Raymond Pettibon: California Punk Rock Art Pioneer

Group Exhibitions: A Journey to International Recognition

Raymond Pettibon's exhibition history began in the 1980s with group shows in various galleries. His career took a significant turn in 1992 when he was invited to participate in Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990s, curated by Paul Schimmel at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles. The following year, in 1993, Pettibon participated in the prestigious Whitney Biennial, alongside fellow artist Noni Grevillea.

By the mid-90s, Pettibon’s work had already garnered considerable attention, resulting in exhibitions at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, MOCA in Los Angeles, Kunsthaus Zurich, and White Columns in New York. The late 1990s marked Pettibon's growing international presence, with exhibitions at notable locations such as Tramway in Glasgow, Scotland, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and a second appearance at the Whitney Biennial in 1997.

In 2002, Pettibon participated in documenta XI in Kassel, Germany, curated by Okwui Enwezor, solidifying his global recognition. In 2004, he was part of the Site Santa Fe Fifth International Biennial, where he exhibited his first animation, a milestone in his artistic evolution. That year, Pettibon also participated in the Whitney Biennial for the third time, receiving the esteemed Bucksbaum Award for his installation of drawings, marking one of the highest honors in the contemporary art world.

Pettibon continued his exhibition trajectory in 2007, when Dominic Molon from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, curated the Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967 exhibition, which included Pettibon’s original drawings from Black Flag concert flyers and album covers. In 2008, he featured in the California Biennial, with one of his works displayed as a large billboard on the iconic Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. He later participated in the 2010 Liverpool Biennial curated by Lorenzo Fusi.

In 2011, Rizzoli published a comprehensive monograph of Pettibon’s work, edited by Ralph Rugoff, representing the most extensive compilation of his art at that time.

Since 2018, Pettibon's No Title (If You Can) has been part of the permanent collection of Colección SOLO at its museum in Madrid, with additional exhibitions of his paintings, such as Broken at Last and the iconic Sonic Youth cover signed by Pettibon and Kim Gordon.

Solo Exhibitions: The Evolution of an Artist

Raymond Pettibon's solo exhibition journey began in 1986, when Barry Blinderman hosted his first solo show at the Semaphore Gallery in New York. A few years later, in 1995, Pettibon had his first major solo exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery in New York. The mid-1990s saw Pettibon’s first solo museum exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern in Switzerland, which later traveled to Paris. By 1998, he had a self-titled solo show at the Renaissance Society in Chicago, which also traveled to the Drawing Center in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

In 2002, Pettibon had another major solo exhibition, Raymond Pettibon Plots Laid Thick, which traveled from the Museu D’art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) to Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery and GEM, Museum Voor Actuele Kunst in The Hague, The Netherlands. A major solo survey exhibition followed in 2006 at the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga, Spain, which later traveled to the kestnergesellschaft in Hannover, Germany. A catalog was published to accompany these exhibitions.

Pettibon also participated in the 2007 Venice Biennale, contributing a unique wall drawing installation as part of the Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind: Art in the Present Tense exhibition, curated by Robert Storr.

In 2013, Pettibon’s exhibition PUNK cabinet de curiosités MADE IN Raymond Pettibon was hosted at galerie mfc-michèle didier in Paris, followed by the 2016 HOMO AMERICANUS exhibition at Sammlung Falckenberg in Hamburg.

Publications: Essential Monographs and Artist Books

Raymond Pettibon has had numerous publications dedicated to his work. Among the most significant is Raymond Pettibon, published by Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga in 2006, which was also presented at the kestnergesellschaft in Hannover, Germany. Another key publication is Whatever You’re Looking For You Won’t Find It Here, which accompanied his exhibition at Kunsthalle Wien in 2006.

In 2005, Pettibon created a special artist book titled Turn to the Title Page for his solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum. His 2002 publication, Raymond Pettibon: Plots Laid Thick, was published by MACBA in Barcelona, and in 2001, Raymond Pettibon was published by Phaidon Press, Inc. The comprehensive 2017 monograph Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work, also by Phaidon Press, remains a key publication documenting his career.

Earlier collections include Raymond Pettibon: The Books 1978–98, edited by Roberto Ohrt and published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walter Konig and DAP, New York in 2000, and Raymond Pettibon: A Reader, a publication from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago in 1998. Pettibon's first major monograph, Raymond Pettibon, was published by Kunsthalle Bern and edited by Ulrich Loock in 1995.

Collections: Pettibon’s Works in Renowned Institutions

Pettibon's work is represented in the collections of numerous prestigious museums and institutions worldwide. Some of these include the Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Ellipse Foundation in Lisbon, Colección Solo in Madrid, FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais in France, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland, and the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart in Berlin. His art is also held by the Laguna Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Ludwig Museum in Köln, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and Museion in Bolzano, Italy, among many others.

In the United States, Pettibon’s works can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Recognition: Prestigious Awards and Prizes

Pettibon has received several high-profile awards and recognitions throughout his career. In 1991, he was honored with the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award, followed by the Wolfgang Hahn Prize in 2001, awarded by Museum Ludwig. In 2003, he won the Grand Prize of Honor for his participation in the 25th Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Pettibon’s major achievement came in 2004 when he won the Bucksbaum Award for his installation at the Whitney Biennial. This prestigious award, given every two years, is the largest of its kind and recognizes an artist whose work is showcased in that year’s Whitney Biennial. As part of this honor, Pettibon was given a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in 2005, which included new works and a published artist’s book.

Most recently, in 2010, Pettibon was awarded the Oskar Kokoschka Prize by the University of Vienna. This prize, established by the Austrian government in honor of the late painter, is awarded biennially to contemporary artists whose work has made a significant impact.