As a teenager growing up in DC (ok, ok, Silver Spring), I loved seeing all the hand-screened rock posters at clubs, stapled to telephone poles and tacked onto bulletin boards at the local diners. Rock posters back then served a huge promotional purpose,  leading its readers to the next coolest show, and provided a tangible anthem to the independent music scene. Although the web has mostly taken over the promotional gig, rock poster designers the world over show that the music and art worlds are still as intertwined as ever, and the creative process for this time-honored tradition is alive and more than just kicking.  Local poster maker and Crafty Bastards veteran Anthony Dihle, has put together a show that proves just that.

Dihle’s newest show, Paper Cuts: The Art and Science of Rock Posters, presents a variety of work from talented East Coast poster artists and designers. Paper Cuts will showcase rock posters from DC area shows, featuring work from the following 16 poster artists:

Hero Design Studio, Jay Ryan, Todd Slater, John Foster, Marc Harkness, Zach Bryan, Strawberryluna, Adam Saul, Criminal Design, Marq Spusta, Hatch Show Print, Dan Grzeca, Guy Burwell, Chris Cernoch, John Whitlock, and Anthony Dihle.

The show will also take a look at the process of poster-making and design, and viewers can get their hands dirty at the opening with live printmaking hosted by local crafter Kristina Bilonick.

Paper Cuts: The Art and Science of Rock Posters
March 25-April 25
The Athenaeum, 201 Prince Street Alexandria, VA 22314
Opening Reception is this Sunday March 28 4-6pm

Screw your Facebook event invite. The rock poster is alive and kicking here in D.C., and poster maker and Crafty Bastards veteran, Anthony Dihle wants you to know about it.

Civilian Art Projects is presents its second exhibition of music-based posters following last summer’s Screams & Screens exhibition of artists from across the country. PAPER JAM: The Art and Grime of the East Coast Rock Poster includes the works of 27 artists from the East Coast. The exhibition will open to the public on Friday, June 12, 2009 and will be on view through June 27, 2009. Public exhibition hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 6 p.m. There will be an opening reception for the artists on Friday, June 12, 2009 from 7pm to 9pm.

James Heimer

Paper Jam features a cross-section of artists, designers, and printmakers who make music posters. The exhibition is limited to East Coast postermakers, ranging from New Jersey to Virginia, and is intended to shine the spotlight on what is going on here, in our own backyard, in a world increasingly de-emphasizing local focus. Organized by artist Anthony Dihle, the exhibition stages the most fun, interesting, and experimental work from the area.

Ana Benaroya

According to Dihle, “both well-established and newly emerging artists are featured. Their methods of production range from high-end offset lithography to silkscreen to Xerox, and their styles are equally varied, from the rock poster standbys of skulls-n-babes to experimentation where text and form are pushed to convey music using symbols and abstraction. Bands represented extend from internationally known acts to garage bands making their debut show. Most of the work is home-brewed, by the artist, and merges the illustration of sound and lyrics with the requisite need for a poster to simultaneously advertise a show and commemorate it.”

Triggered largely by a renewed interest in live music and analog sound, the recent revival of poster art is being made possible by the availability of imaging software, adaptability of silkscreen to at-home methods, and a burgeoning community of postermakers who share ideas, resources, viewing spaces, and markets for their prints.

Artists in Paper Jam include, Ana Benaroya, Jordan Bernier, Rick Bowman, Chris Cernoch, Kate Crosgrove, Anthony Dihle (Dirty Pictures), Jefferey Everett (El Jefe Design), JP Flexner, John Foster (Bad People Good Things), Jeff Fry, Tim Gibbon (Dynamite Printworks), James Heimer, Adam Juresko, Edward Kelley, Daniel Kent, Chris Kline, Nick Kulp (Undercover Zero), Large Mammal, Robb Leef, Drew Liverman, Magick Outlaw, Nick Pimentel (Planaria Design), Gregory Pizzoli, Post Typography, Brian Potash (Devilish Ink), Public Domain, and Warm.

Tim Gibbon

There is a really great gallery of the work presented at this show over at the Civilian Art Projects web site.