A stunning retrospective on the art and stories behind one of rock 'n' roll's most influential cover artistsBeginning in the late 1960s, graphic artist David Edward Byrd pioneered the iconic visual styles that have come to define rock 'n' roll. Byrd created poster, concert, and album art for Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Lou Reed, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Traffic, Van Halen, the Grateful Dead, and KISS, among others. In fact, the 1968 poster that Byrd created for the Jimi Hendrix Experience was voted #8 in the Top 25 Rock Posters by Billboard. Beyond this, he created the iconic imagery for many Broadway shows, including Follies, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, Little Shop of Horrors, and more. Byrd is considered one of the foremost graphic artists of 20th-century pop culture, and yet, he has never achieved widespread name recognition. Poster Child shares the artwork of Byrd with incredible accompanying anecdotes about his encounters with rock 'n' roll legends. Music lovers and cultural connoisseurs alike will gravitate to this book for its visual vibrance and storytelling.
"Poster Child chronicles the life and art of David Edward Byrd, one of the foremost graphic artists of twentieth-century culture. Told in a deeply personal, strikingly honest conversation with author Robert von Goeben, Byrd shares his journey through sixty years of rock 'n' roll, theater, and movie artistry. Pioneering iconic visual styles that have come to define rock music, Byrd created posters for concerts and album art for legends such as the Who, Lou Reed, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Traffic, Van Halen, the Grateful Dead, Kiss, and Jimi Hendrix-whose kaleidoscopic 1968 poster created for the Jimi Hendrix Experience tour was voted #8 in the Top 25 Rock Posters by Billboard. Byrd went on to design celebrated imagery for Broadway theater hits, including Follies, Godspell, and Little Shop of Horrors, among others. With brutal honesty and raw vulnerability, this stunning retrospective shares the artist's journey through family trauma, excess, career detours, rehab, and, ultimately, love, success, and recognition"--
