'Punk: its traces in contemporary art' at MACBA

Punk came into being in the mid-1970s, and was characterized by raw music and its constant struggle against the fear of social repression. It has influenced much of today's art and that influence is the focus of this exhibition in which punk appears as an explicit reference in the work of many artists through their use of elements such as noise, cutouts, anti-design and the aesthetics of the ugly, as well as in the form of explicit references to bands. The exhibition attempts to analyse the legacy of punk in terms of its attitude of denial, opposition and destruction; its do it yourself approach; its references to fear and horror in a society that is alien to the individual; alienation itself and its relation to psychotic states; the definition of what is out of the norm; nihilism; criticism of the economic system and anarchy and the vindication of one’s own sexual freedom and of the body as a battleground.

'Punk: its traces in contemporary art' includes installations, documentary excerpts, photographs, videos and paintings, together with a section documenting the origins of punk and its vestiges in the present day and can be seen at MACBA from the 13th of May to the 15th of September.

'Punk: its traces in contemporary art' at MACBA

When: 13 May to 15 September.
Where: MACBA.
Price: €10.
Further information is available here.