Original Listing Description

About the Poster Offered here is a first printing of the infamous Aoxomoxoa poster by Rick Griffin featuring the Grateful Dead on January 24-26, 1969. The only flaws that I can see are: 1) Single miniscule pinhole in upper left hand corner 2) Three miniscule pinholes in upper right hand corner 3) Two miniscule pinholes in lower left hand corner 4) Three miniscule pinholes in lower right hand corner 5) 1 ½” handling mark 3 inches from lower right corner 6) 1” handling mark 7 ¾ inches from lower right cornet Measures approximately 26 ¼” x 21 7/8”. For the first four pinhole flaws, with the naked eye you have to look hard for them to notice. This is one of my favorites; as well as the favorite of many. This poster was used to promote a series of shows at the historic Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco (in the post-Family Dog era). These shows were presented by Soundproof Productions, and featured the Grateful Dead, Sons Of Champlin & Initial Shock. Show dates were January 24-26, 1969. This truly iconic psychedelic image was designed by the late Rick Griffin, and is featured in "The Art Of Rock", plate 2.24. It was also used as cover art for the Dead's "AOXOMOXOA" album. The title of the album is a palindrome created by artist Rick Griffin and lyricist Robert Hunter. According to the audio version of the Rock Scully memoir, Living with the Dead (read by the author and former Dead co-manager himself), the title is pronounced ox oh mox oh ah The words "Grateful Dead" on the front of the album, written in large, flowing capital letters, are an ambigram that can also be read "We Ate The Acid" by covering the lower two-thirds portion of the name "Grateful Dead" combined with the very top third of the title. The artwork around the bottom edge of the album cover depicts several phallic representations Rick Griffin became famous for his psychedelic posters for the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore West in San Francisco during the late 60s. Jerry Garcia met him backstage at one of the band’s concerts. The Dead hired Griffin and told him he could design anything he visualized, giving him total artistic freedom. They were confident he’s come up with something they liked based on their love of his posters. According to Ida Griffin, Rick’s wife “the cover for Aoxomoxoa is a surfer’s paradise of sunshine, blue sky and life growing all around. It was during this time in Rick’s life that our second daughter was born. The cryptic skull and crossbones represented life and death in a circle of the sun, paradise, the Garden of Eden and planet Earth awareness. Rick would say the whole design was ‘tribal’. The lettering was based on an old English style that flowed into liquid edges, through the influence that water and the ocean had on Rick’s life”. I have gone through great lengths to insure that my posters have been maintained using only archival materials. I have preserved them on acid free paper mounted by protective corners stored flat in binders. On most of the photos of posters that I will be offering you may notice these corner protectors. Shipping Info : To best insure safe shipping I will therefore recommend using USPS Insured Registered Mail to mail this poster flat. Due to the value of this poster, I will ship it secured in a ¼ inch custom cut “wooden sandwich”. This will require two or three days to procure. Additional unframed posters will be free of shipping charge. If you purchase multiple posters, please wait for the invoice reflecting the shipping discount. I know that many sellers roll the posters into a container which is much cheaper but may lead to slight damage of wrinkling and handling issues which, due to my view of these being not only pieces or art but historical offerings, I hesitate to do. But if you prefer the roll up method, the poster will be sent in a 4" PVC tube via USPS Priority Mail Registered. Domestic Shipping and handling policy: 2 Options available : 1. Shipping, Insurance and Handling fee (plus signature confirmation for items $250 and above) for poster roll up in a 4" tube method via USPS Registered - $75. Additional posters will be free of charge . 2. Shipping, Insurance and Handling fee (plus signature confirmation for items $250 and above) for shipping poster flat via USPS Registered - $100 There will be a surcharge of $15 for shipping flat via Fedex/UPS to Hawaii/Alaska. Additional unframed posters will be free of shipping charge. If you purchase multiple posters, please wait for the invoice reflecting the shipping discount. * We are not shipping internationally for this item. We are only able to ship it within United States. *We do not accept any other form of payment other than PayPal. ** Returns are not accepted for this item unless there has been an error in posting. Refunds will be accepted at full refund cost if item sold does not match the description above. Returned item must be in original condition as sent. Reimbursement will be for the cost of the item only. PayPal is the only payment method. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need to see additional photos of the item and I will respond to the best of my knowledge. The item(s) are from a smoke-free household. Pictures are of the actual item being auctioned. *Your feedback rating is important for me, so please contact me first if you are unhappy with your purchase. Please give us opportunity to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Note: This item has been sold and is no longer available. This page serves as a historical price reference for Grateful Dead collectors and appraisers.