Born in 1957 in Arizona, Raymond Pettibon is known for his comic-like drawings with disturbing, ironic or ambiguous text, Pettibon's subject matter is sometimes violent and anti-authoritarian. From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, he was closely associated with the punk rock band Black Flag. Beginning in the mid 1980s, he became a well-known figure in the contemporary art scene. Pettibon works primarily with ink on paper and many of his early drawings are black and white, although he sometimes introduces color through the use of pencil, watercolor, collage, gouache or acrylic paint. Pettibon’s drawings encompass the spectrum of American culture from the deviances of marginal youth-culture to art, literature, sports, religion, politics, and sexuality. Pettibon earned an economics degree from UCLA and worked as a high school mathematics teacher for a short period, before pursuing a career in art in 1977. Pettibon began exhibiting his work in group shows in galleries in the 1980s. In 1992, Pettibon was invited to participate in Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990s, curated by Paul Schimmel at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). In 1993, Pettibon was included in the Whitney Museum’s Biennial. By the mid-90s, Pettibon had exhibited extensively, including exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (MOCA); Kunsthaus Zurich; White Columns, NY; and also had his first solo museum exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern in Switzerland, which traveled to Paris. In the late 90s, Pettibon continued to exhibit internationally including shows at the Tramway (arts centre) in Glasgow, Scotland, the Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and the 1997 Whitney Biennial. In 1998, a self-titled show opened at the Renaissance Society in Chicago, and traveled to the Drawing Center in New York, NY; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, CA.