ART & DESIGN | punk pioneer: Jamie Reid

Jamie Reid was born in Croydon, United Kingdom in 1947 to a politically-active family. His father was an editor at the Daily Sketch, a tabloid newspaper, and his grandfather was the head of the Druid Order and had stood for parliament just before the first World War.

Reid identifies himself as an anarchist and is influenced by the Situationist movement, an anti-capitalist movement in art and politics. He found that it was difficult to understand the lengthy statements of the Situations, and aimed to "simplify and visualise" their jargon.

With his aggressive, post-modernist style, he was a perfect fit to work on one of Punk's most influential bands: Sex Pistols. It would go on to be one of Reid's most seminal work, and influence many artists that came after him.

image credit: Jamie Reid

Reid's decollage work evokes a do-it-yourself style, similar to that of Punk music. It thus became a visual representation of Punk style in design, with ransom-note typography, acidic colours, national flag motifs and in-your-face statements.

I really enjoyed Jamie Reid's work as I like the way he channels societal anger (and his own) into beautiful works of art. His do-it-yourself method also shows that you don't have to have expensive materials at hand to create great works! I also appreciate punk music very much, and it's just great to see how visuals represent sound.

Till next time,

Yolande