27 Punk Photos: 11. Dim Wanker: F Word, May, 1978

1978 - Photography (Photography)

Bruce Conner

In 1977, as an already-established artist best known for his films, Bruce Conner began to photograph punk rock shows at Mabuhay Gardens, a San Francisco club and music venue. 27 Punk Photos: 11. Dim Wanker: F Word, May, 1978 (1978) is representative of a series of photographs by Conner, whose subject became a fascination for the artist. The photographs depict the revival of British punk rock groups in the late 1970s, and the importance of this movement in San Francisco. Some of Conner’s photographs from this period were published in the punk magazine Search and Destroy and depicted such significant figures from the scene as Frankie Fix of Crime, the Mutants, Penelope Houston of the Avengers, and Will Shatter of Negative Trend.

Bruce Conner was undoubtedly one of the key figures of America’s avant-garde art scene since his work emerged in the late 1950s. Affiliated with the beat community, he was overtly opposed to the academic establishment and worked freely in a variety of media, including drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, photography, and assemblage. However, Conner is most recognized for his films in which he created a unique visual montage through the skillful and pioneering editing of found footage.

Colors:

• san_francisco.n.01
• punk_rock.n.01
• documentary.n.01
• music.n.01
• seventies.n.01
• abstract photography
• anthropomorphism
• appropriation art
• assemblage
• american
• funk art
• postmodern artists
• artists from the san francisco bay area
• american contemporary artists
• american experimental filmmakers
• 20th-century american photographers