Raymond Pettibon, Revolutionary Sex (Deluxe signed edition of Patty Hearst SLA Poster), 1982

Raymond Pettibon

Revolutionary Sex (Deluxe signed edition of Patty Hearst SLA Poster), 1982

Offset printed poster (hand signed and numbered)

Hand-signed by artist, Boldly signed by Raymond Pettibon in red pencil; also numbered 105 (thought to be from an edition of only 200, but exact number unknown)

Frame Included
Measurements:
Framed:
22.25 by 16.25 by 1.25
Artwork:
17 inches by 11 inches

For those of us who came of age in the mid 1970s, one of the seminal cultural events - and a major national news story - of that era was the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst, granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She was kidnapped by a terrorist group, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), and during her 19 months of captivity Hearst confounded the public by publicly espousing the long-forgotten organization's philosophy and appearing to eagerly participate in a series of bank robberies and violent crimes. She adopted the "nom de guerre" Tania, and apparently developed an intimate relationship with one or more of her captors. She was eventually captured and put on trial. It was the first time the terms "Stockholm Syndrome" and even "radical chic" entered the national discourse. At her trial, the prosecution suggested that Patty Hearst had joined the Symbionese Liberation Army of her own volition. However, she testified that she had been raped and threatened with death while held captive. In 1976, she was convicted for the crime of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years in prison, later reduced to 7 years. Her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and she was later pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a California-based far-left militant organization that was active between 1973 and 1975. Their name ‘Symbionese’ is taken from the word symbiosis and they defined its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body. Rooted in Marxist and Black nationalist principles, the SLA positioned itself as a vanguard movement combatting capitalism, racism, and systemic oppression. While some of their goals may have seemed laudable and idealistic in theory (hence its romantic appeal), during its existence, the group murdered at least two people, committed armed bank robberies, attempted bombings, and other violent crimes. The SLA are widely regarded by American law enforcement as the first domestic terrorist group to rise on the political left.

Artist Raymond Pettibon began his career as a bass player for Black Flag (his older brother's punk rock band), but he soon found himself designing all of their posters and promotional materials, including the present work. In the early days of LA punk, Pettibon's drawings were distributed through photo-copied zines and on album covers; his drawings and artists' books are now represented in museums worldwide.

"Revolutionary Sex" was a poster Pettibon created for Black Flag in 1982. The present work is from the very elusive, coveted deluxe, hand signed and numbered edition - thought to be around 200 (though the exact number is unknown) this being numbered 105. It bears the original folds, as it was created as a flyer/mailer, and it has been elegantly framed in a red frame, as red was, famously, the background color of the Symbionese Liberation Army's black snake logo. (There was also a more common unsigned edition of this poster).

It is, of course artist Pettibon's depiction of "Tania", the nom de guerre of Patty Hearst, embraced in the loving grip of the seven-headed cobra - the official symbol of of the SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army). In Pettibon's explicitly sexual and racy interpretation of this event, a completely naked Hearst is seen grinning in ecstasy while the SLA's snake is sensually wrapped around her entire body including, most controversially, her private parts.

Raymond Pettibon (born Raymond Ginn, June 16, 1957) is an American artist who now lives and works in New York City. Pettibon came to prominence in the early 1980s in the southern California punk rock scene, creating posters and album art mainly for groups on SST Records, owned and operated by his older brother, Greg Ginn. He has subsequently become widely recognized in the fine art world for using American iconography variously pulled from literature, art history, philosophy, and religion to politics, sport, and sexuality.

As Holland Cotter noted in The New York Times, now quoted in his Wikipedia entry:

"Mr. Pettibon is, with gratifying regularity, a sharp political critic. It is the most interesting thing about him. His targets can be quite specific: the drug-wrecked hippie movement of the 1960s, the American war in Iraq. Yet his entire output, despite interludes of lyricism and nostalgia, and a running strain of stand-up humor, is a steady indictment of American culture as he has lived it over the past 60 years."