Screens 'N' Suds November 7, 2009

The Gig Gallery and Sam Verrill present:
Screens ‘N’ Suds
A Celebration of the Arts of Concert Posters and Beercraft
to benefit Young Audiences of Virginia and the Richmond MS Society
Saturday, November 7, 2009 – 11am-5pm
Capital Ale House Downtown, 623 E Main St, Richmond, VA 23219

On Saturday, November 7, Screens ‘N’ Suds will feature the art of some of America’s most celebrated concert poster artists, and the beers of some of Virginia’s finest breweries, including Starr Hill, Blue & Gray, St. George’s, and Legend. Nationally known poster artists Jeff Everett (El Jefe Design), Richard Biffle, JP Flexner (No Division Design Syndicate), John Foster, Ryan Kerrigan, and Richmond’s own Adam Stockton and Andrew Stronge will show and sell their limited-edition, collectible posters for bands ranging from The Decemberists, Grizzly Bear and Gov’t Mule to The Melvins, Helmet and Rancid in the Capital Ale House Downtown Music Hall.

Richmond’s own one-man band, Gull, alt-jazz duo Illbrain, and WRIR and Cherry Bomb's DJ Lightning Girl will provide the soundtrack, while in the Ale House proper, some of the area’s best brewmasters will offer tastings and specials of their best brews. In addition to 100% of a raffle featuring rare, autographed concert and beer memorabilia, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to benefit Young Audiences of Virginia (www.yav.org), an organization that brings no-cost, SOL-ready music and art education into Virginia schools. All event sales of the Screens ‘N’ Suds poster series will go to benefit the Central Virginia Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Beer has been lubricating the screens of printers for years, and beer print ads have a long history, from “Guinness Is Good for You” to Spuds McKenzie and beyond. The Screens 'N' Suds print series will feature advertisements for imaginary dream-brews by renowned poster artists from around the country. The Screens 'n' Suds series continues Sam Verrill's mission to marry beautiful art to great causes. Three years ago, he launched Screens 'N' Spokes, an art show and bike team, to benefit the Greater Delaware Valley chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. To-date, nearly 50 prints have been produced in the series and the team has raised over $100,000 for the MS Society. In 2008, he worked with the Independents Coffee Cooperative of Philadelphia to curate the Beans 'N' Screens show to benefit the fair-trade Cooperativa San Fernando.

The Gig Gallery is an online concert poster retailer, promoter and publisher launched by Richmond framer Brian Gearing in 2007. A long-time music fan and part-time critic, Brian’s love for the printed riff began in 2004, and he’s been leveraging his passion for music and giving since 2003, when he and guitarist David Marshall began The Cure Collective, a non-profit organization that raises funding for cancer treatment and research through music and art events. Together, the two produced eight events in Newport News, Virginia Beach and Richmond, raising over $10,000 before Gearing left the organization in 2008. The Gig Gallery has posters for display and sale at Plan 9 Music in Richmond and is planning a relaunch of www.thegiggallery.com in the coming months. www.ScreensNSuds.com will be updated with artist bios, interviews and samples as the event date approaches. Brian Gearing is manager at Frame Warehouse, 5709 W. Broad St.

Like the ever-growing market of small batch brews, the concert poster micro-economy is booming. As music sales plunge off a high cliff, fans and collectors have turned their wallets to limited edition, screenprinted concert posters. After Xerox and the cut-and-paste punk flyer movement killed “high rock art” in the late 70s, most of the great rock-inspired art was relegated to album covers, then shrunken to a quarter of their previous size on CD covers, and finally dumped onto web pages opening for a download link. Since the death of the physical recording, posters have come along to reclaim their throne as the ultimate expression of the visual possibilities of rock and roll, and an entire new crop of artists armed only with silkscreens, a squeegee and some ink have come to reclaim the crown. Produced often by hand and in extremely limited quantities, “gigposters” are more rare than even the smallest vinyl pressings or large-edition promo posters, they are created specifically for single shows and tours, and depending on the band and artist, some sell out literally in seconds, often for hundreds of dollars. Many poster artists are quietly climbing to the same heights of notoriety as the bands they make posters for, which include heavyweights like Deftones, Arcade Fire, Ween, The Dead Weather, Phish, Social Distortion, My Morning Jacket, and Pearl Jam .

Screens ‘N ‘ Suds will feature the poster art work of the following artists:
Jeff Everett (El Jefe Design), Richard Biffle, JP Flexner (No Division Design Syndicate), John Foster, Ryan Kerrigan, Adam Stockton, Andrew Stronge and more to be announced!

The Screens ‘N’ Suds poster series will feature prints by the following artists:
John Vogl, Mike Munter, Mike Budai, Furturtle, DWITT, Fred Hosman (Hosco Press), Bobby Dixon, Adam Turman, Dan Grzeca, Nate Duval, Plastic Flame Press, Andy Bonner, John Maneval, JP Flexner and Andrew Stronge.

Contacts:
Poster Show and Promotion – Brian Gearing, [email protected], 804 380 5768
Screens ‘n’ Suds print series – Sam Verrill, [email protected]
Brewers – Jacob Brunow, Capital Ale House Beverage Manager, [email protected], 804 780 2537

Official Website: http://www.screensnsuds.com/