Having emerged from the Southern California DIY culture and its punk-rock sensibility, Raymond Pettibon fuses together youthful edginess and political engagement. Drawing from disparate cultural sourcesâfrom Marcel Proust to the Bibleâthe artistâs cartoon-inspired ink drawings on unframed paper recall the look of fanzines and concert flyers, however with an often cryptic semblance of narrative. More recently, Pettibonâs works have been a sustained critique of the Iraq War and American foreign policy, such as No Title ("Why press him?") (2007), which depicts George W. Bush with bloodied hands and surrounded by pointed, ironic commentary. Pettibon was a recipient of the Whitney's Bucksbaum award in 2004.
