Description
Psychedelic art (also known as psychedelia) is art, graphics or visual displays related to or inspired by psychedelic experiences and hallucinations known to follow the ingestion of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. Coined by British psychologist Humphry Osmond, the term "psychedelic" means "mind revealing". By that definition, all artistic efforts to depict the inner world of the psyche may be considered "psychedelic".
In common parlance "psychedelic art" refers above all to the art movement of the late 1960s counterculture and early 1970s counterculture. Featuring highly distorted or surreal visuals, bright colors and full spectrums and animation (including cartoons) to evoke, convey, or enhance psychedelic experiences. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Wes Wilson
Widely credited as the originator of the 1960s psychedelic rock poster style, inventing the flowing, flame-like warped typography that became synonymous with the San Francisco sound.
Victor Moscoso
Yale-trained graphic designer who applied Josef Albers' color theory to psychedelic posters, using vibrating complementary color contrasts and optical illusions for Family Dog and Neon Rose.
Rick Griffin
Pioneering psychedelic poster and underground comix artist whose intricate, surreal illustrations like the 'Flying Eyeball' defined the visual identity of the Grateful Dead and 1960s counterculture.
Alton Kelley
Founding member of the Family Dog collective who collaborated with Stanley Mouse to recontextualize historic art nouveau and 19th-century engravings into iconic rock concert advertisements.
Stanley Mouse
Celebrated psychedelic poster artist who teamed with Alton Kelley to design foundational Avalon Ballroom posters, including the famous Grateful Dead 'Skull and Roses' motif.
Martin Sharp
Australian co-founder of 'OZ' magazine whose vibrant, kaleidoscopic collages and psychedelic record jackets for Cream (Disraeli Gears) brought the aesthetic to global prominence.
Fun Facts
Psychedelic poster designers like Wes Wilson intentionally made their organic, swirling typography difficult to read on first glance so that young passersby would stop and spend extended time staring at the poster.
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org
Victor Moscoso deliberately broke every traditional graphic design rule taught in art schools, such as using vibrating complementary colors with identical values so that the lettering would optically flicker and pulse.
↗ Source: moma.org
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