For the Fall 2024 semester, the Samek Art Gallery on Market St. is seeing a change of pace compared to its usual shows. Upon entering the gallery, visitors are greeted with a musical blast from the past, as opposed to the fine arts that often line the walls. From Sept. 14 to Dec. 1, the Samek will be displaying “Glitter & Trash,” an exhibit of original posters, prints and album covers from the 80s era of Glam Rock and the genres it later influenced.
The exhibit is largely composed of ephemera of the Glam era, featuring artists from 1966 to 1979 such as Alice Cooper, Queen, Elton John, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. The graphics then transition into the era built on revolution and resistance: Punk. This features artists from 1976 to 1980 like The Clash, Blondie, Sex Pistols, Devo, The B52s and The Ramones. Taking a bit of a “darker” turn, this then transitions into the Goth era, with artists from 1980 to 1988 such as Bauhaus, Specimen, Joy Division and The Cure. Last but not least is the New Romantic era, with artists from 1978 to 1986 like Adam & the Ants, Grace Jones, Duran Duran, Culture Club and Bow Wow Wow.
The Samek held its opening ceremony for the exhibit on Sept.14 at the downtown gallery. Onlookers were able to see through the building’s sizable front window and past the bigger-than-life decal of singer and bassist Suzi Quatro, straight through to the gallery teeming with attendees. After grabbing complimentary refreshments and perusing the gallery, attendees could choose to make their way through the back door of the Samek to the parking lot that hosted the Real Taste 570 food truck, with free food vouchers being provided to the first 60 people. Any particularly enthusiastic attendees were encouraged to “dress the part,” lending to pops of sparkle and color throughout the ceremony’s crowd.
The event was even DJ’ed by its own curator, Bucknell professor of philosophy, Peter Groff. An additional component of the exhibit, particularly catering to those who will experience the exhibit without Groff’s DJing, is a collection of vinyls to accompany the visuals. Visitors can put a vinyl onto the player themselves, chosen from a selection of 14 different albums from between 1971 to 1975 and featuring many of the artists that could be found on the walls.
Getting all of these graphics together for the show was not a one-man job, and “The Bucknellian” was fortunate to have Groff share the details of how he acquired the paraphernalia.
“Back in 2017, I started teaching a first-year foundation seminar on punk rock, currently called ‘The Ethos and Aesthetics of Punk,’” Groff said. “There was a series in Bucknell Magazine that year on ‘cool classes’ and someone did a feature on my punk seminar.”
The father of a then-current Bucknell student had read the feature, and reached out to Groff to let him know that his brother, Andrew Krivine, collected punk paraphernalia (and plenty of it). The two got in touch and became good friends, both sharing “very common sensibilities and tastes.”
“Andrew is a fascinating guy,” Groff said. “He actually stumbled onto the original British punk explosion in 1976 when he was a teenager visiting his cousin in London. As it turned out, his cousin owned a store called BOY, which was sort of the epicenter of punk culture/fashion in London at the time!”
Since then, Krivine has amassed a large collection of punk and other musical paraphernalia. He often loans out parts of his collection to museums, and has had shows in locations like New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and so on. In 2019, Groff and Krivine put together a punk graphics show at Bucknell, titled “Damaged Goods”, in coordination with Groff’s punk class. This past spring, Krivine reached out again to suggest another show, this time recentered around glam rock, as his collection has grown in this category.
“It’s been a lot of work, but having the opportunity to guest-curate shows on these musical movements/genres that I’ve always loved has kind of been a dream come true,” said Groff. “And I love what the Samek has done with it—it looks fantastic, I think!”
