Ultraviolet: 69 Blacklight Posters from the Aquarian Age and Beyond

December 10, 2009



Ultraviolet, a new book of hallucinogenic blacklight posters from the late ’60s, isn’t anything like your local parent-friendly putt putt course. The oversized mushrooms and cosmic aura are still there, but these heavy illustrations spill over with, as the MGMT-penned foreword says “space-trucking stoner unknowns and their mad acid scratchings,” (so Wesleyan) each advocating their own brand of turning on, tuning in and dropping out. These freak flags have adorned dorm rooms and basements worlds over and their awesome artwork varies greatly from one poster to the next. Some contain trippy renditions of pop culture icons, others advocate the neon glow of peace, but all are linked by art nouveau motifs and fluorescent colors that mimic the bright, never-ending Californian sun of ’60s counterculture. Reading about Fuzzy Wuzzy, the ink wizard who watched over MGMT's practice space from atop his poster throne, shows the look is not dead. Take a look at some more of the images over at publisher Abrams' site—though we can’t promise holding a black light up to your monitor will have the same effect.

Posted: December 10, 2009
Ultraviolet: 69 Blacklight Posters from the Aquarian Age and Beyond