On The DL

Screens 'N' Spokes Art Show

by Sam Tremble

Opening receptions Thu., Sept. 6, 6:30 p.m., Mugshots Coffeehouse, 21st Street and Fairmount Avenue; Fri., Sept. 7, 7 p.m., MilkBoy Coffee, 824 Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, exhibit runs through Sept. 30, www.screensnspokes.blogspot.com

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Sam Verrill organized the Screens 'N' Spokes Art Show to bring together his love for three things: poster art, bikes and his girlfriend, who was diagnosed with MS when she was 20.

To raise funds for his MS150 cycling team, the Brooklyn-based 23-year-old is setting up shop at Fairmount's Mugshots Coffeehouse and Bryn Mawr's MilkBoy Coffee throughout September, where he'll showcase original, limited-run screen prints by nationally renowned rock-poster artists. Ranging from $15 to $100 for prints, and up to $250 for framed copies, the works will all, in some way or another, depict bikes.

"I don't know what it is about them, all these artists seem to love their bikes," says Verrill. One of the members of the contributing Burlesque of North America design outfit rode his fixie for all 150 miles of Minneapolis' MS150. Burlesque's output ranges from band tour posters to symbolic images dense with cultural references. One portrays a Mickey Mouse with dollar signs for eyes, blinged-out vampire teeth and an ax splitting his brain. Philly artist Eleanor Grosch prefers a simpler aesthetic: bright colors and cute animals adorn her Pushmepullyou Design posters.

The 19 images these and more artists will display at Screens 'N' Spokes will, however, have at least one common theme: With somewhat of a postmodern twist, the prints will all double as flyerlike advertisements for the show itself, complete with dates and addresses. That's not to say the art suffers — Jay Ryan's poster features a bike-riding bear balancing a pyramid of animal friends on his back, wearing a smile showing he's not worried as long as he's moving forward. It's already widely sought after.

"The artwork stands on its own. It doesn't need a cause or anything like that," says Verrill. "I hope that someone in Philly who has no clue [about poster art] will come into one of the shows and become a new fan."