Exhibition: March 11–April 9, 2016
Opening reception: Friday, March 11, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Free and open to the public

Curated by CCA’s Graduate Program in Curatorial Practice Class of 2016

Void California surveys punk-inflected media that emerged from California subcultures in the late 1970s and 1980s. Encompassing zines, photography, collage, video montage, documentary film, and sound collage, the exhibition presents its artists and musicians as subcultural anthropologists, documenting a world at the brink of disaster.

Oakland-based writer, dancer, and musician Brontez Purnell will present a solo performance at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts on the occasion of the opening of Void California 1975–1989. The cult zine maker of Fag School, and queer punk rocker behind Bay Area bands, Gravy Train!! and The Younger Lovers, Purnell’s live performance and multiple projection piece will consider the role of documentation as a form of survival—both during the period covered by the exhibition and in the contemporary moment. Known for his irreverence, frankness, and humor, Purnell has written three books including his 2014 comic The Cruising Diaries (with drawings by Janelle Hessig), founded the Brontez Purnell Dance Company, and is currently working on a documentary of 1970s and 80s Bay Area choreographer and dancer Ed Mock. Purnell received a BFA in Theatre and Contemporary Dance at California State University, East Bay.