Anarchy in the A.R.T.

Imagination runs amok in The Art Of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion. Written and compiled by Paul Grushkin & Dennis King, this 492-page tome weighs in at nearly 10-pounds and just may be the art book that lays your coffee table to waste. That is, if it doesn’t corrupt your kids first.

As commercial rock music lumbers its way toward total emasculation, indie rock poster art has emerged as the new frontier of rock-n-roll rebellion. A definitive independent spirit suffuses every image included in the book. With the publication of The Art Of Modern Rock, contemporary poster artists have emerged as the new rock stars.

Boasting the work of more than 400 artists and studios, the book champions art that celebrates subversion in the guise of concert promotion. This essential compilation makes it abundantly clear that rock poster artists’ mission is to absorb and warp styles established by many of graphic design’s most cherished pioneers.

And so, The Art Of Modern Rock gives the impression that a renegade gang of lunatics have overtaken and trashed palaces once inhabited by Maxfield Parrish, Saul Bass, Ben Shahn and Paul Rand. If there are Gods among the new breed, their names are Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Wes Wilson and a handful of other visionaries who formed the West Coast collective known as the Family Dog whose poster art flourished during the heydays of the Avalon Ballroom and Bill Graham’s Fillmore West.

As co-author Paul Grushkin notes in the book’s preface, the increased interest in concert posters is, in large part, a reaction to the loss of album art. Posters, unlike CD covers and thumbnails of album art posted online, may be the last bastion of hope for those of us who grew up with a firm conviction that a record’s artwork is just as essential to the album experience as the music within.

By forcing posters into themed chapters, the authors make a valiant effort similar to trying to build cages around free-range beasts. It’s best to enjoy these posters in the manner suggested by a chapter titled, "Explosionist Theory". After all, dictating and regimenting the reader’s relationship to the posters found in The Art Of Modern Rock goes against the spirit in which they were created.

Because the book aims a white-hot spotlight on the talented men and women who are keeping music and graphic design on speaking terms, it’s easy to forgive the authors and publisher for the minor transgression of not including an alpha index of bands and musicians represented on all of the 1,800+ poster reproductions.

But then again, perhaps this is further proof that the graphic designers, illustrators, type specialists and printers within are indeed the new rock elite.

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