Here we have a rare early version of the infamous "Expose Yourself To Art" poster produced by Mike Ryerson, circa Portland 1979. The story of this infamous poster is fantastic (see details below). The craziest part is the dude flashing the statue became the future mayor of Portland. Who doesn't love politics?! They continue to reproduce this crazy image, but this beauty is an early version OG.
Here's a section from the
great obituary for Mike Ryerson:
"But Ryerson may be most widely known for his role in the poster, in which Clark appears to be opening an overcoat ("Not a raincoat," said James) and flashing a naked woman in downtown Portland. Make that a bronze statue of a naked woman.
The photo was taken in 1978, six years before Clark became mayor of Portland. James said Clark and Ryerson were involved in a variety of social and health issues, one of which was promoting awareness of vereal disease through the Venereal Disease Action Council.
"Early one Sunday morning, Mike's phone rang and it was Bud Clark," James said. "He said 'Grab your camera, I've got an idea.'"
The two of them went to the corner where the statue was situated (it's now near Southwest Sixth Avenue and Morrison Street) and Ryerson took several photos of Clark (who was actually wearing shorts under the overcoat) appearing to flash the bronze sculpture called "Kvinneakt" by Norman J. Taylor.
After taking the photo, Ryerson ran it in The Neighbor and asked readers to suggest captions. The winner, according to a column by Phil Stanford in The Oregonian years later, would get $25. Stanford wrote that three people actually made the same suggestion -- "Expose Yourself to Art" -- so they had to split the $25 three ways."
The rare poster comes out of a collector's estate in Chicago. This is one of the early versions of the poster. The byline at the bottom states the following:
1979 Mike Ryerson ART FLASHES, P.O. Box 10889, Portland, Oregon 97210.
The rare Portland poster measures 23" tall and 17" wide. The poster shows evidence of use. Please see the pic with the light reflection. On the reverse there is evidence of poster putty use in the corners. Please see all pics as they are part of the description.
I ship FedEx to street addresses in the continental USA only (no PO boxes). The poster will be shipped rolled in a poster tube. Free shipping on the rare unusual poster.
If only they had pics of the passerbys as they took the photo. Nutso.
