by Saint Louis University Libraries Special Collections Presents:
(please don’t)
STEAL THIS POSTER!
An Exhibition of Letterpress Prints
by The Firecracker Press
for The Billiken Club
Pius XII Memorial Library
Second Floor Gallery
12 September – 31 December 2013
Premiere 12 September 2013 at 4:00pm
Featuring:
- Speakers Chris Grabau, Grant Nikseresht, Eric Woods
- A Printing Demonstration by The Firecracker Press
- Live Music by Manual Feed, The Letterpress Band
- Catering by Black Bear Bakery
More Information:
314-977-3109
Saint Louis University Libraries Special Collections
Posters for the Billiken Club (Saint Louis University’s student-run music venue) represent the convergence of two different artistic spheres – the visual and the musical – at a time when Saint Louis was home to energetic and creative members of both. Produced by The Firecracker Press as color woodcuts, the posters are also both art prints and advertising; they are graphically striking while at the same time powerfully evocative of the bands they advertised. From the outset, the intent of the Billiken Club posters was to provide an artifact of the experience as much as to advertise. The Billiken Club Posters frequently garnered critical acclaim as well as popular attention. The 2010–2011 series of prints won an American Institute of Graphic Arts Award of Merit in 2010. The Riverfront Times named the Times New Viking poster their Best Concert Poster of 2011.
The Billiken Club posters were highly prized by enthusiasts of printmaking, local music, and Saint Louis University. A Billiken Club poster created by The Firecracker Press could usually be expected to remain in place one to two weeks before being stolen.
