INSIDE THE ROCK POSTER FRAME BLOG: Announcing "77"! New art print series from Billy Perkins

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Announcing "77"! New art print series from Billy Perkins

From Billy Perkins:

In 1977, I was an impressionable young teenager who was very much into music. In the KISS Army at age 12 & 13, I had wall-sized posters covering my entire room...including the doors and ceiling.

It was an awesome time for music. Album-oriented rock ruled the airwaves, not to mention the stadiums. The punk movement was in full swing in the USA, the UK and Europe. Somehow it trickled down to smalltown central Texas and made its way into my ears, onto my turntable and into my brain...where it would stay to this day. Punk may have been mainstream rock's mortal enemy, but in my head, Dee Dee Ramone and Ace Frehley lived together in perfect harmony. They still do.

For literally 20 years or more I've been talking about doing this concept series, so much so that some of my friends would chuckle at the mention of it. They, like myself, were skeptical that it would ever happen. I never started on it because I draw in many different styles, and could never decide how to best render these images. Now it's very clear, and the wheels are finally in motion!

Until recent movie poster work with Alamo Drafthouse and a few other clients, I never really did portraiture. Through the aforementioned work though, a style began to develop - one that involves a conscious effort to get better at utilizing negative space and resist my natural inclination to fill up the page. The popularity of those images, along with the fun that I had rendering them, brought me back to my old concept...the one that had been simmering in my head for 20+ years. The style fit perfectly.

The idea is this:
* A series of serigraph art prints - portraits of music icons from around (but not solely from) 1977. This is a very autobiographical series - these are rock icons that I used to draw on my notebooks -figures that enhanced my love of music and inspired me as an artist.
* The series will consist of 77 different images, each available individually. Complete sets are also be available for pre-order (see below).
* Each print will be 18x24, screen printed by hand on Cougar Natural 100# paper.
* Each image will be signed & numbered, each part of an extremely limited edition of only 77 prints (plus a few artist proofs).
* Each print will be stamped on the back with the official Perkins 77 logo, and numbered as to its place in the series. (Example: Johnny Rotten is print 77.01, Robert Plant 77.02, etc.).
** Only 40 individual prints of each image will be sold, so get them NOW! The rest will be saved for complete sets.
* The complete sets will feature prints that are all the same number in the edition. There will also be a special package designed for these.* Only 11 sets will be sold at the presale price.

They'll be printed in order until all 77 editions are done. New images will be announced as they are completed. The goal in the end is to try to turn this series into a book, as well as a few gallery shows. By then, all of the individual prints will most likely have been sold, so GET THEM EARLY!

This is obviously a very ambitious effort, one that surpasses anything I've tried to date. But...I'm very proud & excited to announce that the first 4 images are complete and available for preorder purchase NOW! Printing will start within a week.