Stop Making Sense
Artist
Gregory Homs
Date1986
MediumSilkscreen
Dimensions45 1/4 x 35 in. (114.9 x 88.9 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Neke Carson
Object numberPH.7900
DescriptionThis poster is a limited-edition screenprint made in-house in 1985 to commemorate the first anniversary of Stop Making Sense, director Jonathan Demme’s first concert film. It was composed from the ad slicks (camera-ready ads in various sizes that can be used in newspapers and magazines) for the film and given to cast and crew. This hugely successful film featuring the American rock band Talking Heads had played for more than a year at Manhattan’s 57th Street Playhouse when weekly midnight showings were introduced at the Waverly Theatre (now the IFC Center) in Greenwich Village (screenings that became wild dance concerts and were soon offered in cinemas around the world). To promote them, Cinecom, the film’s East Coast distributor, hired Gregory Homs, then a young designer, to create images featuring the film’s title in many languages in a scrappy style reflecting the tastes of downtown audiences; they contrast notably with the pictures of lead vocalist Gabriel Byrne in a pale suit that dominates the original advertising for the film.On View
Not on view
