David King Publications 1977-2019 Book

120pp
6.5 x 8.8125 in. (165.1 x 223.8 mm)
Full color offset on 120gsm Munken Lynx Rough
2 color offset cover on 240gsm Munken Lynx
Thread-sewn soft cover OTA binding
Introduction by Matt Borruso
Essay by Experimental Jetset
Co-published by Colpa Press and San Francisco Center for the Book
Available in the UK and Europe at Antenne Books
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.