Raymond Pettibon, as Parisian as a McDonald’s french fry, is an odd choice for the opening of David Zwirner’s Paris outpost. His drawings depict the trends and totems of American life—rock stars, baseball players, surfers, and gangsters—with a hand trained in chillness by the So-Cal scene of 70s punk (he grew up in Hermosa Beach, CA). Cartoon simplicity casts each image as an American icon, but with a chaos of references Pettibon toys with mass-culture, symbolized by, say, Mcdonald’s golden arches, and winks at claims of American populism. —C.J.F.
The Arts Intel Report
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
Raymond Pettibon: Frenchette
When
October 16, 2019
Where
Etc
Raymond Pettibon, installation view of “Frenchette” 2019. Photographs: Jack Hems. © Raymond Pettibon