A Brief Biography, by Michael Erlewine
Wes Wilson, who is generally acknowledged as the father of the ’60s rock concert poster, was born Robert Wesley Wilson, on July 15, 1937, in Sacramento, California. Wilson grew up without the special interest in art that is typical of most of his contemporary poster artists. Instead, he was more interested in nature and the outdoors, studying forestry and horticulture at a small junior college in Auburn, California. He attended San Francisco State, but dropped out in 1963, where his major, at that time, had become philosophy. [full article]
Robert Wesley Wilson, by Walter Medeiros
Robert Wesley Wilson came late to art, and through a side door. Before that he was a student of philosophy and religion, which was also unlikely. By his own account, except for schoolwork, he had done very little reading before age eighteen.
Wilson was born in 1937, in Sacramento, California. The family lived near Placerville, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. During his early childhood his parents separated, and he lived with his mother, a school teacher whose employment ranged across Northern California, from the Sierra foothills to the Salinas Valley. In these rural agricultural regions Wilson became an active, outdoor boy. He found his best friends among the more rustic boys, especially those whose families had recently migrated from Oklahoma, Arkansas and various Southern states. He suffered little parental restraint during these years, and enjoyed long hours of enthusiastic play — an experience of freedom he regards as highly valuable, essential to his creative spirit. [full article]
The Psychedelic Poster Art of Wes Wilson, by Colin Brignall
How many of you who, like me, are of a ‘certain age,’ remember the pop and psychedelic art phenomenon that emerged with such force majeure during the mid 60s? I think it would be a very safe bet to say that not one self-respecting ‘child of the sixties’ would have forgotten the incredible art form that was so reflective of the culture of the period. [full article]
