Visual Vitriol

<p><em>Visual Vitriol: The Street Art and Subcultures of the Punk and Hardcore Generation</em> is a vibrant in-depth and visually appealing history of punk which reveals punk concert flyers as urban folk art. David Ensminger exposes the movement's deeply participatory street art including flyers stencils and graffiti. This discovery leads him to an examination of the often-overlooked presence of African Americans Latinos women and gays and lesbians who have widely impacted the worldviews and music of this subculture. Then Ensminger the former editor of fanzine <em>Left of the Dial</em> looks at how mainstream and punk media shape the public's outlook on the music's history and significance.</p><p>Often derided as litter or a nuisance punk posters have been called instant art Xerox art or DIY street art. For marginalized communities they carve out spaces for resistance. Made by hand in a vernacular tradition this art highlights deep-seated tendencies among musicians and fans. Instead of presenting punk as a predominately middle-class white-male phenomenon the book describes a convergence culture that mixes people gender and sexualities.</p><p>This detailed account reveals how members conceptualize their attitudes express their aesthetics and talk to each other about complicated issues. Ensminger incorporates an important array of scholarship ranging from sociology and feminism to musicology and folklore in an accessible style. Grounded in fieldwork <em>Visual Vitriol</em> includes over a dozen interviews completed over the last several years with some of the most recognized and important members of groups such as Minor Threat The Minutemen The Dils Chelsea Membranes 999 Youth Brigade Black Flag Pere Ubu the Descendents the Buzzcocks and others.</p>