Rick Griffin

This RUN does NOT come with a framing option.

NOTE: This RUN is part of the second reprint edition and does NOT come signed or numbered.

The “Hawaiian Aoxomoxoa” poster is probably the most sought-after psychedelic poster, as well as one of the rarest.

This poster was designed by Rick Griffin for a series of shows that were to be held at the Honolulu International Center’s Exhibit Hall. Unfortunately, the shows were canceled, the printer was never paid, and most of the posters were destroyed. Estimates vary, but the consensus seems to be that there are probably 20 to 25 original posters known in all conditions. Due to the poster’s popularity, a second printing was authorized.

The original poster was printed on white stock and measures approximately 16 x 28. The original has a black border and the printing quality is quite high.

The second print poster was printed in 1982 by Rick Griffin and Jose Kent. It was printed on thin, glossy stock and measures approximately 12 x 20. On the authorized second print, the top of the skull and the area in the center of the yellow sun are pure white. In addition, the left edge of the design is not straight in two areas. One is midway down the edge and the other is near the bottom.

Rick Griffin was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in Zap Comix. Griffin was closely identified with the Grateful Dead, designing some of their best-known posters and album covers such as Aoxomoxoa. His work within the surfing subculture included both film posters and his comic strip, Murphy.

While attending Nathaniel Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, he produced numerous surfer drawings, which led to his surfing comic strip, "Murphy" for Surfer magazine in 1961, with Griffin's character featured on the front cover the following year. In 1964, he left Surfer and briefly attended Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts), where he met his future wife, artist Ida Pfefferle.

That same year, he hung out with the group of artists and musicians known as the Jook Savages. He traveled with Ida on a Mexican surfing trip and later planned a move to San Francisco after seeing the psychedelic rock posters designed by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley. In late 1966, the couple arrived in San Francisco, where they first lived in their van before moving to Elsie Street in the Bernal Heights district.

In the mid-1960s, he participated in Ken Kesey's Acid Tests. His first art exhibition was for the Jook Savages, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Psychedelic Shop on Haight Street. Organizers for the Human Be-In saw his work and asked him to design a poster for their January 1967 event. Chet Helms was also impressed by Griffin's work and asked him to design posters for the Family Dog dance concerts at the Avalon Ballroom, which led Griffin to create concert posters for the Charlatans. In 1967, Griffin, Kelley, Mouse, Victor Moscoso and Wes Wilson teamed as the founders of Berkeley Bonaparte, a company that created and marketed psychedelic posters. Griffin returned to Southern California in 1969, eventually settling in San Clemente.