International Festival of the Arts, Medusa, by Emilio Carballido, Mexico City Cultural Olympics
Bob Pellegrini
American, born 1938
1968
A 1968 lithograph poster by Bob Pellegrini made to promote the theatrical production Medusa as part of the Mexico City Cultural Olympics, using mythic imagery and bold graphic collage to advertise the festival.
A surreal double-profile in stark photographic gray emerges from a tangled mane of brightly patterned snakes and peacock-like ornamentation, the vivid colors and sinuous lines strikingly set against a clean white field with a narrow column of event text.
The work captures late-1960s poster art's blend of photomontage, psychedelic color, and mythic symbolism, showing how graphic design could dramatize and promote national cultural events during the Olympics' cultural program.
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
17 11/16 x 17 11/16" (44.9 x 44.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the XIX Olympics Committee
Accession
356.2014.32
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
