Search for psychedelic art in San Francisco and the results are history: concert posters from the 1960s, hung in museums. Those are the roots. This is a short account of them, then the psychedelic work Terry Bauer shows in the city now.
The posters
From 1966 to 1971, two San Francisco ballrooms advertised their concerts with posters that now hang in museums. The Fillmore was promoted by Bill Graham. The Avalon Ballroom was run by Chet Helms’ Family Dog. The bands on the bills included the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.
The poster artists
SFO Museum’s exhibition notes name five artists most associated with them: Wes Wilson, Alton Kelley, Stanley Mouse, Rick Griffin and Victor Moscoso.
They were not alone. The same exhibition included work by many lesser-known artists, and the airport show alone ran to more than 150 posters.
Where the posters have been shown
SFO Museum’s “When Art Rocked” hung them in the airport’s International Terminal from September 2014 to March 2015.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art showed 28 Avalon and Fillmore posters in 2007. The Haight Street Art Center has held a free show of posters from Family Dog and Bill Graham Presents, 1965–1967, which it called Psychedelic Renaissance.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds Fillmore and Avalon posters in its collection. Exhibitions end, so check each venue’s own listings for what is on now.
Where Terry Bauer’s work sits
His site describes his work as abstract, psychedelic and mixed-media, and his bio puts psychedelic design beside painting and sculpture. In his bio’s terms, the work moves between analogue and digital.
His site does not name the 1960s posters as an influence. The link here is the word, and the city.
Orbs and echinacea
On the way to see the Wizard… shows large echinacea blooms on white, surrounded by floating orbs of light. His site says it draws on Dorothy walking through the poppy fields. See it on the work page.
Tarot in gold and blue
The photograph above is a folded paper work he posted to Instagram in March 2021: gold and blue, drawn with the swords, coins and cups of the tarot, and eyes. It hangs with the paintings, where the reimagined classics follow.
Eyes and heads
Positive Space is a giclée print: two yellow eyes over orange and violet shapes on black. SF HEAD is a poster of ten cartoon heads in red, blue and yellow. Both have pages in the shop: Positive Space and SF HEAD.
SF HEAD is a poster too, though not for a concert. It comes as a 20 × 20 matte poster, a 12 × 12 see-through vinyl, a 12 × 18 matte photo print and a 36 × 36 removable wall vinyl. If you are choosing between them, the guide to vinyl and paper sets out what to ask.
In the street
For Pride 2024, Terry hung a Market Street news kiosk at 6th Street with his work. A psychedelic skull banner fills the back of the photograph, faces and abstracts cover the walls, and racks of prints and small paintings line the sides. The kiosk has its own article.
His site also lists a Tenderloin café, a hair salon and a barbershop among the places his work has hung. Like the 1960s posters, it goes where people already are.
See it for yourself
History and present sit side by side if you want them to. The posters are in museums and collections. His work is on the work page, with a label for each piece, and the shop lists what is for sale. For a question about a piece, the inquiry page takes it in one message.