David King Publications 1977–2019 is the first published survey of David King’s book projects and graphic design work. David King (1948–2019) was a British-born artist, graphic designer, and musician best known for designing the Crass symbol. His many varied projects encompassed design, drawing, photography, sculpture, film, video, radio plays, and more. King was a core member of the New York no wave band Arsenal, and later the San Francisco post-punk bands Sleeping Dogs and Brain Rust. He generated hundreds of flyers for these bands and others during the period of 1977–1988, as well as creating logos, brand identities and posters for nightclubs like Danceteria, Pravda, and the Peppermint Lounge in New York, and the I-Beam in San Francisco.
King made dozens of Xeroxed and offset zines in the late 70s and 80s that often accompanied his music projects. In the early 2000s, he began self-publishing highly idiosyncratic small-run books with subjects ranging from photographs of J.G. Ballard’s home to rock formations seen in early Western films. In the later 2000s, he released numerous books of graphic design and photography through Colpa Press, &Pens, and Gingko Press. This publication seeks to introduce readers to King’s small-press publishing projects, as well as his zines, ephemera, and illustration work.
This publication accompanies the exhibition of the same name at San Francisco Center for the Book, on view October 25–December 22, 2024.
David King has exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery, the Hayward Gallery, and the Horse Hospital in London; and the Lab, Park Life, and Adobe Books in San Francisco. His films have been screened at Artists’ Television Access, San Francisco; the Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley; and Millennium and Tier 3, New York. Early performance works include contributions to EXIT at the Roundhouse in London, and EXIT with Anthony McCall in North Weald, both part of ICES, 1972. Sleeping Dogs’ music has been released by Crass Records and Brain Rust’s by Vinyl Communications. In addition, numerous books have been published on King’s work including Scrapbook, Still, and Journey by Colpa Press; Secret Origins of the Crass Symbol published by &Pens Press; and David King Stencils: Past, Present and Crass! published by Gingko, Kill Yr Idols.
