The History of Winston Smith
punk rock icon, collage master & art crime mastermind
Winston Smith is the quintessential Punk Surrealist, montage artist and designer most known for creating the Dead Kennedys iconic logo and artwork. He has produced over 50 record covers and is known for his work with Green Day and publications such as The New Yorker, Playboy, Spin Magazine and many more. His intricate collage work imbued with thought-provoking, tongue-in-cheek themes is often made using vintage magazines and photographs. His technique of cutting out by hand and gluing each individual element has inspired a generation of artists. He has published multiple books of his collage collections and consistently creates new, powerful, contemporary original compositions.
THE STORY OF WINSTON
Winston Smith (born May 27, 1952) is an American artist, illustrator, and cover designer who primarily uses the medium of collage. He is probably best known for the artwork he has produced for the American punk rock group Dead Kennedys. He also designed the Motéma Music logo.
Winston is classically trained in Renaissance art, having left the U.S. in 1969 to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where he lived for several years before moving to Rome. He returned to the USA and landed in San Francisco in 1976, beginning his burgeoning career as an pioneering punk collage artist that defined the style for flyers and cover art of punk bands worldwide.
Smith is particularly known for his collaborations with Jello Biafra (former Dead Kennedys frontman) and Alternative Tentacles, for whom he has done numerous covers, inserts, advertisements, flyers, and logos. He is responsible for the famous Alternative Tentacles logo as well as the well-known Dead Kennedys logo and six of their record covers. One of his compositions, God Told Me to Skin You Alive, was used as the cover of Green Day's album Insomniac.
A version of an illustration which had been on the back cover of the Biafra/D.O.A. album Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors was later featured on the cover of the April/May 2000 issue of The New Yorker magazine. His work has also appeared in Spin, Playboy, Wired, Utne Reader, Mother Jones, Metro Silicon Valley, Ugly Planet, National Lampoon, and numerous punk fanzines, such as Maximumrocknroll, Seconds, Punk Planet, etc.
His name is a reference to the character of the same name in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Smith left the U.S. in 1969 to study art in Italy and, struck by the profound social changes that had occurred during his absence from the U.S., adopted the name after returning to America in 1976.
In Italy, Smith attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence studying classical Renaissance art and later won a scholarship to study Cinema at the International University of Art (Florence & Rome). For a few years he traveled throughout Italy, roadie-ing for well-known Italian jazz band PERIGEO. Over the last 30 years, Winston has had numerous shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Antwerp, Berlin and Rome.
His work has been included in numerous books chronicling the punk rock era as well as having his work included in art text books plus several book covers, such as Greg Palast's best-sellers "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" and "Armed Madhouse". In addition, Winston has designed over 80 record covers including covers and insert art for Jello Biafra, Burning Brides, George Carlin and Ben Harper.
tours & exhibitions
Over the last 35 years, Winston has had numerous one-man shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Berlin, Antwerp, Rome and Tokyo, as well as group shows throughout the United States and Europe.
exhibitions
Pasadena, CA - Folie a Deux, Group Show curated by Lori Herbst - Sugarmynt Gallery (February 2022)
Ukiah, CA - Cut & Paste, Group Show curated by Deep Valley Arts Collective - Medium Art Gallery (February 2022)
Ukiah, CA - Light & Dark, Group Show curated by Deep Valley Arts Collective - Medium Art Gallery (September 2021)
Web Exhibit - World Collage Day 2021, Group Show curated by the Brooklyn Collage Collective & Trigonal Gallery (May 2021)
Web Exhibit - Homeland Insecurity: an Exhibition inspired by the life of Victoria Woodhull, Group Show curated by Destroy Art Inc (November 2020)
Web Exhibit - 2020: Online Art Show, Group Show curated by Haight Street Art Center (August 2020)
San Francisco, CA - Welcome to 1984//2020: Punk on the Western Front, Group Show curated by Destroy Art Inc - Art Attack SF (February 2020)
San Francisco, CA - 10 Year Anniversary of Grant’s Tomb, Mini Solo Show of Winston Smith’s Bottle Art - Grant’s Tomb (December 2019)
San Diego, CA - Vicissitude, Group Show curated by Punk Rock & Paintbrushes (November 2019)
San Francisco, CA - Dystopian Dreams, Two-man Show with Dennis Larkins - Haight Street Art Center (October 2019)
San Francisco, CA - Live Worms Gallery, Group Show by Mark Ulriksen (October 2019)
San Francisco, CA - Group Show curated by Punk Rock & Paintbrushes - Art Attack SF (June 2019)
Los Angeles, CA – Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die, Group Show Curated by Shepard Fairey – Subliminal Projects Gallery (February, 2011)
San Francisco, CA – Tokyo Pop!!, Joint Show with Kosuke Kawamura – Fivepoints Arthouse (February, 2011)
Tokyo, Japan – 33 Idols, Joint Show with Kosuke Kawamura – Super Deluxe (October, 2010)
San Francisco, CA – Deep Dimension, Solo Exhibition – Robert Berman E6 Gallery (October, 2010)
Santa Monica, CA – In God We Trust, Inc., Solo Exhibition – Copro Gallery, Bergamot Station (October, 2009)
Santa Fe, NM – Group Exhibition – Pop Gallery Santa Fe (October, 2008)
San Francisco, CA – You’re Just No Fun Anymore, Solo Exhibition – Glama-Rama Salon (August, 2008)
Santa Monica, CA – Alex Steinweiss, Creator of the Album Cover, Group Show – Robert Berman Gallery, Bergamot Station (January, 2008)
Detroit, MI – Carnivora: The Dark Art of the Automobile, Group Show – CPop Gallery (January, 2008)
Oklahoma City, CA – Pop Surrealism, Group Show with Frank Kozik – Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery (April, 2007)
San Francisco, CA – The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, With Robert Williams, Eric Kroll, Charles Krafft – Shooting Gallery (November, 2005)
World Tour – Against the Grain, Custom Twin Fin Surfboards Designed by Punk Legends (Summer, 2005)
Hollywood, CA – Adventures in Illegal Art, Group Show (May, 2005)
San Francisco, CA – Sci-Fi Western Show, Group Show (January, 2003)
New York, NY – Untouched by Human Hands, Solo Exhibition – Fuse Gallery (October, 2002)
San Francisco, CA – Propaghanda, Group Show with Aidan Hughes and Shepard Fairey – 66 Balmy Gallery (January, 2002)
Detroit, MI – Only an Animal Could Understand, Solo Exhibition – CPop Gallery (September, 2001)
Rome, Torino, Bologna, Milan – God Told Me to Skin You Alive, Group Tour with Jello Biafra (May, 2001)
New York, NY – All Quiet on the Western Front, Group Show – Max Fish (April, 2001)
San Francisco, CA – No Turning Back, Solo Exhibition – Culture Cache Gallery (February, 2001)
lectures
Free University of San Francisco – San Francisco (March, 2011)
Loyola University – Chicago, IL (March, 2006)
Saint Mary’s College –South Bend, IN (March, 2006)
San Francisco Art Institute – San Francisco, CA (c. 1998)
Various other lectures and presentations for high school and college level groups.
discography
Dead Kennedys - Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death (Alternative Tentacles 1987 / Manifesto 2011)
Dead Kennedys - Bedtime for Democracy (Alternative Tentacles 1986 / Manifesto 2010)
Dead Kennedys - In God We Trust, Inc. (Statik 1981 / Manifesto 2010)
Green Day- Insomniac (Reprise 1995 / Warner Bros. 2009)
Ben Harper and Relentless 7 -White Lies for Dark Times (Virgin, 2009)
Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun (Virgin, 2006) Poster Insert
Jello Biafra - In the Grip of Official Treason (Alternative Tentacles, 2006)
Fish Karma - Theory of Intelligent Design (Alternative Tentacles, 2006)
Electropolis - Electropolis (Innova, 2005)
Order of the White Rose - War Machine (Unitree, 2006)
Disaster Strikes - Freedom Toast (Alternative Tentacles, 2006)
Ray Daytona and the Googoobombos - Fasten Seat Belt (Ammonia, 2005)
The Leaving Trains - Amplified Pillows (Steel Cage Records, 2005)
Duckmandu - Fresh Duck for Rotting Accordionists (Duckmandu, 2005)
Burning Brides - Leave No Ashes (V2 Records, 2004)
Jana Herzen - Soup’s on Fire (Motema, 2003)
George Carlin - Complaints and Grievances (Atlantic Records, 2001)
Storm, Inc. - The Calm Years (Sw-South West Label Group, 2001)
SWAG - Different Girls – Picture Disc (Space Baby, 2001)
Dread Kennedys - In Dub We Trust (Underground Inc., 2000)
Tijuana No! - Live at Bilbao (RCA International, 2000)
The Scientists - Compilation and Enhanced CD (Herzenberg Lab, 1999)
Jello Biafra - If Evolution Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Evolve (Alternative Tentacles, 1998)
Tijuana No! - Contra Revolucion Avenue (RCA International, 1998)
Frenchy - Che’s Lounge (Dionysus Records, 1998)
Life After Life - Just Trip (Alternative Tentacles, 1997)
Let There be Singles – compilation (Efa Imports, 1997)
One Hit Wonder, Outfall (Nitro Records, 1997)
Gout, Gout (Gout Records, 1997)
Infested, Helpless White Grub (1996)
Panic Now! – compilation (1996)
Plainfield, She’s Not My Daughter, She’s My Wife (Import, 1995)
Pluto, Shoehorse Emerging (Rastascan Records, 1995)
The Futility of a Well Ordered Life – compilation (Alternative Tentacles, 1994)
Jello Biafra, High Priest of Harmful Matter (Alternative Tentacles, 1993)
Virus 100 – compilation (Alternative Tentacles, 1992)
Jello Biafra with Nomeansno, The Sky Is Falling And I Want My Mommy (Alt. Tentacles, 1991)
Jello Biafra with D.O.A., Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors (Alt. Tentacles, 1990)
Lard, Last Temptation of Reid (Alternative Tentacles, 1990)
Dead Facts, Who Needs the Truth (Import, 1990)
Oops, Wrong Stereotype – compilation (Alternative Tentacles, 1988)
Dead Kennedys, Plastic Surgery Disasters (Alternative Tentacles, 1982) Insert
Dead Kennedys, Kill the Poor (Cherry Red, 1980) Back Cover
Plus many more record covers for: Plainfield, Gout, One Hit Wonder, Infested…
