THE JEFF SHERO
NIGHTBYRD COLLECTION
The social landscape of the 1960’s was fertile ground for great cultural change. The events of the era and the emerging youth culture created some of the most interesting and influential personalities of the twentieth century.
These “disruptors” brought fresh creativity, innovation, and passion to the forefront. This movement was not constrained by the norms of the previous generation and new boundaries were defined in art, music and literature, politics and social morals.
This month’s sale highlights the life collection of one such individual. Jeff Shero Nightbyrd is the sole source of this month’s auction. Jeff is a writer and an authentic 1960’s radical and social activist. His story is far more than can be summarized here.
Jeff was a primary player in the underground press and wrote for music publications such a Crawdaddy. He was an organizer of some of some of our nation’s most pivotal events including the protests at the 1968 Democratic convention and the Woodstock Music Festival. Jeff’s colleagues and associates included such legendary characters as Abbie Hoffman, William Burroughs and Alan Ginsburg.
This sale contains a cross section of Jeff’s poster collection from the 1960’s through the 1980’s. As a longtime resident of Austin Texas, Jeff was able to accumulate a brilliant cross section of interesting posters that reflected the city’s art and music scene.
Also included, are some politically influenced posters that are as compelling, valuable and historically significant as our usual offerings, yet on a completely different level.
The following is a brief autobiographical summary of Jeff’s life:
I was lucky. As a somewhat conservative young guy, history grabbed me by the nape of the neck and my life became endlessly exciting. As part of the counter culture in Austin, Texas we started The Rag, one of America’s first underground newspapers. A few years later I edited the SDS newspaper, New Left Notes, out of Chicago.
Then as the rebellion against the Vietnam War and the machine behind it spread, I wound up in New York and started RAT: Subterranean News. This period was intense. 5 activists on the RAT’s periphery were sought by the FBI for bombing banks. I helped organize the Yippies. And the period was so exceptional that at one time I personally knew half of the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List. Some of the best writers and graphic artists in America contributed to the RAT for no pay because they were part of the “revolution”.
Later, back in Austin in the 70’s, I co-founded the Austin Sun. Many of the outstanding posters from the Vulcan Gas Company, Armadillo World Headquarters and Antone’s Blues Club come from this period.
Austin’s posters were the equal of San Francisco’s and this period was the flower of Austin graphics. To wind down, I edited the Los Angles Free Press, where among many others, Charles Bukowski would wander into the office with his column for ridiculously little pay.
Over this time I worked with many of the best poster artists of two generations. Posters art back then – pre text messaging and Internet – is how we communicated the cool events that were coming up. Posters were absolutely vital to our culture. Great poster artists were honored messengers of the alternate reality we lived. Some poster artists were famous like rock stars.
Many of the posters in my collection were personally given to me by the artists as we worked on projects. And because I detested Wall Street, I decided that when I had some spare money I would buy art. Buying posters helped the artists I held in such high regard and I knew posters in the long run were a better investment than the stock market.
So I have hooked up with The Psychedelic Art Exchange to make some of the posters in my collection available to people who appreciate this outstanding art form.
As we say in Austin: Onward thru the fog,
Jeff Shero Nightbyrd
If you have any questions, please contact Glen Trosch at 410-464-6180 or email Glen here. You may browse the lots without registering, but you must register to bid. To register, Click Here.
