Letterpress Posters 1980 - 2026

My collection of letterpress posters spans nearly five decades. When I started collecting in Kansas City and in Richmond I was interested in the typography and the unique design of each piece. Mexican dances and wrestling posters started the project. This was expanded to include rap and gospel posters primarily from Richmond but also including Chicago, Oklahoma City, Los Angeles and eventually Long Island. As students in Kansas City we silkscreened our own works with these posters as inspiration. They provided a window on a world.

Vernacular design coming out of Virginia led us to a particularly large press that produced a 22 x 28" print. Our small group of passionate artists found the form to be a vehicle for a low brow design language that got the message across with minimal technique and maximal impact.

Typography was always the magnet. Fluorescent gradients were also an element that attracted us. Mexican wrestlers were a favorite subject of ours. Our installation in Richmond's Shockoe Bottom at 1708 Gallery in 1980 featured our Toyota Corolla, wrestler heads and letterpress-influenced giant xeroxed wallpaper. Local dj's, rappers and soul music also contributed to this visual oasis. Gospel was the height of the genre in the South with touring groups from all over the US advertised.

Our project in 1991, Nine Is A Four Letter Word, curated by Davi Det Hompson followed AQUI and was an extension of that street aesthetic. Seven artists including Carollee Schneemann, The Tinklers, Anne Fessler and Kay Rosen took part in the project printed in Richmond on the Pizzini press that was doing political, gospel and dj posters. We were in heaven.

Our suite of letterpress prints were acquired by MoMA after they debuted in Richmond and showed in Cologne, Germany. The entire collection can be seen as a time-capsule of late 20th century print technology and a document of American culture, style, typography, word art and raw message.

Prints and multiples have been a staple of my practice for 40 plus years. Be it silkscreen, digital monoprints, books, cd's, or sculpture editions.    The edition figures largely in my work and in my process of working.