Punk vs. Psychedelic Posters: A Battle Royale

Punk or psychedelia—which genre reigns supreme? In honor of our exhibition Copy/Paste/Print/Repeat: Mike King & the Art of the Gig Poster, join gig poster maestro and noted punk enthusiast Mike King as he faces psychedelic poster superfan and scholar Ted Bahr in the ultimate smackdown: a battle of wits, nerve, and design ferocity over their individual passion for their favorite poster styles. Who will win? Who will lose? And who will get the intellectual crap kicked out of them? Tune in, place your bets, and may the best poster win!

Mike King started his career as a poster artist in the late 1970s designing posters for punk bands in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. Within a few years, he was making show posters for a wide variety of bands throughout the Northwest. After four decades, Mike is now widely regarded as America’s most prolific concert poster artists and designs posters for shows around the world. Whether making posters for country, jazz or folk artists, his work maintains at least a hint of his punk aesthetic. 

Ted Bahr’s love for psychedelic posters began when he moved to San Francisco in the 1980s, exposing him to bands from the much lauded psychedelic period as well as, most importantly, their concert posters. He began fanatically collecting first printings of these incredible works of graphic design, educating himself along the way—and then, in 2017, he hosted his first gallery show. Today, he owns the Bahr Gallery in Oyster Bay, Long Island specializing in psychedelic posters. 

Accessibility Note: Masks and clear masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is also available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact info@posterhouse.org.