Ari Up (The Slits) © Ian Dicksonwww.late20thcenturyboy.com
Anarchy has hit Bath’s Fashion Museum with a new photographic exhibition displaying the rebellious musicians who championed the sizzling, energy-fuelled punk movement.
1977: Punk at the Fashion Museum runs until December 31 2007. The ultimate aim of the 1970s punk scene was to shock through music, behaviour and appearance and this exhibition shows 20 dramatic images that capture a cultural explosion that still resonates today.
Visitors can see photographs of icons such as Blondie, Johnny Rotten, The Jam, Paul Weller, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, Buzzcocks, The Ramones, and Ian Drury. Lesser-remembered musicians such as Ari Up of the legendary Slits, The Rezillos, The Only Ones and Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers also feature.
Images in the show were printed in the music press of the day including NME, Melody Maker and Sounds. They were taken by young talented rock photographers including Ian Dickson, Pennie Smith and Jorgen Angel.
Rosemary Harden, manager of the council-run museum, says: “Thirty years ago this year, punk and new wave bands played music and wore clothes that expressed their identity and demanded attention.”
Punk remains a contemporary cultural style, yet today’s high street shops offer a commercialised, watered-down version of the original, deliberately offensive, anti-fashion.
Debbie Harry (Blondie) © Ian Dickson www.late20thcenturyboy.com
In the 1970s punks were making a politicallycharged statement and role models such as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones influenced the scene’s dress. Military footwear, straight jeans, spiked jewellery, fishnets, brightly dyed hair and heavy eyeliner were worn by men and women.
Often, everyday objects were incorporated for aesthetic effect: purposely-ripped clothes were held together with safety pins, black tape and bin liners became dresses and skirts while razor blades and chains were used to adorn outfits. Leather, rubber and vinyl clothing, associated with trangressive sexual practices like bondage and S&M, was also common.
Designers Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren inspired a lot of punk's style. McLaren’s shop SEX, on King’s Road, sold the infamous DESTROY T-shirts, which featured an inverted crucifix and a Nazi Swastika.
This rousing exhibition reveals this ferment and is essential viewing for those who want to check out the ‘real deal’.
The other photographers represented are: Chris Gabrin, Caroline Coon, Kevin Cummins, John Tygier, Jill Furmanovsky, Doug McKenzie, Erica Echenberg, Ray Stevenson and Howard Barlow.
