At first sight, baroque and punk have little in common: 'high' art versus alternative and underground. But there are also similarities. The physical and sometimes violent visual immediacy of baroque - a reaction to the iconoclasm - has its counterpart in the punk movement.
In the seventies, punk got rid of the softness of the flower power and the decadence of the excesses in the rock world. Not only in music and in the street scene, the signs of the anti-establishment 'attitude' of this new 'blank generation' emerge. The unruly subculture with its spin-offs and related movements such as the post-punk and new wave also infiltrated the vibrant Antwerp cultural scene of that time. With non-conformism, personal freedom, anti-authority and do-it-yourself spelled out, punk starts an iconic storm within the Antwerp fashion, graphic design, visual arts and performance scene.
The exhibition Naughty Kids - Punk, Image & Storm in Antwerp 1978-2018 brings together familiar and hidden traces of this impact. This search for traces in the past also has a link with today: are punk and its aftermath in 2018 still relevant? The current wave of self-published zines, street art, poetic terrorism, artists' collectives in combination with the call for a more critical art, allows us to speak of a revival of punk and its DIY ethics in Flanders and, more specifically, in Antwerp.
Visitors of NAUGHTY KIDS - Punk, Beeld & Storm in Antwerp 1978-2018, can smell 40 years of punk. Photographs, printed matter, works of art, music, clothing, punk paraphernalia and other living witnesses bring the impact of punk (1970s), post-punk and New Wave (80s) and neopunk (1990s) into the picture. How were leading fashion designers, artists and writers influenced by punk? With an unprecedented wealth of material, an opening concert by The Kids, a debate with privileged witnesses about 'The paradox of punk', and a performative DIY program, the Academy rubs against the rough essence of punk. Be there. There will be no next time.
Practical
06/09 untill Saturday 22/09
Opening hours: from 12 AM- 6 PM
Location: De Lange Zaal, Venusstraat 36, 2000 Antwerpen
In the context of the exhibition:
06/09: opening with a concert by The Kids
22/09: debate 'The paradox of punk'. The themes of the debate are in line with the exhibition and will gradually take shape during the preparation. Guests are experts, privileged witnesses, contemporary DIYers, ...
Punk, Beeld & Storm in Antwerp 1978-2018 is an exhibition project of the Antwerp Academy around Punk and Postpunk in Antwerp, their influence on the arts and their current relevance.
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