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John M. Olin Library, Level 1, Thomas Gallery

Pasted Youth: Analog Design of the Punk Movement

Punk emerged in the mid-1970s through music and became a countercultural movement about much more. The visual language created around the music has always been as important as the sound itself in establishing the ethos of punk. The practitioners of early punk design channeled youthful outrage, took influence from art history, and tore open, sometimes literally, the conventions of modern commercial design. Their analog (non-digital) techniques and striking visuals have influenced graphic design ever since.

The Pasted Youth exhibition includes many examples of graphic design from punk’s first decade and represents only a fraction of the collection assembled passionately by lender Andrew Krivine.

The Clash concert poster.
The Clash concert poster from the 2nd Mont de Marsan Punk Festival, 1977. Image courtesy Andrew Krivine.
X-Ray Spex poster with Poly Styrene featuring "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and "I Am a Cliché."
X-Ray Spex’s 1977 debut single, Oh Bondage Up Yours, album art.

Images for Pasted Youth are courtesy of Andrew Krivine. The exhibition was organized by Exhibitions Manager Jessi Cerutti.

If you are interested in reading and seeing more about the history of punk and punk graphics, see Andrew Krivine’s published works – Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die: Punk & post punk graphics 1976-1986 and Reversing Into The Future: New Wave Graphics 1977–1990.