Pat Greene is Bungalower Media’s first sponsored Resident Reporter. Greene has joined our team as our Arts and Culture Correspondent for the next quarter, supported by the efforts of Interstruct Design + Build, an award-winning Orlando-based design and build firm.
I mentioned the two shows that the Orlando Museum of Art (Website) was bringing to town a couple of weeks ago, and the time has come, as they both open this Saturday, September 21; Torn Apart (Website) and Push (Website).
Torn Apart looks at works from 1976- 1986, and represents a pivotal time in art and culture, and these movements were also pivotal for my development as an artist and person. The exhibition features artists associated with punk rock, like Raymond Pettibon, Vivienne Westwood’s clothing, and Sheila Rock’s photographs.
PUSH looks at skateboard culture during that same period through the photography of J. Grant Brittain. I feel like skateboarding is the official sport of punk rock. And actually, the classic Vans sneaker checkerboard model, especially in southern California in the late 1970s and early 1980s, might have been designed for SST Records.
Raymond Pettibon, the brother of SST founder Greg Ginn, was the primary artist for SST and he is one of the featured artists in Torn Apart. Several of Pettibon’s cartoonish drawings have baseball and surfing themes, usually with dark-humored text and he has been a longtime favorite artist of mine and my good friend Chris Robb’s.
Robb (Website), known as Kit to those who grew up with him, and I have been friends since high school. He and I will meet up and go to the shows at the museum for new openings and he’s a very talented painter in his own right, who is well-known in central Florida. His work is currently on display at SNAP Gallery downtown.
We’ve had a lot of conversations about art over the years and there are many parallels between growing up in southern California and Florida; Chris and our high school friends surfed a lot and played pick up baseball games.
About a year after high school, I joined the Army. Most people who know me probably can’t picture me as a soldier. I spent over two years in an Intelligence unit in Ludwigsburg, Germany, outside of Stuttgart. While there, Chris and Brian Duke, another friend, visited me. Brian’s nephew is Matt Duke, one of the owners of The Nook on Robinson and a good friend.
Chris, a grade ahead of me, went to New York City right after graduating from UCF. He left with his good friend Parker Dulany and they became immersed in what has become known as the Downtown Scene. Parker also became known for being the frontman of the band Certain General (Website).
In 1980, they both showed art at the First Annual Club 57 Group Erotic and Pornographic Art Exhibition, which Keith Haring co-curated. The exhibit also featured now-well-known artists Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, Ann Magnuson, David Wojnarowicz, and Donald Baechler.
After I returned home from the Army, Chris briefly returned from New York. He left me in charge of over 250 of his albums as I had lost some time, culturally, from my stint in the Army. Chris caught me up. I became familiar with the influential figures of the time, including John Lurie, Lydia Lunch, James Chance, Jim Jarmusch, Ann Magnuson, Jim Carroll, Basquiat, and others.
The experience was so freeing. It was like a second round of DaDa art. You can break the rules. It’s interesting how many of these people and the scene weren’t taken seriously by what is considered the serious art world. That has changed a lot. Pettibon is one of the highest-paid artists in the world. A Basquiat work sold for $110.5 million in 2017.
I am looking forward to these shows and to attending them with my friend Chris Robb. I am indebted to him for opening my eyes and for being one of my favorite people to discuss art with. Torn Apart and PUSH will be displayed from September 21 to January 5, 2025.
Orlando Museum of Art is located at 2416 N. Mills Avenue [GMap].
