Image:Evil Squirrel by Gaye Advert
Signal Gallery is to present ‘Beyond Punk’ featuring the artwork of punk musicians, artists associated with punk bands and artistic friends of punk. The legendary bassist from The Adverts, Gaye Advert, curates the exhibition, which will gather together a fantastic collection of ‘hell raising’ talent.
From the outset, the punk movement was about more than just music. The punk ‘look’ was as vibrant and ‘shocking’. Many punk musicians started their creative lives as visual artists who, one day, found themselves playing a guitar, bashing a drum or shouting into a microphone and before they knew it, they had recording contracts and gigs booked well into the future. The result of this musical success was that their artwork took a back seat. Over time, many of these musicians have returned to their creative roots and started producing artworks again. This rich wellspring of visual talent will be the centerpiece of the ‘Beyond Punk’ exhibition.
Image: Iggy Shepard Fairey
The line up speaks for itself: Adam Ant (Adam & the Ants), Charlie Harper (UK Subs), Chris Brief (The Briefs), Dale Grimshaw, Dee Generate (Eater), Gaye Black (Adverts), Gee Vaucher (Crass), Jamie Reid (Sex Pistols), Knox (Vibrators), Nick Taggart (Zkrr Zkretna), Philip Barker (Buzzcocks), Poly Styrene (X Ray Spex), Shanne Bradley (Nipple Erectors), Shepard Fairey, Steve Ignorant (Crass) and Youth (Killing Joke). And more…
Image: by Gee Vaucher
‘Beyond Punk’ will reflect the richly varied inventive world that has grown up around the punk movement over the past thirty-five years. In an age when the young find it increasingly hard to achieve new ways to shock their elders, nostalgia for the simple but effective ‘fuck off’ of punk is very strong. Those musicians and artists involved in the movement are being recognized as the last ’lost’ generation.
