All St. Claude Arts' District Events

Photographs by Lucian Perkins
Curated by Lely Constantinople and Jayme McLellan
Made possible with generous support from Civilian Art Projects

Hard Art DC1979 is a forthcoming book and traveling exhibition of photographs by Lucian Perkins with writing by Alec MacKaye and a contribution by Henry Rollins. The exhibition is curated and edited by photographer and photo editor Lely Constantinople and Jayme McLellan, director of Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC. In 1979, a soon to erupt punk scene took hold in Washington, DC with the Bad Brains, Trenchmouth,Teen Idles,the Untouchables, and the Slickee Boys, among others, at the forefront. Lucian Perkins, later a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist for the Washington Post, was then a 26-year-old intern. He photographed several shows over a pivotal five month period.

Alec MacKaye, then 14, was at most of the shows and appears in Perkins' photographs. The exhibition offers an intimate snapshot of "the time before the time" that punk rock found firm footing in the U.S., including rare (some never before seen) photographs and show flyers. Through band performance shots, portraits and raucous crowds dancing, the images capture the cathartic, infectious energy and spirit of the time.

The text offers an intimate exploration of the moment from two perspectives: that of a fourteen-year-old experiencing music on his own terms for the first time, and a look again at a movement that fueled an underground generation musically and philosophically. This examination is not a nostalgic review of glory days gone, as much as a present conversation about the continuation of a way of thinking that still endures.

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 24th, 6-9pm. After party event at Siberia Lounge, 2227 St. Claude Ave

Closing Date of Reception: February 5th