Punk visual art
Encyclopedia
Punk visual art is artwork which often graces punk rock
album cover
s, flyers
for punk shows, and punk zine
s. It is characterised by deliberate violation, such as the use of letters cut out from newspapers and magazines, a device previously associated with kidnap and ransom notes, so the sender's handwriting was not revealed. Much of the earlier artwork was in black and white, because it was distributed in punk zines reproduced at copy shops, but when colour was used in more expensive productions it was often characterised by being high key, such as the use of fluorescent pink and yellow contrasted with black on the cover of the Sex Pistols
' Never Mind the Bollocks album designed by Jamie Reid
.
Los Angeles artist Mark Vallen
has said:
Punk visual art can include anything from crudely scribbled letters to shockingly jarring figures drawn with sharp points everywhere. Often images and figures are cut and pasted from magazines to create a scene and the colors are often two tone and deeply contrasting. The main aesthetic of punk art seems to be to either shock, create a sense of empathy or revulsion, make a grander point with an acidic or sarcastic wit, poke fun at politics, political factions, or social factions.
In addition to record cover and concert poster design, “Punk Art” also extended into art galleries and exhibition spaces. In New York in the mid-1970s there was much overlap between the music and art scenes. Many of the visual artists who were regulars at CBGB
and related music venues participated in a large Punk Art Exhibition held in Washington DC in 1978. Among those featured were John Holmstrom
and Legs McNeil
of Punk
, a pioneering fanzine that combined music coverage with cartoons and photo-narratives; Alan Vega
(aka Alan Suicide) whose electronic junk sculpture predated his role in the music group Suicide
; photographers Marcia Resnick and Jimmy De Sana
; tattoo artist Ruth Marten; filmmaker Amos Poe; and artists like Tom Otterness
and Beth and Scott B associated with X Magazine. (2) A related, one night Punk Art show at the School of Visual Arts in NYC (1978) featuring films, performances and slide shows also included Robert Mapplethorpe
and Diego Cortez. Other early “Punk” exhibits included the "Times Square Show" (1980) and "New York New Wave" at PS 1 (1981) . Punk Art would find an ongoing home on the Lower East Side with the establishment of ABC No Rio
Gallery in 1980; and a Punk aesthetic was a dominant strand in the art galleries of the East Village (from 1982 -86) where art was also inspired by Rap and Hip Hop, trends roughly contemporaneous with Punk.(3)
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
s, flyers
Flyer (pamphlet)
__notoc__A flyer or flier, also called a circular, handbill or leaflet, is a form of paper advertisement intended for wide distribution and typically posted or distributed in public place....
for punk shows, and punk zine
Punk zine
A punk zine is a zine devoted to punk culture, most often punk rock music, bands, or the DIY punk ethic. Punk zines are the most likely place to find punk literature....
s. It is characterised by deliberate violation, such as the use of letters cut out from newspapers and magazines, a device previously associated with kidnap and ransom notes, so the sender's handwriting was not revealed. Much of the earlier artwork was in black and white, because it was distributed in punk zines reproduced at copy shops, but when colour was used in more expensive productions it was often characterised by being high key, such as the use of fluorescent pink and yellow contrasted with black on the cover of the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
' Never Mind the Bollocks album designed by Jamie Reid
Jamie Reid
Jamie Reid is a British artist and anarchist with connections to the Situationists. His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of a ransom note, came close to defining the image of punk rock, particularly in the UK...
.
Los Angeles artist Mark Vallen
Mark Vallen
Mark Vallen is an American activist with Chicano and other issues, curator, figurative realist painter, and blogger, who runs the Art for a Change web site; he founded The Black Moon web site for Japanese culture.-Life and work:...
has said:
Punk had a unique and complex aesthetic. It was steeped in shock value and revered what was considered ugly. The whole look of punk was designed to disturb and disrupt the happy complacency of the wider society. Outside of punk's torn and safety pinned anti-fashion statements, this impulse to outrage was never more apparent than on punk album covers.
Punk visual art can include anything from crudely scribbled letters to shockingly jarring figures drawn with sharp points everywhere. Often images and figures are cut and pasted from magazines to create a scene and the colors are often two tone and deeply contrasting. The main aesthetic of punk art seems to be to either shock, create a sense of empathy or revulsion, make a grander point with an acidic or sarcastic wit, poke fun at politics, political factions, or social factions.
In addition to record cover and concert poster design, “Punk Art” also extended into art galleries and exhibition spaces. In New York in the mid-1970s there was much overlap between the music and art scenes. Many of the visual artists who were regulars at CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
and related music venues participated in a large Punk Art Exhibition held in Washington DC in 1978. Among those featured were John Holmstrom
John Holmstrom
John Holmstrom is an American underground cartoonist and writer. He is best known for illustrating the covers of the Ramones albums Rocket to Russia and Road to Ruin, as well as his characters Bosko and Joe .As the founding editor of Punk Magazine at the age of 21 in late 1975, Holmstrom's work...
and Legs McNeil
Legs McNeil
Roderick Edward "Legs" McNeil is a writer and rock music historian. He is the co-founder and a writer for Punk Magazine; he is also a former senior editor at Spin Magazine, and the founder and editor of Nerve magazine .- Punk Magazine:At the age of 18, McNeil gathered with two high school...
of Punk
Punk (magazine)
Punk is a music magazine/fanzine created by cartoonist John Holmstrom, publisher Ged Dunn and "resident punk" Legs McNeil in 1975. Its use of the term "punk rock," coined by writers for Creem magazine a few years earlier, led to its worldwide acceptance as the definition for the new bands that were...
, a pioneering fanzine that combined music coverage with cartoons and photo-narratives; Alan Vega
Alan Vega
Alan Vega For several years other sources stated that he was born in 1948 – see 'Myth' section is an American vocalist, primarily known for his work with electronic protopunk duo, Suicide...
(aka Alan Suicide) whose electronic junk sculpture predated his role in the music group Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
; photographers Marcia Resnick and Jimmy De Sana
Jimmy De Sana
Jimmy De Sana was an American artist, and a key figure in the East Village punk art scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His photography has been described as "anti-art" in its approach to capturing images of the human body, in a manner ranging from "savagely explicit to purely symbolic"., William S...
; tattoo artist Ruth Marten; filmmaker Amos Poe; and artists like Tom Otterness
Tom Otterness
Tom Otterness is an American sculptor whose works adorn parks, plazas, subway stations, libraries, courthouses and museums in New York---most notably in Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City and in the 14th Street/8th Avenue subway station---and other cities around the world...
and Beth and Scott B associated with X Magazine. (2) A related, one night Punk Art show at the School of Visual Arts in NYC (1978) featuring films, performances and slide shows also included Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
and Diego Cortez. Other early “Punk” exhibits included the "Times Square Show" (1980) and "New York New Wave" at PS 1 (1981) . Punk Art would find an ongoing home on the Lower East Side with the establishment of ABC No Rio
ABC No Rio
ABC No Rio is a social center located at 156 Rivington Street on New York City's Lower East Side that was founded in 1980. It features a gallery space, a zine library, a darkroom, a silkscreening studio, and public computer lab...
Gallery in 1980; and a Punk aesthetic was a dominant strand in the art galleries of the East Village (from 1982 -86) where art was also inspired by Rap and Hip Hop, trends roughly contemporaneous with Punk.(3)
See also
- Anti-artAnti-artAnti-art is a loosely-used term applied to an array of concepts and attitudes that reject prior definitions of art and question art in general. Anti-art tends to conduct this questioning and rejection from the vantage point of art...
- Punk Art online version of catalogue for a 1978 exhibition at the Washington Project for the Arts, Washington DC.
Further reading
- Alan Moore and Marc Miller, eds., ABC No RioABC No RioABC No Rio is a social center located at 156 Rivington Street on New York City's Lower East Side that was founded in 1980. It features a gallery space, a zine library, a darkroom, a silkscreening studio, and public computer lab...
Dinero: The Story of a Lower East SideLower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
Art Gallery, NY, ColabColabColab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines. Colab came together as a collective in 1977, and initially received an NEA Workshop Grant through Center for...
, 1985