Up They Rise

The rise of British punk culture is documented in the memoirs and autobiographical fragments that accompany this visual career retrospective of artist Reid, best known for his Sex Pistol graphics. Inspired by McLuhan, jazz, and Jackson Pollock, Reid began his career with a radical, alternative ""community press'' in Croydon, London, in the early 1970s. He progressed to the Sex Pistols in 1976, starting with handbills and promotional posters that featured chaotic collages, crude marker scrawls and street-styled copy-machine techniques. He continued with record sleeves and film posters for the Pistols, but with a subversive intent: ``I wanted to show how much of show business is hype; I was trying to say that the ideas were more important than the personalities and the product.'' Reid's infamous creations, such as his ``Anarchy in the UK'' flag and a collage showing the Queen with a safety pin through her smile defined punk esthetics. Reid's startling color combinations are sadly absent from this black-and-white book. However, his anarchic spirit and the essence of ``rot 'n' roll'' explode on every page. (November)