Brightest Young Things

Nearing the opening of the exciting exhibition, Paper Cuts: The Art and Science of Rock Posters, we had a moment to sit down with the man with the plan for this collection; Anthony Dihle. The show will feature the work of a diverse range of artists mining this territory from Mr. Dihle himself and your kind interviewer, to Jay Ryan, Dan Grzeca, Guy Burwell, Hatch Show Print and so many more. Listen in:

JF: This is your second curated showing of rock posters in the past year, how will this show differ from the Paper Jam show held at Civilian?

AD: Last year's show was a regional survey of the strongest work from this side of the country - it included two-dozen artists, with about a half-dozen pieces from each artist. This collection focuses on DC-area designers, and those who've done work for DC-area venues: About 15 artists in all. So we got work from a number of out-of-towners for posters they've done for shows at the 9:30 Club, DAR Hall, and so on. Like last year's show, we're not including everything from everyone who's done work for DC shows. Meaning I curated out a lot of the work that wasn't as strong. Simply having been a poster for a local gig doesn't mean the poster should be in the show. I've been to shows that aimed to include as much from everyone as possible and that makes for a weaker exhibit.

JF: How do you enjoy the curatorial process?

AD: Ah, it's interesting. It's enjoyable. Getting to hunt down relevant parties and judging work and so on. Putting together group show involves a lot of book keeping, sending a lot of nagging emails. I realized about three weeks ago this is probably the worst time of year to put together a rock poster show since so many from the poster community are in Austin for the Flatstock poster convention, which coincides with SXSW. And bringing a large group of rock posters to a traditional fine art gallery requires a little finesse.

JF: What do you think is the commonality between the artists collected and what is the main differentiating quality?

AD: All of the artists address the band/their music in their poster. Some artists will make a scene relating to song lyrics, some will develop visuals that sound like the band, some will illustrate a scene that captures their culture, their smell.

Each of the artists brings something different to the table. Patterns and trends emerge in postermaking but styles and takes are so different. That's why there are hundreds or thousands of postermakers, not ten or twenty. Some come from art or illustration backgrounds, some are graphic designers, some started as musicians just making flyers for their band. There's no such thing as a degree in rock-poster making, so most everyone comes into it from the Julia Child route. I like eating so why not cook?

JF: How did you come about putting this show together for the Athenaeum?

AD: I was asked by a fellow designer who's on the board of The Athenaeum if I'd be interested in putting together a poster show. I bit. With the stipulation that I wouldn't be repeating my efforts from Paper Jam. Gotta have something different. Anyone who's tried to put together a show at a gallery in the DC area on short notice knows that spaces are booked up months, sometimes years in advance so I thought this might be my last chance for a while.

JF: That's such a great building. I always wanted to do something there - what should viewers expect?

AD: It's big, cavernous, with vaulted ceiling, and loads of natural light. It has a portico with Greek columns, hence Athenaeum. So as a gallery it's an anomaly. It was a bank before the Civil War, General Lee used to have an account there. It's stately, very old town. It hosts weddings, ballet, and now, handmade rock posters.

JF: I heard you might be showing a little more than just posters - any details?

AD: Yes, yes! One of the things that sets this show apart from Paper Jam, and really any other poster show I've been too is that we'll be showing some of the process that goes into making a poster. Some original drawings, photocopies, film transparencies—and we'll have live printmaking at the opening on Sunday with Kristina Bilonick, where visitors will be able to try their hand at screenprinting. The design and printmaking process can be tough to understand without props, I wanna show them how sausage is made.

JF: You have been involved in producing gigposters for quite some time and now this is forcing you to take a closer look at what is going on around the country - how have you seen the scene changing and where do you see it headed?

AD: Yeah, five or six years now, haha. Sonny, let me tell you about The Bonapartes, and Hello Tokyo... As for posters, I think the artists are getting more savvy about how best to use digital technology and silkscreen. Computers are strong enough now that capturing very high levels of detail in many layers and outputting it for print in large format is no problem. We're not as enamored with novelty fonts now as we were five or ten years ago. I think we're seeing less visual puns in posters than we were five or ten years ago.

And letting the silkscreen process do what it does best, to be colorful and big and not to replicate highly sensitive full-color photos with it, especially if you're printing in your garage. Not being to cool or too beige with it. It's like with plastics—we used to form plastic into simulated wood and leather. After a while we figured out that it looked like horrible, tacky trash. And now most of our plastic products look like clean, smooth plastic. Letting the material do what it does best.

JF: What is your favorite piece in the show?

AD: Probably The Jesus Lizard at the 9:30 Club 2009, by Jay Ryan / The Bird Machine. Jay's work is full of Roald-Dahl type weirdnesss. Creatures and stories and victory, usually very colorful. He's an exceptional illustrator. I'm savagely jealous of his hand-drawn lettering capabilities. Between that and his use of color you don't even really notice the quality of his handmade prints—lots of stuff that is difficult to pull off with a rough process like handmade screenprinting. Subtle color fades, delicate highlighting on objects, his print output not losing any of the detail in his handmade marks. Talented bastard. Skilled.

JF: Will people be able to purchase prints at the gallery?

AD: Yep. Everything is under $100, most under $40.

JF: Did you ever think you would see DC hosting gigposters in their fine art galleries when you started out?

AD: Not really, but I hadn't really thought of something like a rock poster show until I'd heard of one done at the Hosiery in 2003 or therabouts. Didn't know if there was much interest in the area until the poster show Sweet at the University of Maryland in 2006. Sweet was an excellent, excellent show. It was a greatest hits of contemporary rock posters, very well curated and put together. But I felt like I'd seen a lot of work done by those who weren't as well established whose work was more schizophrenic, whose methods were more experiments, whose clientele was local, not well-known nationally. That was who I wanted to highlight in Paper Jam, and this show, alongside some of the well-established poster artists.

I think there was a hill to climb for both fine art galleries and rock poster artists before these shows could happen in established gallery spaces. Rock poster artists are still shaking the reputation as being bastard children of higher-end design and art worlds. It's not considered fine art because after all, it's an advertisement for a concert, and it's historically lower on the design totem pole because so many poster artists violate established rules of good typography, tasteful design, clever, subtle solutions. But I feel more gallery directors are letting their guards down, and artists are feeling it's more important that their work be visible rather than be visible in the right place. The places where rock posters are seen is changing too. They're being seen often online, on the merch table at gigs—so we welcome the opportunity to show off work where it can be seen in person. And given that rock posters are meant to be eye-grabbing in a cluttered setting like a street or venue wall, they really jump off the quiet walls of an art gallery.

Make your way to the opening on Sunday the 28th at the Athenaeum, 201 Prince Street in Old Town Alexandria, from 4-6 in the pm. Show runs until April 25th. Put in a Facebook reservation if you are so inclined.

See you there squares!

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