This poster was commissioned by the Grateful Dead from the legendary Peter Max. It served their Spring tour in 1988 which started on March 24 at The Omni in Atlanta and ending 16 shows later on April 15 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL. Other venues included Hampton Coliseum, the Meadowlands, the XL Center in Hartford, The Centrum in Worcester, and Joe Louis Arena in St. Louis. Riding on the heals of the very successful In The Dark album with the Dead’s first top-ten single and popular music video, Touch of Grey, the Dead were welcoming new fans and accommodating them by playing large arenas.
This piece was created with one printing only as an unusual one-time collaboration between Peter Max and The Grateful Dead, and was only available at the first few concerts of their 1988 tour. This was the only poster Peter Max ever did for the Grateful Dead and it is a vibrant silkscreen on pretty thick paper.
Peter Max’s name is nearly synonymous with the pop poster explosion of the late 1960s. The mature style – romantic, playful, and often psychedelic – that Max had fully developed by around 1966 was perfectly in sync with the spirit of the times. To quote him, “Everybody thought these posters were the backdrop of the Sixties.” From the cosmic imagery Hi work, expressing his personal cosmic imagery is filled with dynamic color and buoyant expectation. More than just feel-good vibes, his art lifts the spirit to a plane above the everyday.