Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk As Design at Cranbrook Art Museum

The new exhibition at Cranbrook traces the evolution of punk & new wave genres through the designs that defined it

Photo: the Galleries at Moore, Philadelphia

Click on the audio player above for the full conversation.

Punk has invaded the Cranbrook Art Museum.

The new exhibition “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986” is open now and runs through October 7th.

Cranbrook Art Museum director Andrew Blauvelt says the general arc of the exhibition starts during the minimalist days of punk design in the early 1970s before an “explosion of color” arrives with the new wave movement.

“Too Fast to Live” arrives on the heels of era-centric design shows at Cranbrook in the past few years including shows focused on hippie modernism and contemporary art in NYC in the 1980s.

The museum is also hosting an exhibit on iconic street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey, who recently spoke with CultureShift about the punk music that has influenced him over the years.

 

Author

  • Ryan Patrick Hooper
    Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.