His “Freak Power” ticket signaled a pivot point for many Aspenites’ self-identity - catalyzing a movement to preserve the local environment with strict limits on real estate development overhaul a police department, seen as wildly out of control and legalize marijuana use. (Prepping for a public debate with the incumbent sheriff, Thompson secretly shaved his head so he could walk out onstage and - in the conservative parlance of the era - snidely refer to “my longhaired opponent.”) Most importantly, he was uninterested in mere symbolism, dismissing Norman Mailer’s 1969 New York City mayoral bid as “more a form of vengeance than electoral politics.” Thompson was running to win. Instead, as seen in candid footage from Watkins’s own “Freak Power” documentary (2020), running daily as part of the Poster House show, Thompson was thoughtful and articulate - though his attitude toward politicking could be playfully wry. To be fair, Thompson as a candidate couldn’t have been more different from Depp’s onscreen caricature. “It makes an incredible contrast to see these two guys expressing the same ideas in such powerfully different ways.” Yet, “all of Benton’s posters are so reserved, quiet and direct in comparison,” Lippert went on. Steadman’s frenetic drawings echo that pinwheeling personality. “We’ve all seen ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,’” the 1998 film with Johnny Depp portraying an unhinged Thompson. In addition to three dozen Benton posters, this show includes kinetic ink-splattered drawings by Ralph Steadman, whose illustrations accompanied many of Thompson’s articles campaign trail photographs by the Aspen photojournalists David Hiser and Bob Krueger and issues of The Aspen Wall Poster, a broadsheet newspaper designed by Benton and written by Thompson.įor Angelina Lippert, Poster House’s chief curator, the exhibition’s range of material offers a fascinating dichotomy. Poster House, the first museum in the United States devoted to the art of posters, opened in Chelsea in 2019, and the exhibition, co-curated with the artist Yuri Zupancic, is one of three on view in its gallery spaces. “I had a friend following me in another car in case anything went wrong, and we would pull over to sleep in various Walmart parking lots.” And I had a club,” he recalled matter-of-factly. I had a little bed there with a heated electric blanket. “At night, I slept in the back of the truck with the artwork. More From the Special Section: Museums, galleries and auction houses are opening their doors wider than ever to new artists, new concepts and new traditions.A Cultural Correction: After removing all references to Columbus from its collections the Denver Art Museum has embraced a new exhibition on Latin American art.And the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum is working to engage visitors about the realities of climate change. New and Old : In California, museums are celebrating and embracing Latino and Chicano art and artists.A Tribute to Black Artists: Four museums across the country are featuring exhibitions this fall that recognize the work of African and African American artists, signaling a change in attitude - and priorities.Bigger and Better : While the Covid-19 pandemic forced museums to close for months, cut staff and reduce expenses, several of them have nevertheless moved forward on ambitious renovations or new buildings.“It would have been much easier to borrow a Warhol or a Rothko from some of these people,” laughed Watkins. But that price tag pales in comparison to owners’ intense emotional attachment. Surviving samples in pristine condition now sell for upward of $25,000. Benton, a close friend of Thompson’s and a fellow Californian turned Aspen activist, fused gut-punch electioneering (“Sell Aspen or Save It”) with visceral imagery (a clenched fist set against a sheriff’s badge). The posters, designed and silk-screened by the artist Thomas W.
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He had to figure out how to move “Freak Power,” an exhibition featuring the visually striking campaign posters designed for Thompson’s 1970 run for county sheriff in Colorado, from his Aspen-based gallery to Poster House in Manhattan, where it’s open through Aug. Thompson, prepare for the process itself to become a bit, well, gonzo.ĭaniel Joseph Watkins learned this lesson the hard way. If you’re going to curate an exhibition of vintage artwork related to the unorthodox and self-described gonzo journalist Hunter S.
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