Regen Projects is pleased to announce From my bumbling attempt to write a disastrous musical, these illustrations muyst suffice, an exhibition of new work by Raymond Pettibon (cover artist of our issue n100 from back in 2009).. This marks the artist’s tenth solo presentation since joining the gallery in 1993.


Regen Projects is pleased to announce From my bumbling attempt to write a disastrous musical, these illustrations muyst suffice, an exhibition of new work by Raymond Pettibon (cover artist of our issue n100 from back in 2009). This marks the artist’s tenth solo presentation since joining the gallery in 1993.

Raymond Pettibon’s work draws from a broad spectrum of influences ranging from Southern California surf culture, punk rock aesthetics, baseball, and film noir to popular culture, world history and politics. His singular and prolific practice combines image with language, seamlessly melding “high” and “low” into bold works of art. As diverse as his subject matter, Pettibon’s images have included quotations from quotidian and literary works by authors including Marcel Proust, Henry James, William Blake, John Ruskin, and Art Clokey, as well as texts written by the artist himself.

This exhibition presents a selection of drawings and collages that continue Pettibon’s dynamic exploration of the pairing of image with text to create works that feature tropes of violence, sex, sports, politics, rock’n’roll, and religion. On view will be a selection of swift, monochromatic drawings as well as multi-colored built up collages. Belying their often times facile and paired-down aesthetic the compositions provide a glimpse into the encyclopedic mind of their maker. In some works the viewer espies easily recognizable subjects such as Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, The Beatles, Jesus Christ, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Herbert Hoover and John Dillinger.

All photography by David Wright. 

Raymond Pettibon "From my bumbling attempt to write a disastrous musical, these illustrations muyst suffice" @ Regen Projects, LA article image 1

Raymond Pettibon
From my bumbling attempt to write a disastrous musical, these illustrations muyst suffice
}April 23 – May 30, 2015