Top 10 Punk Musicians Who are Also Visual Artists
Punk musicians who are also known and respected as visual artists.
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Nick Blinko
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Rudimentary Peni, he is also an "outsider artist." His pen-and-ink drawings and paintings have been displayed in art galleries worldwide and published in numerous art books and magazines. He also creates all the artwork for his band, including album covers, sleeves, and logos.
Seriously, check out his visual artwork if you get a chance.
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Raymond Pettibon
Former bassist for Panic (Black Flag) and brother of Greg Ginn, he is widely recognized in the fine arts world for his use of American iconography. He is known for his comic-style drawings that feature disturbing, ironic, or ambiguous text. In addition to designing "The Bars" for Black Flag, he has also created album cover artwork for numerous other bands, such as Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Minutemen, and Off!, to name a few.
A retrospective of his artwork, entitled "A Pen Of All Work," spanned three floors of New York City's New Museum in 2017.
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Dick Lucas
Singer and songwriter for the U.K.'s Subhumans, he creates truly cool and actually quite beautiful paintings. He also engages in balancing art, which is pretty gnarly. You can check out his paintings and balancing art through his Instagram, dicklucasart.
His balancing art is mind-blowing. My wife and I plan to buy one, or maybe two, of his paintings very soon.
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Tomata du Plenty
Frontman for The Screamers, he began his artwork career in 1983. He has created numerous canvas paintings featuring people he admired, including his favorite poets, boxers, TV stars, and musicians. During the '90s, he held multiple showings each year in California, New York, and Florida.
Many musicians have purchased his paintings of themselves at these showings.
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Alan Vega
Frontman for Suicide, he studied fine arts while attending Brooklyn College. His visual artwork includes paintings and sculptures. During the '70s, he had a residency at the OK Harris Gallery in SoHo.
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Dix Denney
Guitarist for The Weirdos, he has had numerous gallery showings featuring his paintings and other artworks. When asked when he started engaging in visual arts, he replied that he has loved smearing paint on things since he was a kid.
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Steve Caballero
Guitarist for The Faction and a professional skateboarder, he has been painting since the '80s and has had numerous showings.
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Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist who became a highly influential figure in the New York City punk rock movement. Her 1975 debut album Horses is widely regarded as one of the most important albums in the genre. She has also received numerous accolades... read more
Member of the Patti Smith Group, she started painting in the '70s. She had an art exhibition titled "Strange Messenger" at The Andy Warhol Museum.
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Mike Gallo
Bassist for Agnostic Front, he has been interested in the arts his entire life and creates paintings and graffiti art.
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Warren Fitzgerald
Guitarist for The Vandals and co-owner of Kung-Fu Records, he is an avid painter who sells his paintings online.
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Rikk Agnew
He creates cool, somewhat creepy paintings and sells them online.