review of europunk : an artistic revolution in europe (1976-1980)

8/13/2019 Review of Europunk : an artistic revolution in Europe (1976-1980)

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Europunk : an artistic revolution in Europe (1976-1980)

Cit de la Musique, 221 avenue Jean Jaurs, 19e, Paris

Opened on October 15th - Closed on January 19 th

Published at Hyperallergic asIn Paris, Punks Curatorial Redemption

http://hyperallergic.com/105270/in-paris-punks-curatorial-redemption/


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Europunkpress poster

Bucking the current trendy inclination of heterogeneous cabinet-of-curiosity curatorial

method, the intriguing curator ric de Chassey (and deputy commissioner for Europunk,

David Sanson)adhere to a tight chronological time-line (placing the artists in the political

and cultural context of the time) when presenting the unctuous revolutionary DIY

aesthetics of punk and post-punk hardcore (1976-1980). Unlike the widely ridiculed show

PUNK: Chaos to Couture, a show that examined punks impact on high fashion from the

movements birth in the 1970s through its continuing influence today (held at The

Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art),Europunk: An artistic revolution

is rigorously periodic, ending in 1980, while being broader in range. By following

chronologically punks bloody fine penchant for Dadaist disorder (and its affectedanarchist inflexions), previously unsniffed influences of European disillusionment with

ideals, general political confusion and creative self-loathing can be discerned here,

perhaps for the first time, especially for someone, as myself, who experienced this

paradoxical sensibility firsthand, but from the New York, No Wave perspective.

Granted, punk is now a well-established cultural moment in the official history of the

20th century. But here, French punk comes to the fore, such as in a central display of

graphic art by Olivia Clavel, Lulu Larse, Bernard Vidal, Jean Rouzaud, Kiki Picasso

(Christian Chapiron) and Loulou Picasso (Jean-Louis Dupr), members the French

collective Bazooka productions. In close proximity, I also admired the cover for the

album Armed Forces (1979) by Elvis Costello & The Attractions by Barney Bubbles

along with work by designer Jamie Reid, whose connections to The Situationist

International tie together neatly the British-French cultural exchange that is at the heart of

this exhibit (augmented by work from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands,

Scandinavia and Spain). But appropriately, this chronological time-line starts and finishes

with Reids main client, the iconic Sex Pistols, the principal face of punk to the world.

Thus the first part of the exhibition is devoted to the Sex Pistols.


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Installation shot fromEuropunk


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Jamie Reid, Sophie Richmond and Vivienne Westwood, Anarchy In The UK

(detail)(1976) cover of issue number one, published by Glitterbest Ltd, printed by Zigzag,

with a photograph of Sue Catwoman


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Jamie Reid, the Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen' (1977)


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Installation shot fromEuropunk

Europunkwas first initiated and presented by de Chassey at the Academy of France inRome, Villa Medici, then at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Geneva and BPS 22 in

Charleroi. But at the Cit de la MusiqueEuropunkhas received its electronic voice, as a

superb audiovisual augmentation has been added that was impressive in conveying the

sense of emergency that was very much the underlying the apocalyptic tenor of the time.

The music and performance videos retain their malevolent, ugly qualities today.


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Installation shots from audiovisual section ofEuropunk

The visual graphic art portion contained a bevy of zines, posters, flyers, leaflets,

drawings, collages, album covers, and clothing (a total of about 500 objects) that

recounted the unsettling vitality of the punk aesthetic with its Dadaist cut-and-paste

artistic production method, often conveying a morbid fascination with violence and terror

through political posturing. Punk art is discovered here to have been a fundamentally

chaotic artistic movement, extremely dynamic and brimming with dexterous shifts in

mood and texture that depict well a revolution without a cause, making use of an

ambiguous/systematic use of visual provocation (sometimes superficially wanton) that is

now well tamed. But the still images presented here retain something of the urgency that

had led to their creation, and therefore have a kind of sad beauty, albeit paradoxical.

The radicalization of the logo with a generally subversive nihilism is admirably typical of

the art, especially a misuse of political signs (including the Swastika) as a weapon aimed

against the order. Here again one grasps the French influence on punk in terms of


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dtournement, the technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International then

taken up by the Situationist International that consists in turning expressions of the

capitalist system against itself, like turning slogans and logos against the political status

quo. In this context I was pleased to have the opportunity to see again Malcolm Garretts

Buzzcocks Dadaesque cover collage Orgasm Addict (1977), a punk sexist masterwork

and the delicate minimal Peter Saville cover for Joy Divisions disk Unknown

Pleasures (1979).

Malcolm Garrett, collage cover for the Buzzcocks, Orgasm Addict (1977)


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Peter Saville, Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures (1979)

Like dada, punk culture gestured at the desire to make both a clean sweep of the past

along with a profound cultural renewal. But in this exhibit, the emphasis is on cultural

appreciation, with the ironic careful display of seditious punk items, such as the

philosopher chic Only anarchists are pretty shirt that features Karl Marx, and a gloomy

Believe in the ruins banner from Swindle, but also a whole series of anonymous radical

works of subversion collected throughout Europe in the context of economic crisis. Thus


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I found this a compelling exhibition that points to a highly atmospheric imaginative

emancipation relevant to crisis culture in Europe today.

Joseph Nechvatal

review of europunk : an artistic revolution in europe (1976-1980)

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