Up now is “Free Motion,” David Welker’s official 2023 Phish Summer Tour screenprint, a wonderfully unhinged maritime contraption packed with crashing waves, bizarre machinery, skeletal sea life, ghostly limbs, and the sort of visual chaos that feels completely at home in the Phish universe.
The image centers on a strange homemade vessel being swallowed by a turbulent ocean. A tiny figure attempts to navigate the wreckage while enormous curling waves, ropes, pipes, bones, smoke, and sea creatures collide around him. Across the top, the band’s name emerges from the clouds in Welker’s unmistakably hand-drawn lettering. It is dense, funny, slightly ominous, and rewards close inspection. Basically, a Phish song translated into ink.
This is the official tour edition, hand-numbered #448/1300. It measures 16" x 20" and was produced as a six-color screenprint on iridescent Neenah Stardream paper, giving the pale blue and green inks a subtle shimmer as the viewing angle changes. The edition was printed by Half and Half.
Condition: New/Mint. The print presents beautifully with clean corners, sharp edges, strong color, and no visible creases, tears, handling dents, or meaningful defects. It has never been framed and has been stored flat with care.
Provenance: From the private collection of a longtime Phish poster collector. Additional original purchase details were not provided.
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Artist: David Welker
Year: 2023
Class: Poster
Status: Official Release
Event: Phish Summer Tour 2023
Edition: Tour Edition
Variant Type: N/A
Run Size: #448/1300
Size: 16" x 20"
Technique: Six-color screenprint
Paper: Iridescent Neenah Stardream paper
Markings: Hand-numbered #448/1300; artist name printed within image; not hand-signed
Printer: Half and Half
COA: None
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About the Artist: David Welker has occupied a particularly strange and beloved corner of Phish history since creating the elaborate artwork for the band’s 1993 album Rift. His work combines surrealism, underground-comix density, traditional draftsmanship, and enough hidden visual information to keep obsessive collectors staring at the same print for years. His long-running relationship with Phish has made him one of the defining artists in modern concert-poster culture.
About the Project: “Free Motion” served as the official poster for Phish’s 2023 Summer Tour rather than a single venue. The imagery feels like a voyage assembled from bad plans, mysterious plumbing, rough seas, and irrational optimism. In other words, a reasonable metaphor for following Phish around the country. The tour edition was limited to 1,300 numbered examples, while a separate artist edition of 200 also exists.
About The New Collective: The New Collective Gallery is a team of fine-art lovers, printmakers, archivists, and longtime collectors based in San Diego, CA. For over two decades, we’ve been buying, selling, and preserving rare prints and artist editions from around the world. We also purchase collections and represent select works on consignment. Everything is handled with collector-level scrutiny, museum-level care, and a healthy tolerance for beautifully printed weirdness.