One Nation Underground: Punk And Visual Culture
Forty years ago, Georgetown was at the center of a cultural explosion called punk rock. The University’s radio station, WGTB, broadcast underground rock’n’roll across the city, and amplified progressive causes. In 1979, its license was sold by the administration for $1 to the University of the District of Columbia. The station’s team held a raucous fundraiser for its next iteration, a show headlined by the Cramps, in the Walsh Building.
The Hall of Nations, as the venue was known, had since the 1950s been an auditorium for the School of Foreign Service, which hosted conferences and distinguished speakers, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The space would go on to become a black box theatre and then the de la Cruz Art Gallery. But from 1979-1985, punk, new wave, and funk bands regularly played there. It showcased local styles such as go-go, and was part of a larger circuit of venues like DC Space and the 9:30 Club that cemented the city’s reputation as a locus for “hardcore” punk, with its commitment to a “DIY” ethos.
These works from the Andrew Krivine collection in New York, include posters, flyers, and pins featuring bands that played the Hall and others, the larger DC musical ecosystem, and a broader revolution in graphic design. Much of the work here was made by the bands and their fans. It also shows the ways in which those in the District were in artistic dialogue with a larger global sensibility that changed the way people viewed art, music, and politics forever.
This exhibition is generously supported by Lucille and Richard F.X. Spagnuolo. Guest curated by Ian Bourland.
All of the materials in this exhibition are from the Collection of Andrew Krivine
