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Devo can “Whip It” while prints of the spunky New Wave band hang in the living room.
A portfolio of six different limited fine art prints are up for sale at Northeast Portland’s Brassworks Gallery on the occasion of the band’s 50th anniversary tour. Each print is signed by both the photographer and the members of Devo. They range in price from $2,000 for a smaller, 16-by-20-inch photo, to $2,400 for the 17-by-22-inch ones.
There are 20 to 50 prints available of each image. The featured photographers include Neal Preston, Ebet Roberts, Allan Tannenbaum, Richard Alden Peterson and Michael Grecco.
Buyers will have the opportunity to attend a VIP meet-and-greet with the members of Devo at Brassworks Gallery on July 25, where one copy of each print will be on display. The next day, Devo will play at the music festival Project Pabst at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on July 26, in the Pabst Blue Ribbon-sponsored show.
“It’s really an honor to have them in our gallery. I grew up with MTV. It’s Devo,” Robin Weirich, gallery curator and part owner, says.
Colorado’s Outtake Gallery, which specializes in rock photography, approached Brassworks in June to host the event and sell the prints in collaboration with Devo. The prints are being sold at galleries with neighboring shows across the country for Devo’s 50th anniversary tour.
One print portrays vibrant colors of the members in suits in brown, pink and yellow, standing in front of Devo World Headquarters. The photo is by Preston, who was Led Zeppelin’s tour photographer in the 1970s and worked with other prominent musicians, such as Madonna.
Another print, taken by Roberts, features a cameo of a busker with a sign that says, “I earn my living with my music,” and a passerby eating ice cream. While standing on 5th Avenue in New York City, the members of Devo sport matching jumpsuits.
Grecco took the sole print of the band performing, highlighting three members in black-and-white. By day, Grecco was working as an intern at the Associated Press; by night he captured the punk and New Wave scene in Boston in the late ’70s as Devo began to gain traction.
In March, Brassworks Gallery featured the art of Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh in its show Is It Still Life?, a pop surrealism show guest curated by KRK Ryden. Mothersbaugh displayed hand-embellished giclees titled Number 1. Weirich says that there is no foreseeable collaboration with Devo specifically after the event, but will invite Mothersbaugh to return for its annual March show.
“This might be a one-time event,” Weirich says. “It’s exciting, for sure.”
SEE IT: Devo Fine Art Prints at Brassworks Gallery, 3022 NE Glisan St., 503-593-9311, brassworksgallery.com/collections/devo-fine-art-prints. Free.
GO: Project Pabst at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 98 SW Naito Parkway, projectpabst.com. 1-10 pm Saturday and 2-10 pm Sunday, July 26 and 27; Devo plays 7:05-8:20 pm Saturday, July 26. $112 for a day pass, $200 for a weekend pass. 21+.
