Corcoran Gallery of Art

PUMP ME UP OPENS IN WASHINGTON D.C.

Pump Me Up: D.C. Subculture of the 1980s was the first exhibition to explore the thriving underground scene of Washington, D.C., during the 1980s, capturing the raucous energy of graffiti, Go-Go music, and a world-renowned punk and hardcore scene. The exhibit showcased the visual culture of the "other D.C.," highlighting its significance in the history of street art and America's capital city. Ephemera, photos, flyers, posters, records, newspaper clippings, stage clothes, instruments, video loops, and more, all predominantly made between 1980 and 1992, brought the era to life. The exhibition featured sections on graffiti writers, the D.C. punk, hardcore, and Go-Go scenes, concert posters by the Baltimore-based Globe Poster Printing Corporation, and visual culture from the drug wars. Held from February 23 to April 7, 2013, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the show saw double the attendance of any previous exhibit in the last ten years at the Corcoran, broke record sales in their bookstore, and had every event sold out. Roger Gastman developed, produced, and curated the exhibit, along with a 320-plus-page book/catalog of the same title, featuring interviews and essays that expanded the story in print. The exhibit and events were widely covered by local and national press, including newspapers, print magazines, TV, radio, and online media.