Masatoyo Kishi

Masatoyo Kishi (1924 - 2017) starting off as an abstract painter, moved from Tokyo, Japan to San Francisco, USA in 1960. 

His creations were showcased in collections of the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; Oakland Museum of California, the Cantor Arts Center in Palo Alto as well as the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey which traveled to Chicago and Los Angeles. 

His painting techniques included working with paint brushes and wooden sticks on canvases laid horizontally on the floor, in traditional Japanese style. Since the 1970’s he has concentrated on creating abstract sculpture.

Masatoyo Kishi taught at Holy Names College in Oakland, California, showcased at the Bolles Gallery in San Francisco and Dominican College in San Rafael. 

Leroy Neiman

Leroy Neiman (1921 - 2012), an expressionist American artist, worked with oil, enamel, watercolor, pencil drawings, pastels, serigraphy, lithographs and etching. Listed in Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who in America, Art Collector's Almanac, Who's Who in the East, and Who's Who in the World, he received a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from the University of Southern California, ‘The Order of Lincoln’ award (the State's highest honor) on the 200th birthday celebration of Abraham Lincoln given by the Governor of Illinois in 2009 and an induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. 

Recognized as the first major sports artist in the world, Neiman started out with painting sets for Red Cross shows. He studied art at St. Paul School of Art, Minnesota (his home state) and the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, followed by 10 years as a member of the Art Institute faculty. He was a member of the Chicago Society of Artists. 

During his artistic career, he also contributed to the Playboy magazine for over 50 years. Among Leroy Neiman’s well-known creations are Stretch Stampede,The Big Band, Portrait of the Elephant, Portrait of a Black Panther, Resting Tiger and Resting Lion.

Dayann Arce Rodriguez

Dayann Arce Rodriguez, an experimental camp artist hailing from Havana, Cuba, graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts San Alejandro in Havana in 2002.

He experiments with surrealism mixed with abstract art as well as realism, while not limiting himself to a particular creative style. Dayann Rodriguez has sold art in Austria, Spain and in the USA.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Gene Anthony 

Gene Anthony, a contemporary artist originally from Utah who settled in California, is mostly recognized for portraits of celebrities including musicians, activists and writers.

He has covered political and social events including the struggle for civil rights, anti-war movement and the women's rights movement.While Gene Anthony’s photographs have been published in Time, Life, Newsweek and Playboy, his artwork has been included in the Fillmore,  the Human Be-in as well as the TRPS Festival. 

Lee Conklin 

Lee Conklin (b. 1941), a psychedelic poster artist, was born in New Jersey. Having attended Calvin College in Michigan where he contributed cartoons to the college newspaper, he created concert posters in California from 1968-70 (venues included Fillmore West and the Winterland Ballroom, with handbills for Bill Graham San Francisco venues), taking up creating art again in 1990. Most of his creations used the photographic offset lithograph technique.

 Recognised for the iconic album cover for Santana's debut album, Lee Conklin has also published a book with of his black and white drawings titled Viva La Mutation Copulation. And he continues to create posters for venues and recognized bands.

Robert Fried 

Robert "Bob" Samuel Fried (1937 – 1975) born in Brooklyn, New York, attended Pratt Institute while at high school and then studied commercial art and graphics , earning an Associate of Arts degree in at the New York City College, eventually earning a scholarship to and graduating from Cooper Union in 1962.

He taught at the Provincetown Workshop, worked with Robert Motherwell and then completed his Fulbright scholarship in Spain in 1965, where he took up psychedelic-effect rock poster art. He went on to earning his M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in the US in 1968. Specializing in mechanical art, abstract oil, lithography, prints and psychedelic rock poster art, as a practicing artist in California he was involved in the rock poster art scene, and taught at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Rick Griffin 

Richard Alden "Rick" Griffin (1944 –1991) was a well recognized psychedelic poster artist. 

In the 1960’s, he contributed to the 1st year anniversary of the Psychedelic Shop on Haight Street, San Francisco, California, thereby creating his first art exhibition, which led to him being recognized for his creativity. Rick Griffin was thereby hired to create posters for the organizers of ‘Humam Be-In’, as well as for ‘Family Dog’ dance concerts, ‘The Charlatans’ and the ‘Grateful Dead’.

A contributor to the underground comix movement and the surfing subculture, Rick Griffin was a co-founder of psychedelic poster creating group Berkeley Bonaparte.

Patrick Nagel

Born in Ohio and raised in Los Angeles, Patrick was influenced by the Japanese woodblock print. In making his masterpieces he would start with a photograph and remove what he deemed 'excess' in it, creating a flat image that was in his own style.

He worked with the Architectural Digest, Ballantine's Whiskey, Budweiser , Harper's Magazine, IBM, Intel, ITT Corporation, Lucky Strike cigarettes, MGM, Oui, Rolling Stone, United Artists, Universal Studios and Playboy magazine. He is also known to have designed the cover of pop group Duran Duran’s best-selling album ‘Rio’.

His art also includes a collection of women, mostly with dark hair and fair complexion, which included family and friends as well as celebrities and models. They were printed with Mirage Editions

He studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and California State University, Fullerton in 1969.