push me, pull me: pearl jam and the art of the screen printed poster

2015

Push Me, Pull Me examines the Seattle band's dedication to artistry and creative collaboration through poster design.

Synopsis:
When Pearl Jam formed in Seattle in 1990, posters were one of the few ways a band could communicate with their audience. They were vital to advertising a future show, but also important for conveying, through the art and design, the identity of the band. Soon after the Grunge explosion in the early 1990s, as screen-printing technology was being re-embraced for artistic purposes, Pearl Jam began commissioning posters for nearly every show they played. In the ensuing decades, over 500 incredible posters have been created by over 100 diverse artists. These posters reflect the artists that created them, but they also become an extension of the band, referencing the musicians, the venues and cities in which they play, song lyrics, contemporary politics, a world of music, and a love of history and popular culture. But most of all, these myriad posters illustrate some of Pearl Jam’s core artistic values: the desire to foster a climate of creativity, to act as a patron for other artists, and to provide comment and critique on society and humanity.

Organized by the Museum of Pop Culture in collaboration with Pearl Jam, Ten Club and Ames Bros.

Scope: exhibition curation