Poster Mountain

 Our first blog post of 2016 (where 2015 went I have no idea) is about a ca. 1978 Grateful Dead serigraph by the artist Stanely Mouse. (A short disclaimer: This serigraph was printed using gold metallic ink, which is incredibly hard to photograph so that it looks the same consistently so please keep that in mind when viewing our photos.) This piece came to us for several different reasons. As you can see from the before photo there is some scuffing and dinging visible in the gold. On the back of the print there is also foxing, which is the general term used for certain types of oxidation in paper that causes red, rust like spots. While I personally am not a Grateful Dead fan, I think this is a very elegant concert poster. It has an art deco feel to the lines and composition, with strong Egyptian influences mixed with the overtones of American Rock music from that era. Additional photos from before conservation show that the poster was also curling a bit. A shot of the back...

This week we are going to be focusing on silkscreens. All of us here at Poster Mountain collect some sort of art and given the nature of our work, we all have posters and prints. For those of you who don't know, John's particular passion is silkscreens. A few months ago John, along with a group of like minded silkscreen collectors, commissioned one of the most sought after artists, Laurent Durieux, to design a print based off of an older illustration that John liked. (For more information on Durieux, here is a link to his website: www.laurentdurieux.com ) Durieux's work is beautiful and reimagines the futuristic style of the 50s into grand and modern designs. The clean lines, bold colors and detailed prints have history and weight to them that give a sense that there is an entire world beyond what is contained by the borders of the page. He is a well known artist in Belgium, where he lives, but has only recently come to the attention of American collectors. I could go on ...

PROVISO: Each poster is a special case requiring specialized methods. We do tests on each piece before we begin working. We do this for a living, we are professionals. You absolutely must never ever ever try this at home. Okay? Okay let's go.  This week we are going to repair a Tyler Stout "Lost" silkscreen that was damaged in shipping. It happens every so often that a poster is shipped in a weak tube and the tube gets folded or crushed or, God forbid, rained on during shipping. A poster is ruined and a lesson is learned. Except we can fix that poster. This particular case calls for the John Davis-innovated Isinglass Gelatin Backing Technique. Here is our silkscreen. Unfortunately in this photo the business of the image conceals the degree of messed-up-itude which I assure you is indeed disturbing. When the light hits from an angle the damage is very distracting. Pictured: "Lost" silkscreen by Tyler Stout These photos were posted here by the owne...