The vertigo of visual imagery embodied in punk culture emerges urgently in the exhibition dedicated to Raymond Pettibon, where drawings and fanzines become instruments of merciless critique and ironic visions of an iconic and disillusioned America. The exhibition Raymond Pettibon. Underground invites the viewer into the unsettling universe of a self-taught artist who, starting from the California punk scene of the late 1970s, has constructed a unique visual language - a language that continues to question the myths, broken dreams, and contradictions of the American dream. Known primarily for his black-and-white works, Pettibon has combined his incisive drawings with a production of self-produced fanzines inspired by the DIY aesthetic of posters, underground comics, and punk newsletters. The handwritten texts, often cryptic or drawn from literature and mass media, act as an ironic counterpoint to the images, creating a narrative short circuit that jolts the reader. The exhibition brings together seventy drawings and a dozen fanzines spanning five decades, offering a deep dive into his unsettling visual universe. His anti-authority gaze encompasses symbolic figures, from the hippie icon to the surfer, from the politician to the superhero, and even the baseball player, creating a caustic portrait of an America that has seen ideals vanish and social tensions loom large. His trajectory, which has taken him from punk concert flyers to major contemporary art institutions, testifies to a poetic coherence and rare radicalism. Pettibon disturbs, fascinates, and compels reflection on political, cultural, and personal values, just like a visual pamphlet that leaves no room for indifference.
