Aberdeen’s The Worm gallery opens its doors this autumn to Eternal Ecstasy, a survey of the career of Jamie Reid, the artist whose visuals became synonymous with punk and political provocation. Presented in collaboration with the John Marchant Gallery, which manages the Jamie Reid Archive, the exhibition features an array of original works alongside the launch of a newly editioned screen print of Reid’s first artwork for the Sex Pistols. Created initially at Peacock, this latest piece marked the genesis of Reid’s defining collaboration with the band. Fifty years on, the print has been produced in Aberdeen via Peacock & The Worm’s Open Access model and will debut at the exhibition, signed posthumously by Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, following Reid’s passing in August 2023.
Reid’s imagery was instantly recognisable: the jagged, cut-and-paste ransom note-like lettering that became his signature shaped the cover art and promotional material for the Sex Pistols, setting the visual tone for punk in the late 1970s. But Reid’s work extends well beyond these seminal pieces. His early projects with Suburban Press, a politically driven collective in South London influenced by Situationist ideas, reveal the radical impulses that underpinned his practice from the start. Eternal Ecstasy follows Reid’s evolution from these formative interventions to later paintings, posters, and installations, uncovering dimensions of his work that move beyond the familiar narratives of punk iconography.
The exhibition underscores Reid’s restless, boundary-pushing ethos. His work was as much about ethical engagement as visual impact: he was a political agitator, environmentalist, Druid, and provocateur. Highlights include a selection of raw-canvas paintings from the past two decades, which unfold with an improvisatory spontaneity, contrasting with the precise, confrontational graphic works that first brought him notoriety.
Reid’s practice continues to confront and challenge, whether through incisive takes on political figures like Trump and Putin or through acts of support for Pussy Riot, reflecting a consistent and up-to-date engagement with political resistance. His Scottish heritage, drawn from his father, runs through the exhibition, adding both a personal and regional layer to the story of his work.
A formative year on the Isle of Lewis introduced him to crofting and local publishing, including work with the West Highland Free Press, while also reconnecting him with Malcolm McLaren, his former tutor at Croydon School of Art. McLaren invited Reid to design for a new band, the Sex Pistols, recognising the political bite in Reid’s early work. Reid and his partner, Sophie Richmond, who would soon run the Pistols’ management office, Glitterbest, embraced the project for its potential as both a political and artistic statement.
Peacock & The Worm anchor the exhibition within Aberdeen’s rich history of radical publishing and printmaking. During the 1970s, Aberdeen People’s Press produced materials for community groups, activist organisations, and trade unions, fostering a culture of political engagement through print. Founded in 1974, Peacock has long encouraged experimentation, offering an Open Access model that allows artists of any background to work across techniques from screenprint to letterpress. That Reid’s earliest Sex Pistols artwork was made here adds both historical weight and local resonance to Eternal Ecstasy, framing the show as part of a fifty-year continuum where politics and image-making intersect.
The Jamie Reid Archive, stewarded by John Marchant for over 25 years, spans the full scope of Reid’s work: from early Suburban Press prints to the visceral thrill of the Sex Pistols era, post-punk projects with bands like Dead Kennedys and Afro Celt Sound System, protest campaigns, and spiritual installations such as the Eight Fold Year. Marchant, an established curator and gallerist, ensures these materials remain accessible to institutions, researchers, and the public, sustaining Reid’s legacy beyond the ephemeral pulse of punk.
The exhibition is accompanied by the release of a new edition of Reid’s first artwork for the Sex Pistols. Limited to 100 copies, each print is signed by Steve Jones and preserves the tactile, hands-on approach Reid favoured, with ink applied unevenly to create layered textures and subtle variations across the edition. The result honours an artist whose work continues to unsettle, provoke, and resonate.
Eternal Ecstasy presents a rare chance to survey the full scope of Jamie Reid’s practice, revealing the intersections of political conviction, radical design, and the lasting impact of a figure who helped shape Britain’s visual and cultural landscape.
Jamie Reid: Eternal Ecstasy The Worm, 11 Castle St, Aberdeen AB11 5BQ Preview: Friday 24 October, 6–8 pm Exhibition Dates: Saturday 25 October – Saturday 6 December Public Talk: John Marchant, 15 November at 10.30-11.30am. This is at Aberdeen Art Gallery, Schoolhill, Aberdeen AB10 1FQ