Above: The exterior of the Hayward Gallery. 

I visited London for the first time last week. I've always wanted to check out that city, but never had the opportunity until now. This time around (Mafia jokes aside), it was an offer I couldn't refuse: Johan Kugelberg, the curator of the Boo-Hoo Ray Gallery in New York City, put together "Someday All the Adults Will Die," an art exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, which features a lot of my work. Anyone who can see it should go there immediately--you'll never ever again see another "Punk Art" show this amazing.

Full admission: I am working with Johan K. on some projects that will hopefully put some money in my pocket, but this is not why I am praising this gallery show. I think most of you who know me appreciate that I am usually brutally honest to a self-destructive fault, so if I didn't like this show I would say little, nothing or else trash the thing. But honestly, this is the best gallery show I have ever seen about punk rock. And I am working with this guy, Johan Kugelberg, because is the best researcher I have met so far when it comes to the whole punk rock thing.So, let's go on...

Above: One of the exhibition walls. 

Back to the show. For instance, this is some of my work that is on display:
1. A very early rough drawing of the PUNK logo.
2. An original PUNK t-shirt.
3. The original artwork for the "Watch Out! PUNK Is Coming!" poster (although the top was cropped off and is lost).
4. The original artwork for a "Watch Out! PUNK is Here!" sticker.
5. A whacked out statement on PUNK magazine stationary.
6. Magazine covers from PUNK #1 and #3 as well as STOP! #5.
7. The first record cover for the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," which features the photo comic of the same name from the PUNK #3 centerfold.
8. Six of the original photos/artwork featuring Andy Warhol from Mutant Monster Beach Party (PUNK #15).
9. Three pages of my original sketches for the comic strip, "The History of PUNK" (which was published by SPIN magazine in the mid-1980s: The original artwork is on display at the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.)

 

Yes, I agree with you. This is reason enough to buy a ticket, get on a plane and go see this show immediately. But there's a lot more! Such as some amazing Sex Pistols stuff:
1. An amazing display of Sex Pistols memorabilia and artifacts, including a rare copy of the "God Save the Queen" 45 rpm record (and a big-ass promo poster to boot) produced by A&M Records,
2. A full display of the "Anarchy In The U.K." newspaper.
3. A display of the advertising flyer that Jamie Reid used to steal the "Nowhere Bus" image.
4. A display of the advertisement that Jamie Reid stole the "Holidays in the Sun" record cover.
5. One of the infamous "Jesus Freak" fliers from the Tulsa, OK show during the Sex Pistols 1978 US tour. 

And there's lots more Pistols stuff, of course. 

But that's not all! Look at this other stuff that appears in the exhibition:
1. Dozens of rare fanzine covers.
2. Dozens of punk rock 45 rpm record covers.
3. Lots of work by Gee Vaucher of the punk rock band Crass.
4. A never-ending video featuring many hours of punk rock singles, in a separate room from the art.
5. A video of Johan K. flipping through the pages of various fanzines, with commentary.
6. Original images from the 1960s of anti-hippie images like Ed Sanders "Fuck You" magazine, the Diggers, the Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers, as well as images from early 1970s London such as a Kilburn and the High Roads poster and  stuff from Malcolm McLaren's fashionable clothing store "Let it Rock."

Okay, I know that most of you can't afford the time and money a trip to Great Britain demands, so what you want to do is order the book: Punk: An Aesthetic, from Rizzoli. It's available on Amazon, and most other book-selling Websites.