Artist: Martin Sharp
A new Exhibition, “Woodstock and the Rock Festival,” opend at the Bahr Gallery June 21 and will run through August 31.
“This summer’s fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock made it easy to choose our next exhibition,” said the exhibit’s curator and gallery owner Ted Bahr. “Our approach is to surround a first-edition Woodstock poster with vintage artworks advertising the other prominent rock festivals from 1967-1973 and with a special emphasis on pieces featuring the most dynamic performer of the era, Jimi Hendrix.”
Highlights include the pre-Woodstock Aquarian poster, a 1967 Monterey Pop, the legendary 1973 Watkins Glen, both 1967 Human Be-In posters, Newport 1969, Rotterdam 1970, and the 1972 John Sinclair Benefit – the only poster ever advertising an appearance by John Lennon, post Beatles. The gallery’s Jimi Hendrix “experience,” includes iconic pieces by Martin Sharp, Gunther Kieser, Gary Grimshaw, Rick Griffin, and Victor Moscoso. Posters for bands who broke out at Woodstock will also be featured including Santana, Joe Cocker, and CSNY.
The back galleries of the Bahr feature much of the most famous poster art of the late 1960s -- more than 70 pieces are on display at any given time with meticulous histories placing each piece in context and giving the Gallery a museum-like feel. Admission to the Bahr Gallery and the Woodstock Exhibition is free. The Bahr Gallery, located at 95 Audrey Avenue in Oyster Bay, is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00-6:00pm and also by appointment.