Raymond Pettibon

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Raymond Pettibon (born Raymond Ginn on June 16, 1957) is an American artist who lives and works in New York City. He first drew attention in the early 1980s in the Southern California punk scene, making posters and album artwork for bands on SST Records, run by his brother Greg Ginn. Pettibon also designed Black Flag’s famous four-bar logo and created art for the band’s flyers and releases. He later became a well-known figure in the contemporary art world, using ink drawings that combine images with text to explore American culture, politics, literature, religion, sports, and sexuality.

Raised in Hermosa Beach, California, Pettibon grew up as a Christian Scientist. He studied at UCLA, earning a degree in economics and later completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He is married to video artist Aïda Ruilova and they have a son. He works mainly with India ink on paper, producing hundreds of drawings—many in black and white, with occasional color added through collage or paint. His text is often ironic, provocative, and sometimes disturbing. He has also made animations, artist’s books, fanzines, prints, and large wall drawings that read like installations. He started publishing his drawings in small booklets called Superflux Pubs in 1978 and later combined collage with simple newsprint elements.

Pettibon moved from the punk scene into the wider art world in the mid-1980s. His work is now in major museums around the world. A major retrospective, A Pen of All Work, was shown at New York’s New Museum in 2017. He created a temporary billboard for New York’s High Line in 2013, featuring a baseball drawing with Jackie Robinson. In addition to drawings, he has made animations and music-related projects, and his art has influenced music videos, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Monarchy of Roses. Pettibon’s career includes a long list of solo and group exhibitions at major institutions, along with awards such as the Bucksbaum Award at the Whitney Biennial (2004) and the Tiffany Foundation Award (1991).

Pettibon’s work remains a sharp, often humorous critique of American culture, blending comics-like drawings with pointed text. He is represented by Regen Projects in Los Angeles and David Zwirner in New York, and continues to produce drawings, installations, and collaborations that push against cultural norms.