Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth — Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, and Steve Shelley — were a New York band whose practice consistently crossed between experimental music, noise, art, and institutional critique. Active from 1981 to 2011, they were central figures in the downtown Manhattan scene that connected No Wave, punk, and the visual art world of the 1980s and 90s.

Their collaborations with artists including Mike Kelley, Raymond Pettibon, Gerhard Richter, and Richard Kern placed them within a broader field of cultural production that refused the separation of music from art practice. The recording of Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's Profile at Artists Space, New York, in 1986 — a live performance with Mike Kelley — is among the most direct documents of this overlap.

Publications and recordings gathered here document Sonic Youth's involvement in the art world and their collaborations with visual artists. Original and period items.

  • Mike Kelley Plato’s Cave, Rothko’s Chapel, Lincoln’s Profile (with Sonic Youth) / The Peristaltic Airwaves (2012) double CD in sealed jewel case. Purple-toned cover image featuring cave-like formations with white typography. Published by Compound Annex Records. Reverse of sealed Mike Kelley double CD showing track information, recording credits, performance details, and a black-and-white photograph of Kelley. Includes references to Sonic Youth, Artists Space, New York, and KPFK Radio, Los Angeles.

    Mike Kelley — Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's Profile (with Sonic Youth) / The Peristaltic Airwaves, Compound Annex, 2012

    Mike Kelley — Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's Profile (with Sonic Youth) / The Peristaltic Airwaves, Compound Annex, 2012