Punk Provocateur Linder to Show at Hayward Gallery in 2025

Linder said the gallery's 'Brutalist architecture is the perfect foil for the delicacy of the print ephemera I've worked with for over half a century.'

London's Hayward Gallery will present a retrospective of British artist Linder from 11 February to 5 May 2025.

The exhibition will look back on the past 50 years of Linder's practice. It will feature her photomontages as well as previously unseen works and new commissions.

Born Linder Sterling in Liverpool in 1954, Linder has been described as the 'muse' of Manchester's '70s punk scene. A photomontage by the artist appeared on the cover of the Buzzcocks' single 'Orgasm Addict' in 1977.

Linder is best known for collages critiquing mass media, often from a feminist perspective, but her practice also includes music, dance, fashion, and film.

At a 1982 gig with her band Ludus, for instance, Linder wore a dress made of chicken flesh, pulling it up to reveal a black dildo. She has also choreographed two ballets—The Ultimate Form (2013) and Children of the Mantic Stain (2016)—which reference female artists Barbara Hepworth and Ithell Colquhoun.

Rachel Thomas, Chief Curator at the Hayward Gallery, said, 'for 50 years, Linder has been one of the great maverick artists of the British scene, transforming the poetics of punk design into works of art that provocatively redefine the female image.'

'Linder's iconic photomontage works invite a reevaluation of conventional narratives, intricately weaving together threads of feminism and mysticism to propose new paradigms for the future,' Thomas said

Describing her own practice, Linder said, 'The cuts made by my blades and scissors are perpetually liberating. Each restores agency across print and page.' —[O]