#creem

David Byrne for CREEM magazine, January 1984 issue.

11.28.25 Opening at Ki Smith Gallery celebrating the 50th anniversary of Punk Magazine.

Punk was a music magazine and fanzine created by cartoonist John Holmstrom, publisher Ged Dunn, and "resident punk" Legs McNeil in 1975. It was the first punk zine, and helped popularize the early New York CBGB scene, popularizing the use of the term "punk rock" as a descriptor for contemporary music scenes; previously it was used strictly to refer to mid-1960s garage rock. Punk magazine began in late 1975, Holmstrom, Dunn and McNeil drew visual inspiration for the fanzine from underground comic books, mixing Mad Magazine-style cartooning by Holmstrom, Bobby London and a young Peter Bagge with the more straightforward pop journalism of the kind found in Creem.

The exhibit features many photos taken for publication by photographers Bob Gruen, Barak Berkowitz, Roberta Bayley and David Godlis, along with page layouts and other contributions.