The Art of Punk

Publishers: Omnibus Press (UK), Voyageur (North America), Hugo et Compagnie (France) and Hannibal Verlag Gmbh (Germany).
Date of publication: September 2012.
Additional contributions by Alex Ogg.
ISBN 978.1.78038.130.5

The Art of Punk is an attempt to describe a broad overview of a disparate and eclectic movement, particularly through its visual and graphic languages. Punk never did adhere to the neat and tidy set of conventions that tend to be captured and packaged in ‘retrospective’ appraisals of the subculture. In fact, the notion of a simple historical, contained and supposedly ‘past’ – meaning ‘expired’ – subculture is highly questionable in itself, given the range and extent of contemporary punk movements worldwide and the constant media presence of punk and punk-evolved events, from the Pussy Riot trial in Russia to the brutal crackdown by authorities on the hardcore punk underground in Indonesia.

Punk has always defied convention, reinventing and evolving visual styles and practices in a constant battle against (and within) mainstream culture. This book is our attempt to show some of that complex, and fascinating, story, and to celebrate the breadth and depth of punk worldwide over the past forty years.