Haunch of Venison will host Loud Flash: British Punk on Paper, a
unique exhibition of posters from the mid to late 1970s curated by
the artist and designer Toby Mott.
More than any movement before or since, punk was defined by the
poster. Excluded from TV and daytime radio, struggling to be heard
in the mainstream press, posters provided an effective - and
virtually free - means for bands to reach the public. Mott's
collection, which also incorporates fanzines, flyers and other
ephemera, delivers a gripping snapshot of the Britain of that time,
a country rife with divisions which was slowly awakening to the
reality of its reduced status in the post-war world.
As well as iconic works by Jamie Reid (for the Sex Pistols) and
Linder Sterling (for the Buzzcocks), the exhibition features a
wealth of material produced by anonymous artists of the era and so
offers a complete survey of the punk aesthetic.
It also includes political material. The rise of the National
Front is charted through its incendiary propaganda, while the
posters advertising 'Rock Against Racism' events show how this was
opposed and how the designers adopted punk's stark graphical styles
to entice young supporters.
Alongside this, Mott, who has collected more than 1000
punk-related artifacts over a period of thirty years, has also
included patriotic memorabilia from the Queen's Silver Jubilee,
which collided with the height of the punk explosion in 1977,
further rounding the picture of Britain at the time.
Says Mott: "I began this collection as a teenager in the 1970s. I
loved punk music and the attitude that went with it, but I was
equally taken with the subversive way the bands promoted themselves
- Jamie Reid's famous Sex Pistols poster of the Queen with a safety
pin through her nose being a stand-out example.
But even then it was apparent to me that what was going on was
much more than a musical movement. This exhibition seeks to capture
punk's cataclysmic collision with the cultural, social and
political values of the time and show the enduring legacy it left
in its wake."
Editors' Notes
Toby Mott
Born in London in 1964, Toby Mott lives and works in London. He has curated and catalogued a collection of British punk rock, new wave posters, flyers and political ephemera from the 1970s and 1980s. The collection was recently exhibited at MUSAC - Contemporary Art Museum of Castille and Le�n, Spain.
mottcollection@gmail.com
T + 44 (0) 7930 404012
Join the MottCollecton Facebook group
Haunch of Venison
6 Burlington Gardens
London W1S 3ET
United Kingdom
www.haunchofvenison.com