MACBA presents the exhibition PUNK.
Its Traces in Contemporary Art
► Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the explosion of punk, MACBA has brought together
over one hundred works by 60 Spanish and international artists in an exhibition curated by
David G. Torres that follows its traces in art up to the present.
► Punk is a manifestation of discomfort in the face of the economic, political, social and cultural
systems, and it draws together the evolution of thought in the second half of the 20th century.
The exhibition includes works that anticipated it and also works from artists who were instigators
and activists as well as others that reflect their traces.
► Following its run at CA2M in the Community of Madrid and ARTIUM in Vitoria-Gasteiz, at
MACBA the exhibition has grown with the incorporation of new works. The exhibition will travel
to the Museo Universitario del Chopo in Mexico City, its next international stop.
Title: PUNK. Its Traces in Contemporary Art Opening: Thursday 12 May 2016 at 7:30 pm Dates: from 13 May to 22 September
2016 Organised and produced by: Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), CA2M (Community of Madrid) and
ARTIUM (Vitoria-Gasteiz). Exhibition at the Museo Universitario del Chopo: October 2016 Curator David G. Torres
The exhibition PUNK. Its Traces in Contemporary Art is (not) an exhibition about punk. It is an
exhibition that ends up revealing the main elements that define it through the traces punk has
left in the production of contemporary art. ‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?’ was the
question Johnny Rotten launched into the air in 1978 at the last San Francisco concert of the
iconic punk band The Sex Pistols. And the response, given the social and political crisis of the
1970s, was full of anger, nonconformity, refusal, provocation... Punk is an attitude that emerged
between 1976 and 1978 in London and New York as an expression of complete rejection of the
system. It captures the ‘No future’ slogan of previous movements like Dadaism and Situationism
but in contrast to them it emerged in the midst of mass culture, something which made it
transcend the 1970s, the Anglo-Saxon context and the music scene. Punk became an adjective
that describes a way of understanding the world and confronting the socio-political context and
conventions, as does much of contemporary art with a strong critical and questioning ethos.
MACBA has brought together over a hundred works including paintings, installations,
photographs, videos, documentary traces and unique pieces in a tour that features themes like
violence, noise, refusal, nihilism and sexuality, among others. PUNK. Its Traces in
Contemporary Art highlights the extent to which echoes of this attitude, the motivations that lead
to dissatisfaction, inconformity, loss of faith in progress and criticism of the system’s icons, are
intrinsic to the practice of many artists. Some of the main factors of the crisis of the 1970s
present in the birth of punk are still in force today, and contemporary artistic creation shows that
‘punk is (not) dead’.
Traces, Artists, Attitude
In 1989 journalist and music critic Greil Marcus outlined the first genealogy of punk in Lipstick
Traces, a journey through the history of the movement that dates back to Dadaism and
Situationism. The exhibition draws from this book and undertakes the same exercise in reverse:
it is a prospective exercise that looks for traces of punk in today’s artists. Some of the artists
included in the exhibition were forerunners, like Chris Burden, VALIE EXPORT, Ant Farm and
Eulàlia Grau, and their anticipation shows punk’s historical ties with other radical movements.
Also present are true instigators and activists like Martin Kippenberger, Raymond Pettibon, Mike
Kelley and Paul McCarthy. And finally, the works of artists for whom punk is a referent are
shown, for example Gavin Turk, Jordi Colomer, Tere Recarens, Jimmie Durham, Antoni Hervàs,
Maria Pratts, Tracey Emin, Pepo Salazar and João Onofre, among many others.
Regardless of their type, the works included in this exhibition are made using the same
referents. In many cases, punk appears explicitly: in the use of elements like noise, the ransom
note effect, anti-design and ugliness with the inclusion of explicit musical references to music
groups. But it also shows traces of punk as an attitude: refusal, opposition and destruction; ‘do it
yourself’; the allusion to fear and terror in a society that alienates individuals; the same
alienation that causes psychotic states; appreciation for what departs from the norm; nihilism;
criticism of the economic system and anarchy; and the demand for sexual freedom, the body,
the surface, as a battleground.
PUNK. Its Traces in Contemporary Art, Expanded Version
The exhibition features new artists, new works and expanded works of artists already
included in earlier presentations. It also incorporates a new documentary space. Added to
the narrative of CA2M and ARTIUM is an area that talks about the features of punk in
contemporary art and a space where the artists reflect the context of conflict of the 1970s.
In Mexico it will be resized and adapted to the local context.
The artists of the exhibition are Carlos Aires, Marcel·lí Antúnez, Martin Arnold, Fabienne
Audéoud, Eduardo Balanza, Bill Balaskas, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jordi Benito, Laurent P.
Berger, Chris Burden, Tony Cokes, Jordi Colomer, Brice Dellsperger, DETEXT, Die
Tödliche Doris, Christoph Draeger, Jimmie Durham, Tracey Emin, Mario Espliego, VALIE
EXPORT, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Claire Fontaine, Chiara Fumai, Iñaki Garmendia, Kendell
Geers, Gelitin, Nan Goldin, Douglas Gordon, Dan Graham, Eulàlia Grau, Johan
Grimonprez, Guerrilla Girls, Antoni Hervàs, Jota Izquierdo, Mike Kelley, Martin
Kippenberger, João Louro, Christian Marclay, Israel Martínez, Raisa Maudit, Paul
McCarthy, Jonathan Meese, Jordi Mitjà, Joan Morey, Janis E. Müller, Matt Mullican, Itziar
Okariz, João Onofre, Antonio Ortega, Luis Felipe Ortega and Daniel Guzmán, Tony
Oursler, Mabel Palacín Juan Pérez Agirregoikoa, Raymond Pettibon, Maria Pratts, Tere
Recarens, Jamie Reid, Tim Reinecke, Aïda Ruilova, Pepo Salazar, Santiago Sierra,
Federico Solmi, Natascha Stellmach, TRES and Gavin Turk, T.R. Uthco & Ant Farm (Doug
Hall, Chip Lord, Doug Michels and Jody Procter). The exhibition includes some of the most
relevant documents, albums, books and graphic referents of punk.
--- new artists
--- new works/expanded works
►PHOTOS http://www.macba.cat/press/punk8765
RELATED ACTIVITIES
Opening Thursday 12 May at 7.30 pm. At 8 pm a performance of variable and undetermined length, Box
Sized DIE featuring Caustic by João Onofre, and at 9 pm a concert by Germán Carrascosa y La Alegría
del Barrio.
Publication The exhibition catalogue includes texts by David G. Torres, Glòria Guso, Eloy Fernández
Porta, Servando Rocha and Iván López Munuera, as well as an interview with Greil Marcus made by the
exhibition’s curator.
Digital resources A comprehensive timeline reviews facts relevant to the genesis of the punk attitude
from Dadaism in the early 20th century to the emergence of Pussy Riot at Saint Basil’s Cathedral in
Moscow
in
2012
using
videos,
texts
and
music.
http://www.tiki-
toki.com/timeline/entry/645030/Punk.-Els-seus-rastres-en-lart-contemporani/
Curated music lists A personal approach to the traces of punk in today’s music by David Armengol,
Raúl Hinojosa, Maria Pratts and Pepo Salazar, among others. http://www.macba.cat/expo-punk-playlist
EXPERIENCE MACBA
5 €. Free with museum ticket and MACBA Amics cards. No advance booking required. Limited
places
Thursday 7 July, 7 pm
Félix Pérez-Hita
Museum Atrium
Thursday 14 July, 7 pm
Antoni Hervàs and Corte Moderno present Negociudad
Museum Atrium
Thursday 21 July, 7 pm
Screening of the documentary Tito, the Phantom Monk (2015)
Presented by the director, Dani Montlleó
Meier Auditorium
Thursday 28 July, 7 pm
Maria Pratts and Ulldeter
Museum Atrium
SEMINAR
Thursday 15 and Friday 16 September
With Greil Marcus and other guest speakers to be announced
Meier Auditorium
■ ADMISSION VALID ONE MONTH
■ DAILY GUIDED VISITS (INCLUDED IN MUSEUM TICKET)
For times and languages: www.macba.cat
■ MORE INFORMATION: www.macba.cat and @MACBA_Barcelona
Follow us at: #PUNKtraces
■ MACBA: Plaça dels Angels, 1, 08001 Barcelona, www.macba.cat
■ Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 11 am to 7.30 pm (from 25 June to 24 September, until 8
pm); Saturdays, 10 am to 9 pm; Sundays and holidays, 10 am to 3 pm; Tuesdays except holidays, closed.
___________________________________________________________
Press MACBA 934 813 356/934 813 354 [email protected]