KICK BOY - Vallen 1979 (detail) Acrylic on watercolor paper. 22" x 30"

"One's music must show how ridiculous the past few years have been, one's music must show how incredibly vacuous the productions of the so-called pop stars are, one's music must show how disgusting the pretentions of establishment rock are becoming." - Kick Boy 1977

This detail from my painting focuses on the T-shirt worn by Kick Boy. The graphic depicted was released as a poster by Virgin Records for the Sex Pistols album, The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle, and later printed as a T-shirt. Sid Vicious of the Pistols actually wore that swastika T-shirt, but not because he was a fascist. The provocative use of the swastika was meant as a tasteless comment against conformity and capitalist hyper-consumption. It was a hamfisted attempt to outrage a sleepy and complacent society.