David Welker is an American

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and poster

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

known for his elaborate, narrative imagery and mastery of multiple styles. His poster art for bands like

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

, Primus,

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, Singing, vocals) and Patrick Carney (Drum kit, drums). The duo began as an Independent music, independent act, record ...

, and the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

has brought him international acclaim. His artwork on the cover of the 1993 studio album, ''Rift'', by the American rock band

was listed as one of the top ten album covers of all time by

Relix ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...

magazine in 2007. His visual aesthetic is an amalgam of early 20th Century

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, The

Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. T ...

, West Coast

Surf Culture Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish ...

and

Underground Comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

Early life

Welker was born in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

, on July 30, 1964. His family moved to

Pleasantville, New York Pleasantville is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located 30 miles north of Manhattan. The village population was 7,513 at the 2020 census. Pleasantville is home to the secondary c ...

, an eclectic and culturally rich suburb of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1967 where he ultimately began to develop a keen interest in art and music that would shape the rest of his life’s work. In 1982, he enrolled at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

to study

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

, and

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

and graduated in 1986. Welker credits the work of artists Jerome Witkin,

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...

, Thomas Hart Benton, and

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

as major influences in his formative years.

Career

After graduating from

, Welker began painting large-scale works to build a gallery portfolio. In 1988, Welker moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, where he continued to develop large scale

paintings Painting is a visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or " support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush. Other implements, ...

and

drawings Drawing is a visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, sometimes in com ...

. It was in Boston at the request of a close friend that he first saw the band

at the Paradise Club in 1989. An event that would ultimately have a huge effect on his art career. When Welker moved to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

two years later, he saw

again on March 14, 1992 at the

Roseland Ballroom The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's Theater District, New York, theater district, on 52nd Street (Manhattan), West 52nd Street in Manhattan ...

. This show resonated with him so much that he decided to reach out to

and share his artwork in hopes of a collaboration -- a decision that would forever change the course of Welker’s career. RIFT by David Welker

Rift

In the autumn of 1992, after corresponding via mail with the band

, he was contacted by

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 ...

to begin creating artwork for their studio album ''

Rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...

''. Welker spent the next few weeks working closely with guitarist Anastasio, bassist

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon plays banjo, piano, and guitar. He is a filmmaker ('' Rising Low'', '' Outs ...

and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

to develop an ambitious visual interpretation of the music and lyrics, depicting each song on the album. The final artwork was a 3’x6’ oil painting that became the album cover art. The original painting was subsequently purchased by Phish and hangs in their headquarters in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

. This commission began a long working relationship with Phish that has included numerous poster projects over the course of two decades as well as album art for their 1996 studio album ''

Billy Breathes ''Billy Breathes'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Phish, released by Elektra Records on October 15, 1996. The album was credited with connecting the band, known for its jam band concerts and devoted cult following, with a more ...

'' and numerous side projects for Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon. Welker cites this collaboration as a major breakthrough in his early career that helped guide him into the field of concert poster art and ultimately connected his name and his art to a wide and varied audience.

Present work

From 2015 forward, Welker has focused primarily on gallery shows. His eclectic style mixes elements of realism with

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

and encoded

typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

to create a dreamlike experience for viewers. His 2015 retrospective at Hoerle Guggenheim in New York’s Chelsea Art District opened to large audiences and critical acclaim. The nine week show featured over 70 pieces of original work. Welker has also displayed at Spoke Art

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

with sold out shows in 2017 and 2018 as well as

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

from 2016-2018. In the 2019 showing with Hashimoto Contemporary, Welker brought a sold out show to the prestigious ''Art on Paper'' fair at Pier 36 in

. In

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Welker works closely with pop culture kingpins ''Bottleneck Gallery'' who house a permanent showroom for his work in the Williamsburg Waterfront District and handle the majority of his print releases.

Commercial work

Welker worked with ''B&A Reps'' from 2013-2016 producing some memorable campaigns for New Castle Werewolf Ale and Black Magic Rum as well as editorial work for a Mojo Magazine feature article on Beck’s album ''Morning Phase''. During this time period his work was featured in the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators (SoI) is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. Since absorbing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (M ...

57th Annual Museum show with work commissioned by the

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

Estate and the rock band

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...

, as well as the prestigious Communication Arts Annual in 2014 featuring a project for

Personal life

Welker lives and works in downtown Manhattan and has one son named Milo.

References

External links

David Welker's website

Phish's Official Website

Shows

https://www.hashimotocontemporary.com/exhibitions/29-art-on-paper-nyc-2019/ https://spoke-art.com/collections/david-welker https://bottleneckgallery.com/collections/david-welker https://www.soicompetitions.org/?what=gallery&c=102&e=167

Awards

https://expressobeans.com/public/aoy.php?id=36 https://expressobeans.com/public/aoy.php?id=46 https://expressobeans.com/public/aoy.php?id=40 https://www.soicompetitions.org/?what=gallery&c=102&e=167 https://www.commarts.com/project/22446/the-black-keys

Interviews

https://www.commarts.com/columns/joining-the-gig-poster-revolution https://www.ba-reps.com/news/david-welker-s-subconscious-narratives-at-the-hoerle-guggenheim-gallery https://arrestedmotion.com/2015/11/interviews-david-welker-subconscious-narrative-hoerle-guggenheim-gallery/ http://crewchro.blogspot.com/2012/04/david-welker-us.html https://philosophyschoolofphish.com/2017/01/12/aip-david-welker/ https://www.headcount.org/music-and-activism/interview-govote-artist-david-welker/ https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-rock-and-roll-poster-legend-david-welker-shows-paintings-and-drawings-of-the-subconscious-mind {{DEFAULTSORT:Welker, David American artists 1964 births Living people