The Beautiful & The Damned: Punk Photographs by Ann Summa

September 11, 2010

Curated by Kristine McKenna

Press release

EXTENDED THROUGH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16!

Opening reception September 11, 6:00 - 9:00 P.M.

Book signing with artist Ann Summa and Exene Cervenka at 7 P.M.

Live acoustic performance by Exene Cervenka at 8:15 P.M.

Beauty and the beasts: On the edge on two coasts

When photographer Ann Summa arrived in Los Angeles in 1978, the city’s punk scene was still fresh and utterly original. It was fertile territory for a young photographer, and Summa dove into the fray; The Beautiful & the Damned is a collection of her portraits of the musicians, artists and fans who made Los Angeles such a crucial part of the history of punk. Drawn from Summa's new book, The Beautiful & the Damned, recently published by Foggy Notion Books and Smart Art Press, the exhibition will feature a selection of images from the book, along with alternate shots and outtakes. Including sixty images taken between 1978 and 1984, the show focuses for the most part on L.A.’s first punk generation, and includes portraits of the Germs, the Screamers, X, the Cramps and the Gun Club, among many others. The show expands its scope from there to highlight the cross- pollination that took place between L.A.’s punk scene and the fine art community: at the time, the audience for avant-garde artists such as the Kipper Kids, Johanna Went and Laurie Anderson was primarily drawn from the underground music scene.

Completing the story are photographs of musicians from the two other cities—London and New York—that played a central role in the birthing of punk. Photographed in L.A. during their first U.S. tours are U.K. groups the Clash, Magazine, the Fall, the Slits, Bow Wow Wow and the Pretenders, among others. Visiting dignitaries from New York include Television, James Chance, Lydia Lunch and Talking Heads. Also included are portraits of artists who served as an inspiration to L.A. punks—Captain Beefheart, Iggy Pop and David Bowie, among others— and candid shots of unidentified audience members. The photographs are, for the most part, previously un-exhibited silver gelatin prints, many of them vintage photographs printed by the artist.

Ann Summa studied photography in Japan. Her work has been regularly published for the past 30 years in publications including Artnews, Rolling Stone, the New York TImes, and The Los Angeles Times. Summa is currently at work on her second book, Sacred Faces, which is slated for publication in 2011.

Installation views

Exene Cervenka and John Doe, founding members of seminal Los Angeles band X, outside their home in West Hollywood, March 31, 1982. Widely regarded to be the first generation L.A. punk band to have had the most lasting impact, X – which includes guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake – continues to tour.

Del Bozzio, at the Whiskey a Go Go, November 20, 1981. Lead singer with Missing Persons, a new wave band and purveyor of electronic pop formed in 1980, Bozzio was a provocative performer with a little girl voice who favored daring stage garb. The group broke up in 1986, and since the early ‘90s Bozzio has toured under the name Missing Persons featuring Dale Bozzio.

Joe Strummer, of the Clash, at the Roxy, April 27, 1980.

Deborah Iyall, vocalist with San Francisco group Romeo Void, at the Whiskey a Go Go, January, 1982. Formed in 1979, Romeo Void achieved modest success with its 1982 single, Never Say Never, then disbanded in 1985.

Su Tissue, lead singer with the Suburban Lawns, at the Roxy, January, 1981. Formed in 1978, the Suburban Lawns released their first single the following year, and immediately had a place in the punk community. Titled Gidget Goes to Hell, the song was a showcase for Su Tissue’s bizarre vocal style, which incorporated elements of Yoko Ono, Devo and Daffy Duck. Suburban Lawns disbanded in 1983 after releasing two albums.

Dave Alvin, of the Blasters, at the Country Club, December 24, 1982.

Dinah Cancer, of 45 Grave, at the Hollywood Cemetery, April 29, 1982. Debuting as a member of Castration Squad, Cancer formed 45 Grave in 1979 and led the group until it dissolved in 1985. Regarded today as a pioneer of Goth rock, 45 Grave released several singles and one LP, Sleep in Safety, which was released in 1983. Married and divorced twice, Cancer has two daughters, and following the demise of 45 Grave she devoted herself to motherhood, and became an early development teacher. During this period she overcame a twelve year addiction to heroin. She returned to performing as a member of Penis Flytrap, then reformed 45 Grave with a new line-up in 2005.

Johanna Went, at the Whisky a Go Go, March 1982. A pioneering performance artist, Went was part of a theater troupe that traveled the U.S. and Europe doing street theater during the mid ‘70s. She settled in Los Angeles, in 1977 and became a regular performer on the punk circuit. Working in collaboration with her musical director, Mark Wheaton, Went devised a performance style best described as a kind of purging or exorcism. Dressed in elaborate costumes fashioned from found objects, she destroyed her props, sets, and costumes during the course of her shows, which often involved torrents of viscous liquids including artificial blood. Still based in Los Angeles, Went continues to perform, and was the subject of a retrospective exhibition, at Track 16 Gallery, in 2007.

Tom Verlaine, guitarist, lead writer and vocalist with New York band Television, at the Roxy, October 16, 1981. Formed in 1973 by Verlaine and Richard Hell, (who subsequently left the group to form the Voidoids), Television stands today as one of the great first generation punk groups in purely musical terms. Their stage presence was austere and low-key, but their music was extraordinary, and their debut album of 1977, Marquee Moon, is one of the most magnificent recordings of the last thirty years. The group broke up in 1978 and Verlaine went on to release several solo albums, and create soundtracks for a handful of films. In 2001 he reassembled Television for occasional shows, and in 2007 they began working together on Television’s third album.

Exene Cervenka, in the ladies room at the Masque, 1979.

Unidentified audience member, March 3, 1981.

Iggy Pop, at the Hollywood Palladium, April 1980

Darby Crash, at the Starwood, on New Years Eve, 1979. Founder and front man for the Germs, an influential band that earned a reputation as the most extreme punk act in town, Crash was a ferocious showman who willfully injured himself onstage and incited his fans to riot – which they usually did. The Germs were notorious for leaving any venue that booked them in shambles. Crash committed suicide with a heroin overdose in December of 1980, at the age of 22.

Wendy O. Williams, lead singer for the Plasmatics, at the Whiskey a Go Go, October 4, 1080. Formed in New York, in 1978, the Plasmatics were a radical group whose extreme behavior onstage – which featured near-nudity and chainsaws –incorporated elements of performance art. Williams was arrested repeatedly during the band’s ten-year life span; a typical episode took place in 1981, in Cleveland, where she was jailed for simulating sex onstage wearing nothing but shaving cream. In 1991 she settled in Connecticut with longtime partner, Plasmatics founder Rod Swenson, and devoted herself to animal rights and rehabilitation. Williams died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1998.