had been produced by Celestial Art of San Francisco. The poster was large, and measured 22 1/4 x 33 1/5 inches.
The poster and its origin was described in the 2015 eBay listing as follows:
Up for purchase is a 1968 poster work on paper by Joshep
Gomez called "Haight Ashbury". This is an original print, not a cheap
reproduction. It is an offset lithograph. The poster has a purple background
with a flower border. Mixed in with the flowers are pins with phrases relevant
to the time. At the center is a collage of black houses and stores that are
very intricately drawn and detailed. These are actual businesses and locations
that were a part of Haight-Ashbury in 1968. Centered at the bottom is
"Haight Ashbury" in block letters filled with colorful flowers. On
the bottom edge at the center it says "New Haight-Ashbury".
Inscription in black at the bottom left and right corners: "(c) 1968
Celestial Art - No. 10 - 1345 Howard St., San Francisco 94103" and
"Printed By Orbit Graphic Arts [Orbit logo]". Though I was able to
find a couple of examples of a different Joshep Gomez poster, the only other
one that I could find like this one online was one that is on display in the
Oakland Museum of California. The original is a 5-color acetate color key and
it is framed in the home of the poster's creator, Martin Jacobs. He says he
sold about 7500 of them between 1968 and 1970, but who knows where they are
now, or if any of them even survived the 60s. This very rare poster measures
approximately 33.75" high by 22.25" wide. This is the story of this
poster: A man named Martin Jacobs was the owner of a 3,000 square foot shop
called Haight St. Palace, located at Haight & Masonic from 1967-1970. The
shop sold posters, records, buttons, sandals. It was a hangout for the rock
stars in the area like Big Brother & Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger
Service and the Grateful Dead. On Saturday nights usually a local group performed
and about 500 people showed up. Joe Gomez used to sit outside Haight St. Palace
and draw. One day Jacobs offered Gomez $50 to draw a picture of Haight Street
for a poster. Jacobs added the flowers with his 35mm camera and the result is
this poster. Haight St. Palace can be seen on the bottom row, 6th building from
the left. Just above on the left side of the shop you'll see a small heart that
says M.J. and D.L. That stands for Marty Jacobs and Denise Lee, a flower child
who Jacobs married and had 5 kids with. On an interesting side note, every
Saturday at the Drugstore Cafe on Haight, Jacobs had breakfast with Grace Slick
and Janis Joplin. This poster has such a huge historical significance to that
era - the love and peace theme and the buttons, flowers, and the Haight St.
tell a story. I think that there are many people who feel this same way and
this poster belongs to one of them. Jacobs told me, "Those days were the
best days of my life."
The detail in the central portion of the poster reveal the superb drawing skills and fine penmanship of Joseph Gomez. The eBay description by Martin Jacobs contains the only first hand account of Joseph Gomez and his life as an artist. It is strange that this should be the last known example of such a talented artist. What happened to him? Did he simply give up art, or perhaps passed away tragically around 1968? Hopefully further research will uncover answers to these questions.
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Appendix 1
Joseph Gomez, Three nudes at play in the woods, oil on canvas, 22" x 26", no date. Sold Clars Auction Gallery, San Francisco, 27 June 2015. Signed lower right.
This idyllic scene of three naked females in a bush setting utilises thick paint strokes in oil and a palette of dark green, brown, cream and purple. There is no obvious connection between this work and the psychedelic posters by Joseph Gomez apart from a slight similarity between these female figures and those in the Love Haight Ashbury poster of 1967, so the attribution may warrant correction, pending further information. The signature at the lower right is clear in regards to "Joseph" but not so clear for the rest. The portrayal of the faces also suggests an immature work, rather than the obvious skill evident in the pen and ink drawings by Gomez.
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Appendix 2 - Auction and sale sites - Optical Occlusion
- Amoeba Music - Big Brother & The Holding Company - Avalon Ballroom - November 23-25, 1967. [Poster]
- Classic Posters - Avalon Ballroom 11/23-25/67. Identifies and describes three versions of the postcard and one of the poster. [Poster + postcard]
- oicVintage (Amazon) - Optical Occlusion. [Postcard]
- Old Handbills - http://www.oldhandbills.com/family_dog_postcards.htm. [Postcard]
- Wolfgang's Vault - Big Brother and the Holding Company Postcard. [Postcard]
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References
Binder, Victoria A., San Francisco Rock Posters and the Art of Photo-Offset Lithograph, The Book and Paper Group Annual 29, 2010, 1-14. Available URL: http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v29/bp29-01.pdf.
Gibson, J.J., Optical Occlusion and Edge-Information in an
Optic Array, March 1967, unpublished manuscript. Available URL: http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/ecopsyc/perils/folder3/occlusion.html.
Gomez, Joseph, Optical Occlusion, poster, Family Dog Productions, San Francisco, 1967.
-----, Honoring Muhammad Ali, poster, 1967.
-----, Love Haight Ashbury, poster, 1967.
-----, Love Street, poster, 1967.
-----, Love Haight Ashbury, poster, 1967.
-----, Love Street, poster, 1967.
-----, Haight Ashbury Loves You, poster, Double-H Press, San Francisco, 1967. Collection: Oakland Museum of California. Available URL: http://collections.museumca.org/?q=collection-item/2010542542.
-----, [Gun in birdcage], poster, Double-H Press, San Francisco, 1967. Collection: Oakland Museum of California. Available URL: http://collections.museumca.org/?q=collection-item/2010542021.
-----, New Haight Ashbury, poster, Celestial Art, San Francisco, 1968.
Grushkin, Paul D., The Art of Rock, Abbeville Publishers, New York, 1987, 516p.
Juxtapoz, Feature: A conversation with John van Hamersveld, Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine [webpage], 12 July 2012. Available URL: http://www.juxtapoz.com/current/feature-a-conversation-with-john-van-hamersveld.
Marks, Ben, When Art Rocked: San Francisco Rock Posters 1966-71, 14 October 2014. URL: http://boingboing.net/2014/10/14/when-art-rocked.html.
-----, Was Levon Mosgofian of Tea Lautrec Litho the most psychedelic printer in rock?, Collectors Weekly, 22 September 2014. Available URL: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/was-levon-mosgofian-the-most-psychedelic-printer-in-rock/.
Owen, Ted and Dickson, Denise, High Art: a history of the psychedelic poster, Sanctuary
Publishing, 1999, 176p. Optical Occlusion illustrated page 26.
Michael Organ
Last updated:25 November 2021
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