Born in 1957 in Tuscon, Arizon, Raymond Pettibon is an iconic and iconoclastic illustrator and fine artist, famous for his fusion of political critique and hip, punk visual signifiers. His LP covers for both Sonic Youth and Black Flag remain some of the most recognisable countercultural iconography of the twentieth century. Since the 1980s, he has also received major acclaim for his contributions to American contemporary art. He was the subject of a major retrospective, A Pen of All Work, at the New Museum in New York in 2017.
MM What I love about your work is the satire. The ability to harness text and image for social critique harks back to 18th and 19th century artists, and caricaturists such as William Hogarth, Gustave Doré, and Honoré Daumier; but seeing your work today also conjures the framework of social media. All media is social anyway — but which historical precedents inform your work, or are of interest to you?
RP The ones you mention certainly; but also Goya, and [Thomas] Rowlandson, and beyond that, many others. I grew up pre-computer, pre-Facebook, pre-Instagram, and pre-Twitter — that’s a different generation. As far as my art influences are concerned, I can’t get beyond paper. It’s generational. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.