New York City’s Bad Boys Are Back in Never-Before-Seen Photos

A close look at the '70s best characters, from John Waters to John Lydon.

John waters. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.
Joey Ramone. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

Joey Ramone.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

It’s a period in New York City’s history that often evokes wistful nostalgia: artists’ lofts in Soho, CBGB’s on the Bowery, and a gritty urban landscape.

Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 is a book that captures an eclectic group of New York luminaries such as Andy Warhol, Klaus Nomi, and John Waters in never-before-seen photographs. The book is a collection of portraits by artist Marcia Resnick, who captured her friends and colleagues on film and chronicled her many engagements with the downtown art and music scenes.

It also includes an afterword by artnet contributor Anthony Haden-Guest, along with text by director John Waters, musician Richard Hell, writer Gary Indiana and Interview magazine legend Liz Derringer, among others. “The people from the extraordinary New York milieu amongst whom I was living and working had no way of knowing that the years between 1977 and 1982 were enchanted, endangered, and unrepeatable,” Resnick writes in a statement.

See below for more pictures of the era’s major players on the arts scene.

Marcia Resmick (left) and Mick Jagger (right). Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

Marcia Resmick (left) and Mick Jagger (right).
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

 

John Belushi. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

John Belushi.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

 

Mick Jagger (left), William S. Burroughs (center), Andy Warhol (right). Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

Mick Jagger (left), William S. Burroughs (center), and Andy Warhol (right).
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

 

David Byrne. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

David Byrne.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

 

John waters. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

John Waters.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

 

Klaus Nomi. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

Klaus Nomi.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

Andy Warhol. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

Andy Warhol.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

 

William S. Burroughs. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

William S. Burroughs.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.

 

John Lydon. Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick from Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions. Used with permission.

John Lydon.
Image: © 2015 Marcia Resnick. From Punks, Poets & Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982 by Marcia Resnick and Victor Bockris, published by Insight Editions.


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics