The city’s poster pulse

The powers that be in this town would have us believe that becoming a “world-class city” like New York City, Paris or Tokyo involves building sports arenas, convention centers and a Starbucks on every corner. Might a better gauge of our class be the strength of our rock-poster scene? Sacramento is growing by leaps and bounds in the poster arena, joining the ranks of such artsy metropolises as Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Detroit.

The Sacramento Rock and Radio Museum has compiled an impressive collection of poster art, which can be viewed on Second Saturdays at 907 20th Street. The collection, which literally covers every inch of wall space in the place, includes many silk-screens by local artist Paul Imagine.

Imagine, whose work was recently featured in a huge anthology called Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion, has spearheaded a push to bring the biggest names in poster art to Sacramento. So far, his annual Rock Art Revulsion shows have been quite successful. Previous events have included big names like Lee Conklin, famous for his work with Santana, and John Seabury, animator for the Pynoman series and poster illustrator for contemporary bands like Radiohead.

This weekend’s two-day Rock Art Revulsion 3 is the largest so far. There will be live appearances by 1960s rock-poster king Stanley Mouse; The Decoder Ring Design Concern; Dennis King and Paul Grushkin, authors of Art of Modern Rock; silk-screen wizards Firehouse; and many more. Imagine, of course, will be present as well. He’ll be the fellow with the mohawk and the huge smile, gushing about how cool it is to have so many of his heroes right here in our world-class city.