Raymond Pettibon lives somewhere around Venice Beach in California. That’s probably why he has a sense of humour – humour from the ironic, caustic, anti-authoritarian school of thought. In sunny LA, he’s a long way from Arizona, the place of his birth, but hey, who wants to live in the desert when you can be by the beach? He’s always maintained his edge – his brother Greg Ginn played guitar for Black Flag and, apparently, Pettibon was the one who came up with the group's name and four bar logo. Later, he was involved with Sonic Youth’s 'Goo' (above), the Foo Fighter’s 'One by One' cover, as well as producing his own music and a couple of books, besides bagging the Bucksbaum Award at the Whitney Biennial. No small feat, I’d imagine… On to his current work, and Pettibon is a bit of a cultish cartoon master. In that, he’s exhibited at a whole bunch of places including the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Haags Gemeentemuseum in the Netherlands, and the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. So much for anti-authoritarian; these place are pretty highbrow. Whatever, and who cares, 'cos that’s a whole other debate. Now he’s showing at Sadie Coles HQ in London. This is his third exhibition at the gallery and, while the release didn’t say a much about what would be showing, it’s pretty safe to say, this is an exhibition worth checking out.
Raymond Pettibon is showing at Sadie Coles HQ, 35 Heddon Street, London W1, from 12th January – 17th February.
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