Punk visual art

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The cover of the God Save the Queen single designed by Jamie Reid.

Punk visual art is artwork which often graces punk rock album covers, flyers for punk shows, and punk zines. 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:

The situationists influenced the look of punk art. Early punk also played a hand in the revival of stencil art, spearheaded by Crass. Usually straightforward with clear messages, punk art is often concerned with political issues such as social injustice and economic disparity. The use of images of suffering to shock and create feelings of empathy in the viewer is common. Alternatively, there may be images of self-violation, selfishness, stupidity, or apathy to provoke contempt in the viewer. Symbols of the establishment such as the Union Jack can be employed; the British Queen was depicted with a safety pin through her cheek. Punk art often utilizes collage, exemplified by the art of Jamie Reid and Winston Smith. John Holmstrom was a punk cartoonist who created much artwork for the Ramones and Punk Magazine.

The Stuckism art movement had their origin in punk, and titled their first major show The Stuckists Punk Victorian at the Walker Art Gallery during the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. Charles Thomson, co-founder of the group, described punk as "a major breakthrough" in his art. [link]

Punk visual art

See also