Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: CA '70s/'80s punk/hardcore photography + art

Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys with his home made anti-Reagan t-shirt, circa 1980, shot at the backstage toilet at The Whiskey-A-Go-Go, Hollywood, California, by Glen E. Friedman.

Opening tonight at Shepard Fairey's Subliminal Projects gallery in Echo Park, Los Angeles, "Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die," a retrospective of punk/hardcore photography and related art, featuring Edward Colver, Shepard Fairey, Glen E. Friedman, Jenny Lens, Dave Markey, Raymond Pettibon, Jordan Schwartz, and Winston Smith.

[A] selection of photography, art and ephemera from the California Punk & Hardcore scene with an emphasis on the explosive period of the late 70's and early 80's. This exhibition features both photographers and artists who were present for the detonation of the Southern California scene and whose imagery helped capture and craft it's angles, attitudes, music, fashion and sub-culture. Reflections of other punk scenes throughout California are included as well as contemporary collaborations inspired by one of the most potent and important periods of free expression in the California story.

Opens tonight, Friday, February 25th, 2011 7-11PM, with a musical performance by OFF! and The Nichemakers at 9PM.

The exhibition continues through March 26th, 2011, and is curated by Katherine B. Cone and Jon Cournoyer. Press release (PDF)

• [BB]

  I always find the Punk Era photos interesting (sometimes edgy or goofy), especially since that period still involved film: math calculations in exposure, and a ‘blind raw artistic eye’(no digital preview). Anyway, they might want to post them online for those of us on the east coast who have no hopes of flying west? Please.

• [hungryghosty]

  Biafra is nowhere near a punk rock as these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgIwVQRzbaQ

  • [Cowicide]

    Hmmm… I think maybe GG Allin’s got em beat… lol

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCYAflHm-U4

• [Roger Wilco]

  If you like Punk era art check out “Fucked Up + Photocopied: instant art of the punk rock movement”

  http://www.amazon.com/Fucked-Up-Photocopied-instant-movement/dp/1584230002

  Art, posters, flyers etc.

  Full disclosure: I helped with some of the layout/scanning but it’s still a cool book. I had it on my resume for a while but it set off alarm bells with more conservative uptight potential employers.

• [stringmonkey]

  That may be the cleanest bathroom stall I’ve ever seen at a club.

  • [travtastic]

    That’s cleaner than the bathrooms everywhere I’ve ever worked. I’m guessing it was taken before the show.

• [Anonymous]

  No such thing as punk rock necessarily. Only Do-It-Yourself.

• [mo]

  be sure and check out edward colver’s book “Blight at the End of the Funnel”, its probably the definitely photography book for that time period. http://edwardcolver.com

• [forgeweld]

  I was just thinking the other day that everyone still knows what Jello is, but who the hell remembers Biafra? What was once a pretty edgy name has become merely odd.

• [Jake0748]

  The photo is fugly, IMHO.

  • [Masepack]

    Agreed! Also there is severe “halo”ing around the dudes head and face, photoshop much?

• [Anonymous]

  Jello Biafra grew up to eventually rip of his bandmates, with-holding their royalties. So sad.

  • [Cowicide]

    Jello Biafra grew up to eventually rip of his bandmates, with-holding their royalties. So sad.

    It’s a little more complex than that, don’t you think?

  • [osmo]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jello_Biafra

    Like Cowcide said… its a bit more tricky and complex than that

• [Anonymous]

  is posing with a modified goatse?

• [Art]

  such a charming photo.