Punk Rock From Another Planet

East End Arts in Riverhead is hitting the retro scene with its upcoming exhibit “Frankie Says,” featuring 1970s and 1980s NYC punk rock era club photography by Frankie Neptune and video interviews by Paul Tschinkel. The three-week show will have a grand opening Friday, September 6, from 6 to 9 PM.

Neptune was a concrete jungle anthropologist of sorts back in what many would call a definitive era for the streets of Manhattan. He grew up in NYC and was so embedded into the culture that he even drove a taxi from late at night into the morning hours during his college years. That time is what he dubs his “Gotham Esthetic” in his photographs, all shot on 35mm Kodachrome slides. His days driving around, snapping stills, was when punk rock was just emerging in the SoHo art scene during the early 1970s. That’s when Neptune began to pave his way with Tschinkel, a video artist. The two collaborated to produce videos for the “Inner Tube” television series.

And it wasn’t long before he Neptune decided to sell his photography on the bustling streets of downtown Manhattan. His photos have since been exhibited worldwide.

“I am excited to be part of the East End Arts Council’s artistic renaissance. It has taken an affirmative action identifying artists from the North Fork. Due to her insightful, bold, and innovative leadership, executive director Diane Burke has made me feel comfortable sharing my old and new work in the EEAC venue,” Neptune said.

“My mentor and co-artist Paul Tschinkel shares his vast and incisive knowledge of the seminal personalities of the exciting and revolutionary SoHo art and punk rock alternative. It is the history he has memorialized since 1970 and continues to do today that will illuminate artistic historical unknown facts,” he added.

With a bachelor of arts degree in communication arts and sciences, and a masters in instructional technology, Neptune took the New York Police Department police officer exam for the heck of it. But when the force called upon him for duty, he took it with plans to leave after a year. However, he enjoyed the front lines of his city so much that he stayed long enough to become a sergeant and lieutenant, eventually eschewing his former photographic career. He then retired in the early 2000s and became a full-time North Fork resident.

East End Arts Gallery is located at 133 East Main Street in Riverhead. Visit www.eastendarts.org for more information.

nicole@indyeastend.com