The ARTROCK Collection

A new addition to the inventory of Classic Posters is the art of modern poster artists Emek, Derek Hess, and Mark Arminski. Our Modern Poster Index is being developed now and will soon be online.

Punk rocker and poet Henry Rollins dubbed Emek “the thinking man's poster artist.” In Emek’s posters, psychedelic 60s imagery collides with 90s post-industrial iconography. Emek posters have advertised performances by B.B. King, the Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Marilyn Manson, and Neil Young. Over the last decade, Emek’s work has been shown in galleries across the United States, and in Berlin, London, and Tokyo.

Performers from Iggy Pop to Joan Baez to the Smashing Pumpkins have commissioned Mark Arminski to design concert posters and handbills for their live shows. Arminski’s silk-screened and printed posters, album covers, and event handbills bridge the generational gap between 60s psychedelic and 90s grunge sensibilities in rock art.

Cleveland-based artist Derek Hess has tested the waters of both the music and art world with posters for bands such as Pantera, Pink Floyd, and Pearl Jam. Hess also created CD covers for bands like Motion City Soundtrack and Unearth. He has been featured on television shows and in magazines—MTV, Fuse, VH1, Alternative Press, and Juxtapoz.

The PCL series began in 1988 and is comprised of well over 200 different images. A great number of these posters were created by the late Gary Grimshaw as Art Director for Artrock at the time. We are pleased to offer many pieces designed and signed by Grimshaw, who happens to be one of our favorite artists.