American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print February 12, 2010

Like all art, the posters of Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennessee, are designed to stop us in our tracks, draw us in for a closer look, and make us pause for a moment of reflection. Pure artistry and masterful composition are what make Hatch posters part of the story of American art and culture. Snappy graphics, punchy titles, humor, and irony are what make them irresistible.

Hatch Show Print, founded in 1879, is still a working letterpress and design shop, creating posters today using the same letterpress methods as yesterday. The technology at this Nashville institutions has never changed, only the faces of the customers: from Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy to Bruce Springsteen, Etta James to Emmylou Harris, the Carter Family to Coldplay.

American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print, an exhibition created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, is supported by America’s Jazz Heritage, A Partnership of the Wallace Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution. Images courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.

Official Website: http://www.amoa.org/