The Religion of Marketing

The Religion of Marketing: Martin Atkins' Collection at The Metro Gallery in Baltimore, MD

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“The Religion of Marketing” is a gallery retrospective put together by Martin Atkins.

Martin Atkins has spent the last 30 years firmly left of center – performing with seminal bands Public Image Limited , Killing Joke , Ministry , and Nine Inch Nails .  He formed industrial supergroup Pigface , The Damage Manual , the post-punk Brian Brain and has had his own label, Invisible , for close to 20 years.

Atkins has moved into the world of publishing with a new column for Suicide Girls , and his book Tour:Smart , hits the shelves this Spring.  When not teaching at Columbia College Chicago , Atkins guest lectures throughout the world, most recently taking a trip to China where he signed and recorded several bands, filmed a documentary, and created a traditional instrument and scratch DJ hybrid that has already been featured on NPR.

It seems a fitting time to assemble some of his more visual work for a retrospective through his gallery exhibit, “The Religion of Marketing.”

The show was in NYC from August 15th-22nd  
Location: 93 2nd Avenue (between 5th & 6th Streets) New York, NY 10003
THE COLLECTION

His first gallery show “The Religion of Marketing” is very closely tied to his musical output and ranges from the massive to the minutia - the Mickey Mouse watch he used to generate some of the sounds on Public Image Ltd.’s Flowers of Romance album, and his 1980 diary with the matter-of-factly documented appearance on American Bandstand.  The 15 foot high dollar bill backdrops from Killing Joke’s 1989 tour, “Money Is Not Our God,” underpin the memorabilia side and sign post the way forward to larger pieces using repetition of multiple images. 

The next several years see him bouncing from small sculptures dealing with addiction to religious iconography.  The pieces get larger, less smelly, and easier to cut up as time goes by.  The Eye piece is 20 feet high and weirdly also available as limited edition print on perforated blotter acid sheets.  A small 12” x 16” sculpture, created during his first weeks sober became part of an extensive work documented in the booklet for Pigface’s 1994 album, Notes from thee Underground.  This work, in turn, spawned a stage set covered in dot-screened Newcastle Brown Ale bottle caps in front of which Pigface performed with special guest Danny Carey from TOOL .

Throw into this some pieces designed for Test Department’s only North America tour, a collection of hand screened Sheep on Drugs posters, a limited edition red vinyl 7” of music from China wrapped in posters from the Cultural Revolution and you almost forget this guy has a collection of post-punk photographs worthy of a show in their own right.  (and yes, some of those will be shown too!)

The gallery affords the luxury of showing the 12 foot tall pieces in their entirety.  Some of this is not for sale, some of it is, the entrepreneurial spirit behind everything Martin has done provides 24” x 17” easy to carry portions of these works to take home – “memorabilia for the masses.”

Several events are already planned. The gallery will play host to two evenings dedicated to presentations on the China music scene, as well as information on Martin’s book, Tour:Smart.  Some limited seating/sign up events are also planned where, having opened up some of his visual archives, Martin will be around to chat and open up some pieces of his brain. Check the gallery schedule for special events.