As Cranbrook Art Museum director Andrew Blauvelt points out, the Latin root of the word "amatuer" is "love" — and that's the spirit behind two upcoming shows at the museum, which delve into the visual world of punk rock ethos. "If you're a graphic designer or nerd like I am, you'll understand punk, because it was based on amateurism, which I'm saying in a positive way," he says. That passion — raw, unbridled — is on full display at the museum. Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986 takes an early look at how the nascent musical genre presented itself, through record sleeves, fliers, posters, clothing, and more. Blauvelt points out that what we now call "culture jamming," or manipulating corporate art, was popularized by Sex Pistols designer Jamie Reid, who in turn was inspired by the Situationists in Europe. "It comes out during this time that they are making ...
Tagged: 2018, Graphic Design, punk
Read MoreThere’s no doubt the do-it-yourself mentality of punk rock runs through the DNA of Shepard Fairey’s work. With his retrospective exhibition “Salad Days, 1989-1999,” which arrives this weekend at the Cranbrook Art Museum, the iconic contemporary artist looks back on how the anti-authoritarian attitudes associated with skateboarding and the punk rock that provided the sport's soundtrack influenced his work. The DIY approach is evident throughout the exhibition, which was produced with the assistance of Detroit contemporary art gallery Library Street Collective and spotlights the punk aesthetics, philosophies and low-tech production methods used in the first decade of Fairey’s 30-year career. The Cranbrook show is far from the first local showing of Fairey’s work. He exhibited in Detroit in 2000 at the now-defunct contemporary art gallery C-Pop, and in 2015, Library Street Collective showed his work at its downtown gallery. The new show is "not only framed pieces,” says Fairey, who is spending the week before the opening in metro ...
Tagged: 2018, Shepard Fairey
Read MoreFrom album covers to concert posters, each genre of music comes equipped with its own visual language that often feels like an extension of the music itself. At the Cranbrook Art Museum’s new exhibition “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986,” punk rock’s visual lexicon gets its due. The exhibit is considered to be the largest of its kind and includes displays featuring posters, zines and everything in between. While “Too Fast to Live” isn’t an exhibit based on musical history, it does manage to present a roughly chronological and visual timeline tracing the evolution of the punk and new wave music genres overseas and in the U.S. via New York City. During this era, New York served as ground zero for a critical mass of counterculture musicians and artists who were forging an aesthetic that continues to be an influential force in contemporary design.The exhibit starts in 1976 when artwork was ...
Tagged: 2018
Read MoreNiagara from Destroy All MonstersThis summer Cranbrook Art Museum dives head-first into the depths of punk and post-punk culture with the debut of Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986 and Shepard Fairey: Salad Days, 1989-1999. The museum kicked off the event on Friday night. Check out all our shots of the fun. June 15, 2018 Photos by Mike Pfeiffer
Tagged: 2018
Read MoreSex Pistols-Young Flesh Required '79.BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH.- This summer, Cranbrook Art Museum will debut the exhibitionToo Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986, the largest exhibition of its kind exploring the unique visual language of the punk and post-punk movements from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. “Since its rebellious inception in the 1970s, punk has always exhibited very visual forms of expression,” says Director of Cranbrook Art Museum Andrew Blauvelt, who is curating the exhibition. “The energy of the movement created a powerful subcultural phenomena that transcended music to affect other fields such as visual art and design.” At the same time, the Museum will debut the original exhibition Shepard Fairey: Salad Days, 1989-1999, which considers Fairey’s first 10 years of artistic practice and its roots in the graphic language and philosophies of the punk scene. Punk’s ethos played a decisive role in the artist’s early work. “When I discovered punk rock, ...
Tagged: 2018, Graphic Design
Read MoreNothin’ to do and nowhere to go? Don’t let the summer heat make you feel sedated. Running through Oct. 7, Cranbrook Art Museum debuts the exhibition “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986,” the largest exhibition of its kind, exploring the unique visual language of the punk movement as it evolved in the United States and the United Kingdom through hundreds of its most memorable graphics — flyers, posters, albums, promotions, and ’zines. Drawn predominantly from the extensive collection of collector Andrew Krivine, “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die” also includes a nod to the Detroit roots of punk. Robert St. Mary, a local author and music historian, helped to curate the Detroit portions of the exhibition at the request of Cranbrook Art Museum. St. Mary was asked to contribute his knowledge of the Detroit punk scene as an extension of a project he is working ...
Tagged: Graphic Design, punk
Read MoreImage credit: Courtesy of Shepard Fairey The Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills launches its two summer exhibitions — Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die: Punk Graphics 1976-1986 and Shepard Fairey: Salad Days 1989-1999 — on Friday, June 16, slated to run through Oct. 7. Fairey will be in town to speak on Saturday, June 16, and other special events are planned throughout the summer in conjunction with the punk exhibit. Admission is $6-$10. Call 248-645-3323 or visit cranbrookartmuseum.org.— Gary Graff
Tagged: Graphic Design, punk, Shepard Fairey
Read MorePHOTO COURTESY THE GALLERIES AT MOORE, PHILADELPHIA. PHOTO BY JOSEPH HU.Punk has invaded the Cranbrook Art Museum. The new exhibition “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986” is open now and runs through October 7th. Cranbrook Art Museum director Andrew Blauvelt says the general arc of the exhibition starts during the minimalist days of punk design in the early 1970s before an “explosion of color” arrives with the new wave movement. “Too Fast to Live” arrives on the heels of era-centric design shows at Cranbrook in the past few years including shows focused on hippie modernism and contemporary art in NYC in the 1980s. The museum is also hosting an exhibit on iconic street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey, who recently spoke with CultureShift about the punk music that has influenced him over the years.
Tagged: Graphic Design, punk
Read MoreNothin’ to do and nowhere to go? Don’t let the summer heat make you feel sedated. Running through Oct. 7, Cranbrook Art Museum debuts the exhibition “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986,” the largest exhibition of its kind, exploring the unique visual language of the punk movement as it evolved in the United States and the United Kingdom through hundreds of its most memorable graphics — flyers, posters, albums, promotions, and ’zines. Drawn predominantly from the extensive collection of collector Andrew Krivine, “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die” also includes a nod to the Detroit roots of punk. Robert St. Mary, a local author and music historian, helped to curate the Detroit portions of the exhibition at the request of Cranbrook Art Museum. St. Mary was asked to contribute his knowledge of the Detroit punk scene as an extension of a project he is working ...
Tagged: Graphic Design, punk
Read MoreCall Shepard Fairey the bait. Cranbrook Art Museum Director Andrew Blauvelt wanted to mount a large show on punk's influence on graphic art from the 1970s and 1980s, but worried no youngsters would show up. That's where "Shepard Fairey: Salad Days, 1989-1999" comes in, a small show that takes up one of the galleries at the end of the sprawling, visually dazzling "Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986." Both exhibitions will be up until Oct. 7.Punk performance posters fill one gallery in "Punk Graphics" at Cranbrook Art Museum. (Photo: Michael H. Hodges)"The two shows," Blauvelt said, "are linked at the hip." "Shepard was very influenced by the punk scene," he noted, adding that he needed Fairey "because I wanted to figure out a way to talk to young people" who might not connect with posters and ads for "ancient" groups like the Sex Pistols and Destroy All Monsters. So "Salad Days," which contains a range of ...
Tagged: Graphic Design, punk, Shepard Fairey
Read More
39221 Woodward Ave Box 801
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303
248.645.3323
artmuseum@cranbrook.edu
Copyright © 2025 Cranbrook Art Museum. All rights reserved. Created by Media Genesis.
