Victor Moscoso

Born in Spain, Victor Moscoso was the first of the rock poster artists with serious academic training and experience. After studying art at Cooper Union in New York City and at Yale University, he moved to San Francisco in 1959. There, he attended th...more

Born in Spain, Victor Moscoso was the first of the rock poster artists with serious academic training and experience. After studying art at Cooper Union in New York City and at Yale University, he moved to San Francisco in 1959. There, he attended the San Francisco Art Institute, where he eventually became an instructor. At the dances at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, Moscoso saw rock posters and decided that he could "make some money doing posters for those guys." In 1966, he began designing posters for the Family Dog and for the Avalon Ballroom. Under his own imprint, Neon Rose, he did a series for Matrix, a local nightspot. Moscoso's style is most notable for its visual intensity, which was obtained by manipulating form and color to create optical effects. Moscoso's use of contrasting colors and vibrating edges was influenced by painter Josef Albers, his teacher at Yale. Given Moscoso's sophistication, is it not surprising that he was the first of the rock poster artists to use photographic collage. He used clashing, vibrating colors and deliberately illegible psychedelic lettering to demand attention....less