Art meets rock ‘n’ roll in this curated poster exhibit of work by the artist Zoltron. The exhibit opened Feb. 14, 2022, and will remain on display in the William Rolland Art Center until April 1, 2022. 

An article published in MutualArt said his art mixes “a postmodern sampler of the psychedelic style of sixties concert posters with unhinged nineties comic book art,” and is “brightly colored, punk hallucinatory, and horror-show wild.” 

The posters in the exhibit include artwork designed for bands and artists such as Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop, Ween, The Black Keys, Widespread Panic, and more. 

In an email interview, Zoltron said his particular style is a combination of several things and a culmination of his creative process. 

“When communicating a concert or event, I like to be bold and direct. I want to connect with the viewer immediately, so I often choose strong, central imagery and bold, concise text. Band. Venue. City. Date. Some kind of a fucked up Zoltron character staring right back at you. So that’s one element,” Zoltron said. 

On the other hand, he said screen printing involves specific limitations such as halftones and fewer colors. In order to produce as many colors as he can, he uses transparent inks, dot patterns, and overlays. 

Zoltron grew up with parents who were both full-time artists, and he said there was always this built-in trust in the fact that going after a career in art was achievable.

He said Storm Thorgerson’s album covers influenced his creative path and left a mark on him. He is interested in covers that are enigmatic, such as Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” or Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy.” He also likes forthright and uncomfortable covers, such as Tyler, the Creator’s “Igor” or Ween’s “The Mollusk,” and confrontational covers such as Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” or “Aphex Twin.”

Zoltron is a pseudonym for his concealed identity, and he said art can be better when the focus isn’t on the person creating it. 

“The enigma creates a mystery. The mystery asks a question. The question has no answer,” Zoltron said. 

Professor Michael Pearce, the curator of the exhibit, said the person behind Zoltron is one that is sincere and connected with his dedicated community. 

“I think the spirit of imaginative creativity is probably one of the strongest speeches of his work. He’s also much more interested in his community of collectors. I think that sort of sense of community spirit is really important to him and authentically important to him as well,” Pearce said. 

Pearce said one of his favorite posters in the exhibit is the Foo Fighters poster for BottleRock Napa Valley. 

“I love that he’s got this kind of bourgeois scarecrow thing going on, and I really admire it being so clever,” Pearce said. 

Zoltron said he loves to destroy his art and recreate them into new works. 

“I love printing on copper and wood and putting things up in the streets and watching public interaction and organic decay,” Zolton said. 

Some of his favorite works are the ones that rely on the elements of nature to wear them down. This can be seen in his works “Pilot 12,” “Yolandi,” and “The Wanderer.” 

Brenda Galeas Veliz, a junior multimedia major, visited the exhibit and said the art was eye-catching and interesting to look at.  

“I love the vibrancy that the art has within it and the composition that all the posters have. A lot of them have a unified theme, yet they’re all unique in their own ways,” Galeas Veliz said. 

More of Zoltron’s work is available on his website, Instagram, or Facebook.

“I think Zoltron’s work is refreshing, bright, cheerful, kind of dramatic, and it reflects the spirit of the age rather well,” Pearce said.