"The Wreckers of Civilisation"
COUM Transmissions. Prostitution Exhibition Flyer: Sexual Transgressions No. 5. London: Institute of Contemporary Arts Limited. 1976.
Printed and illustrated A4 flyer; fine.
The Original poster for one of the most controversial exhibitions in the history of British contemporary art.
In 1976, COUM Transmissions, a collective of artistic collaborators, held their cult exhibition, Prostitution at the ICA. It went so far as to cause debate in the House of Commons and its reception incited riot in the media and amongst the public. It is still regarded as one of the most contentious in the history of the ICA.
COUM Transmissions was established in Hull, UK and amongst its cohort included performance artist Cosey Fanni Tutti, who reclines on the front of the poster and who utilised the pornographic world as a radical form of performance art.
The opening night proved to be a critical episode in London's 70s counterculture; subsequently, one Conservative MP famously labelled COUM "the wreckers of civilisation" and thus created their legacy.
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