Torn Apart

Torn Apart is the largest exhibition of punk and new wave graphics ever shown on the West Coast. The show includes around one-thousand pieces of graphic design ephemera produced from 1976 to 1986, mostly from England and the US, and includes posters, flyers, publications, clothing, stickers, and buttons. The work is pulled from Andrew Krivine’s Too Fast to Live collection, curated by CalArts graphic design faculty Michael Worthington, and is accompanied by a selection of vintage punk photographs by renowned music photographer Sheila Rock.

Torn Apart includes work by well-known designers Barney Bubbles, Jamie Reid, Malcolm Garrett, Peter Saville, Chris Morton, Vivienne Westwood, Mike Coles, Gee Vaucher, Winston Smith, and Raymond Pettibon. Equally important are the spectacular works by designers less exposed to US audiences such as John Angus, Martin Kaye, X3, and Alex McDowell, alongside works designed by the musicians themselves, and a plethora of unknown and uncredited designers, both amateur and professional.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz and Nico Rosario sit down with Torn Apart's Andrew Krivine and Michael Worthington to talk all things about the exhibit --from the content to its larger political and social implications. Check it out the episode, the exhibit, and the links provided by our guests:

Torn Apart: https://www.tornapart.graphics/

Steven Heller interview for Print Magazine (his Daily Heller blog) --

https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-punk-reprised-rethunk/

Benton Art Museum's upcoming exhibition page for Wild Youth: https://benton.uconn.edu/wild-youth-the-punk-scene-of-the-1970s-and-1980s/

GQ UK piece on Too Fast To Live --

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/too-fast-to-live-too-young-to-die-punk-and-post-punk-graphics

Guardian slideshow of images in Reversing Into The Future --

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/oct/02/punk-and-new-wave-posters-reversing-into-the-future-in-pictures

Article by Emily Gosling, for AIGA's Eye On Design (last November), on New Wave graphics-- https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/why-new-wave-graphics-are-the-most-influential-designs-youve-probably-ignored/

Songs excerpted in this episode:

"Art School" - the Jam

"Going Underground" - the Jam

"What Do I Get?" - Buzzcocks

"She's Lost Control" - Grace Jones (Joy Division Cover)

"God Save the Queen" - the Sex Pistols

"A Message to You, Rudy" - the Specials

"Art School" - the Jam

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