Art can be a kind of therapeutic, or kind of a fantasy life, or wish fulfillment ... or creating this alternate universe. Art gives me the freedom to do that.
Raymond Pettibon
Our paths first crossed, unknown until many years later, at an intimate yet bustling wedding reception in a south Chicago apartment. This was probably 30 years ago, perhaps even the same year a new gallery, Torno Wright, opened at the end of my street to a fanfare of Eames, heralding new changes to come. Criss-crossing breezes of chance encounters, meandering spirits, hazy focus of time and space, of enthusiasm and knowledge sought, now united again in the same city.
That same serendipity, prompting impulse and discovery, guided welcome reward in the crucible of that great industrial city, still littered with the artefacts of the American mid-century. It was within this uneven yet fertile terrain, hidden slightly below surface, that Patrick’s intuitive talent—honed first as photographer then embellished as artist—would treasure the valuable neglected as passionate collector, and then as the inspirational dealer that I was to meet again, years later in New York City.
If asked to select one word to describe Patrick, I would resist and pick two. The first would be curiosity—a fundamental essential, to stimulate inquiry and rigour in all things, both great and small, of any era or region, type or surface. Even the most fleeting survey of this selection for sale is a celebration of innovation and of inspiration—an unerring eye for the unusually exceptional, or perhaps the exceptionally unusual. The chances are, that these are indeed discoveries that you have not yet realized that you needed to make.
Mentor, would be my second word. If artefacts and objects articulate visual, cultural and historic language, then the fluency of skillful mentorship—to guide, nurture, describe and explain—releases the eloquence of murmuring histories. In this capacity Patrick is that most earnest and sincere of excellent narrators. If ever I had friends, clients or colleagues visiting New York looking for unusual inspiration, there was always the certainty that Patrick’s gallery would offer them a glimpse of the hitherto unseen or the unusually seductive, always with the reassurance of the most fascinating story waiting to be told.
Mentorship and curiosity, when balanced in equal measure, reveal the precious alchemy of a curator. And it is the duty of the mature curator to discern and detect, to cultivate change, and from there to pioneer, and to share. Innovation is never static, and the Present is already the Future. Fresh dialogs evolve, energies to be nurtured, opportunities to be guided. Renewed and re-orientated, Patrick now faces fully forward—as benefactor, interlocutor and mentor to a new, inquisitive generation of talented creators, and the quest for discovery rejuvenates.
— Simon Andrews
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Raymond Pettibon b. 1957
The younger brother of a guitarist and songwriter for legendary punk band Black Flag, Raymond Pettibon's early history is grounded in the Los Angeles underground music scene. As part of this subculture, Pettibon began to draw graphic, comic-inspired imagery for zines, band fliers, and album artwork.
Pettibon's distinct style combines drawing and text for poetic — and often acerbic — commentary on American pop culture writ large, striking a chord in particular with counterculturally minded youth of the era. Among the impressive roster of bands that have commissioned the artist for album covers are Sonic Youth, Black Flag, and the Minutemen.
After his first gallery show in 1984, Pettibon continued to gain recognition beyond the locus of the SoCal punk scene. He was notably included in Paul Schimmel's 1992 Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles exhibition, Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990s. Just one year later, Pettibon's work was featured in the Whitney Biennial.
Auction Results Raymond Pettibon
