PRINTDreamscapes and fantasies
Revisiting art of the LSD generation
July 26, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Isaac Abrams’ 1966 painting, All Things Are One Thing, is a swirl of prismatic colors forming a pseudo-landscape dominated by a purple and yellow flower. Its center seems to have an elaborately decorated face like that of a tribal mask. Just two years after its completion, this piece was one of many included in Psychedelic Art (1968), a compilation and exploration of the art form at the height of its popularity.
Jan Schall, curator of modern and contemporary art at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, says this form of art is characterized by intense color and fluidity. Visions induced from hallucinogenic drugs inspired this style, and its emphasis on color is the physical representation of the artists’ fantasies while tripping.
Because psychedelic art isn’t always considered fine art, it’s rarely seen in museums. However, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City is currently showing “Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era,” which features paintings (top right), posters (bottom right), photographs, sculptures and other examples of artwork from and inspired by the time. See more pieces and listen to a podcast of an audio tour of the exhibit at the exhibit's Web site, or, if you have some spare cash for a trip to NYC, the exhibit runs through Sept. 16.
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“Psychedelic art is fluid like a dream,” Schall says. It shows an explosion of visions, whether it is in the lines of a painting or literal movement.
Moving visions
One branch of psychedelic art actually does move. Liquid light shows in clubs and concerts enhanced the party scene and the drug experience. The swirling colors, bubble shapes and flashing lights were not only meant to enhance the effect of hallucinogens but were also art in and of themselves.
The legacy of these psychedelic light shows lives on in Columbia through Tom “Artie” Lindsey’s and Matt Reed’s company, Liquid Karma Lightshows. The duo performs these light shows for their band, Artie’s Univibe, as well as hired jobs for other shows.
Their liquid projections are created using a combination of colored oils, special glass panes and a couple overhead projectors. But that’s as much as they’ll tell. It’s hard to find liquid light artists today, and the two don’t want just anyone using the techniques to illuminate their show.
“The lights are inspired by the stuff in the ’60s,” Lindsey says. “There is nowhere on earth color moves like that.”
Paper dreams
In terms of physical artwork, it’s hard to find examples of psychedelic pieces in museums. “Psychedelic art is seen more in graphic art,” Schall says. The most notable example is posters for ’60s rock bands including the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and The Byrds.
Aurora resident Wes Wilson was among those creating psychedelic posters for shows in San Francisco between 1965 and 1968. His first work was for Chet Helms and The Family Dog. For Wilson, drugs were part of the experience, but he wasn’t quite as active in drugs as others were during that time. “A couple trips on acid were enough for me,” he says.
There were also visual artists whose work transcended the poster scene with their use of paint on canvas. Isaac Abrams, Richard Hamilton and John McCracken were among these psychedelic artists. The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is the only American museum showing a touring exhibition of these artists’ work and other psychedelic art in their own celebration of the Summer of Love.
“Some say that [psychedelic art] was never a high art form,” Schall says. The fascination with it was only short-lived. Schall estimates that it began in the mid-1960s and ended in the mid-1970s. Today, those practicing the legacy are rare. Schall says, “Psychedelic art never was a movement; it was a moment.”
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