Moving to Portland, Oregon provided a more dynamic, progressive and supportive musical landscape and Guy’s rock posters flourished. Featuring original pen and ink work, GUYBURWELL’s distinctive black and white posters were soon wallpapering Portland, advertising local and national acts for the many venues in the city. Local attention to his poster art brought a financially lucrative but soul-destroying position designing big budget television commercials. Standing tall and throwing off the yoke of corporate oppression, GUYBURWELL moved to Los Angeles for reasons unknown and began producing color posters in addition to his black and white designs.

“I love music. I enjoy a lot of music on an intimate level and try to bring a personal angle to the images I create for my posters. Positive responses from many of the bands have been very gratifying. I try to avoid the standard cliché subjects of poster art and have a variety of drawing styles in my arsenal. Picking just the right style and subject are important. Not every work is a success. It is my nature to agonize over the small mistakes, real or imagined, and learn from them. As far as you know.”

His early life was infused with the qualities evident in his work to this day: a passionate articulation of ideas - and refined visual craftsmanship.

Coming of age in Los Angeles he found the environment for his artistic style amidst the hardcore punk scene of the early 1980's, hand drawing flyers for local bands. Over the decade, his work matured in both technique and substance, while his clients grew in both number and stature.

His particular style, known for its attention to detail and layers of meaning, has been sought after by renowned musicians from the Beastie Boys, to BB King, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, among many others in the music field. His works have been shown in galleries across the United States, in Berlin, London and Tokyo, where his work has been blown up billboard size in Shibuya Square. His posters have also won design awards in various publications, including Print magazine and American Illustration. He has been featured in dozens of magazines, including Juxtapoz and Rolling Stone. He continues to build an international audience.

Emek's style bears the visual influence of mentors such as Robert Williams and Rick Griffin but his conceptual approach draws upon the deeper histories of poster-making - from Art Nouveau to Constructivism. Ultimately his work is accessible with its pop culture imagery, bold visuals, humor and social commentary.

In November 2002 they released ³Eyesore² ­ a 100-page book of their work ­ published as a co-production between Last Gasp of San Francisco and Mare Nero of Rome. And with a 21-city book release tour scheduled in November ­ the posters of the Firehouse duo will continue to reach a worldwide audience.

Their works are created with rich oil-based florescents utilizing a color-theory, characterized by metallics layered over striking colors. Their portfolio is stuffed with over 300 hand screened posters, including 22 for San Francisco¹s own Mexican wrestling xxx-travaganza - Incredibly Strange Wrestling, 17 for Virgin Megastore (Pearl Jam, Fleetwood Mac, Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Hole, Madonna, U2 and Ricky Martin), and more for shows and events headlined by legends Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, Ozzy Osborne, Queens of the Stone Age, Hellacopters, Lee Perry, Cheap Trick, Puddle of Mudd, X and for the Warped Tour ­ an annual national skate-punk event headlined by Bad Religion, AFI and Henry Rollins among others.

Sperry¹s career as an illustrator began circa 1985 amongst the squats on the Lower East Side, NYC. It was there he and fellow squatters Seth Tobocman and Peter Kuper worked on the biting political comic, WW3 Illustrated. These malcontents tackled topics and issues that haunted the squatters in that area (mainly gentrification), a time and place that served as a diorama representing the struggle between classes worldwide. Later on, Chuck¹s illustration experience combined with his political fervor, drove him even deeper into the art of ³creative disobedience² after moving to San Francisco in 1988. Since then he¹s been awarded two grants, one being from the NEA and Pew Charitable Trust to subsidize a series of shows called Who¹s the Landlord? At ATA Gallery, which included a retrospective on WW3. The other grant was from the Haas Foundation for a mural commemorating Harry Bridges, the Labor Council of San Francisco and the 1934 general strike, which he painted at the Labor Temple.

Over the past ten years, Chuck has contributed stories to Last Gasp Comics & Stories and art directed for Filth Magazine (circulation 10,000). Most recently, he has created the controversial album cover art for Jello Biafra.

Donovan¹s first footprint on the art world also came in 1985, when he co-founded We Are Not Gentlemen (WANG), a cadre of infamous art saboteurs, headquartered at the California College of Arts and Crafts, staged their first poster show in the campus men¹s bathroom. In a covert operation, WANG members screened full color prints directly onto the bathroom walls, and, at a lunch time opening, art students and faculty were invited to mingle and admire the prints, much like a normal art opening ­ except that sinks were used for beer coolers and trash bins for chip¹n¹dip. Ron and fellow WANGsters also screened a popular poster and t-shirt collection called Reaganwear, which boasted such slogans as, ³I Can¹t Remember², ³I¹m Not a President (But I Play One on TV)², ³CIA Vacation² and the ever-popular ³More Arms, More Hostages². The collection was available at Pipe Dreams on Haight, the Reprint Mint on Telegraph as well as direct through WANG during their frequent class-ditching excursions to Sproul Plaza.

Prior to co-founding Psychic Sparkplug in late 1994, Ron had become known endearingly as the Duke of Haight Street, where he¹d set up office at Copy Central, tirelessly knocking out 8 1/2 x 11 flyer copy for the Kennel Club and I Beam as well as for various local bands. He also designed a much sought after collection of over 60 posters for San Francisco surf legends, The Mermen as well as covers and layouts for two of their CDs.

The two artists met in a chance encounter at Comic Relief in the Upper Haight, where Sperry was in charge of public relations. Soon after discovering that they had both landed their first jobs designing Fillmore posters for Bill Graham Presents within weeks of each other, Ron invited Chuck to join Psychic Sparkplug. A year later, the team collaborated with Gary and Laura Grimshaw to present the first of two Temporary Insanity Shows at Off the Wall Gallery on Haight Street. The show featured Victor Moscoso, Coop, Kozik, Kuhn, Hess and Mats, and gave Psychic Sparkplug a much-needed boost in the public eye. Later that year, they were involved in the dedication of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, another pivotal moment in their careers.

Now, after having worked together for over four years, the Firehouse team is rock solid and only gaining momentum. Their latest shows in Manhattan, Seattle, Los Angeles and throughout Europe have brought poster fanatics out of the woodwork, both at the show openings and right out on the streets and sidewalks. Watch for them in your town.

Poster Highlights
ˆ Did first ever (and only) authorized silk screened "F-Series" posters for ISW at the Fillmore San Francisco ˆ Several posters for VIRGIN MEGASTORE record releases: Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, Madonna, U2, Fleetwood Mac, Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole and Ricky Martin (blacklight velvet) ˆ Collaborated with Alan Forbes on Thee Headcoatees posters, Queens of the Stone Age, Ozzy Osborne and Zen Guerrilla ˆ Various posters for other shows and events such as Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Bad Religion and X

Seattle's own Justin Hampton has been professionally illustrating since 1990. His influences are pop culture based, from Alphonse Mucha to contemporary comic book artists. He is most known for his Rock posters and edgy illustrative style. He has silk-screened images for the likes of Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Marilyn Manson, Blur, Tricky and Motorhead to name a few. His posters have also appeared on the television shows, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and 24 and can be seen in various galleries around the world.

His clients have included Interscope Records, Sports Illustrated, Village Voice, Maxim, Vibe, FHM, Premiere, ESPN Magazine, Details, Hustler, Blender, Bike, Scene, Guitar World, Total TV, Snowboarder, The Seattle Weekly and The Rocket. He has recently worked on ad campaigns for Dr. Martin shoes, Target and Nordstrom. His comic books, Twitch and Rat have also received rave reviews. Seattle's Experience Music Project has acquisitioned the entire history of his prints and numerous originals to their permanent museum collection. His animated short of his own creation, "The Jaded Monk", was accepted to the 2002 Seattle International Film Festival in a new category for digital media.