Lobby installation. (All art by Raymond Pettibon, all photos by Daniel Maurer)
As he introduced the new Raymond Pettibon retrospective, New Museum artistic director Massimiliano Gioni admitted that he first became aware of the artist via his album covers for the Minutemen, Black Flag, and Sonic Youth. While we’re in confession mode: I still think of Pettibon mainly as the brother of Black Flag frontman Greg Ginn and the creator of the punk band’s iconic logo. But “A Pen of All Work,” which opens today, is further proof that the artist is far more than just a nihilistic doodler whose work has been “displayed” by skaters and punks sporting Six Pack t-shirts.
“Raymond Pettibon, No Title (This feeling is), 2011. Pen and ink on paper, 37 ¼ x 49 ½ in (94.6 x 125.7 cm). Private collection. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles.”
It’s been two years since Raymond Pettibon’s surfer art went on display on the Upper East Side. Wait, wha? The artist who did the anarchic drawings that graced the cover of Black Flag albums and concert posters? On the Upper East Side? If that seemed weird, this makes more sense: downtown’s own New Museum has announced that, in February, it will put on the city’s first major museum survey of Pettibon’s work, featuring more than 700 drawings across three floors.
Feature, Inc. has left its home on Allen Street, according to an announcement from the family of its beloved late owner, Hudson. The gallery opened in Chicago in 1984 and bounced around in New York City before settling into its Allen Street location in 2009. It was among the first to exhibit the art of Takashi Murakami, Raymond Pettibon, Richard Kern, and many others. In an obit penned shortly after Hudson’s death in February, Jerry Saltz called him “one of the last of his kind, and among the smartest, wittiest, and most visionary gallerists I’ve ever known.” More →
If you missed Raymond Pettibon’s exhibition of surfer paintings back in April, this is yet another chance to enter his warped pop-art world: the Venice, Calif.-based illustrator has just published a new book, Raymond Pettibon: To Wit, that documents his time as a sort of artist in residence at the David Zwirner gallery in Chelsea, and reproduces many of the drawings and paintings — of icons like Bob Dylan, Joe DiMaggio, and Bazooka Joe — that he created for an exhibition there last summer.
The book contains an interview with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, and the two will reprise their talk live in the Strand’s Rare Book Room on June 25, at 7 p.m. You’ll just have to buy a copy of the book or a $20 Strand gift card in order to attend. Read more:See Kim Gordon Chat With Raymond Pettibon About His New Book
“Untitled (Are your motives pure?),” 1987 (Photo: Adam Reich)
If you ever owned a “Six Pack” t-shirt, listen up. Legendary punk outfit Black Flag, last seen destroying Warsaw, is returning to another one of Greenpoint’s fine Polish establishments, Europa, this summer. Tickets for the June 22 show are $25 and available .
But there’s also this: the work of Raymond Pettibon, who did so many of the band’s iconic album covers, flyers and t-shirts, will be the subject of an exhibit opening next week. More →
