March 28, 2009
RAYMOND PETTIBON - ART & PUNK LEGEND
Raymond Pettibon’s drawings and paintings are mainly focused on the themes of personal and social upheaval, wartime life and the individual’s ongoing struggle with his or her fate. Drawing on cartoons and comics, he explores the tension between image and text and combines references to ‘high culture’ with the icons of pop and trash culture. His work can be viewed as an archive of late twentieth century American cultural history, a gallery of images that again and again illuminate the dark sides of the American way of life. He earned cult status with his early work in the Los Angeles punk scene, designing record covers, posters and fanzines for groups like Sonic Youth and Black Flag. He has now acquired an international reputation as one of the leading contemporary American artists.
Circleculture Gallery Berlin will show his works along with Ed Templeton and Barry McGee from April 9th to May 30th.
Raymond Pettibon is featured in the Season 2 episode “Humor” of the Art21 series “Art:21 — Art in the Twenty-First Century”.