Nick Blinko
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Nicholas John Blinko (born 4 September 1961) is a British musician and artist, best known as the lead singer, lyricist, and guitar player for the
anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...
band
Rudimentary Peni Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk band formed in 1980, emerging from the London anarcho-punk scene. Lead singer/guitarist Nick Blinko is notorious for his witty, macabre lyrics and dark pen-and-ink artwork, prominently featured on a ...
. He is also known for being an "outsider" artist, whose pen-and-ink drawings and paintings have been shown in galleries worldwide. Blinko also creates all the drawings used by the band for its artwork.


Career


Music

Nicholas John George Blinko's first recorded musical project was the Magits, who formed in 1977 and were primarily electronic. This band's only record, the 1979 7" EP ''Fully Coherent'', was the first release on Blinko's Outer Himalayan Records label, and received occasional airplay by
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
on Radio 1. His most well-known and longest running band, Rudimentary Peni, formed in 1980 and would go on to release three albums and six EPs spanning 1981–2009. A full-length collection of the first two EPs was also released in 1987. Rudimentary Peni's concept album '' Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric'' was allegedly written while Blinko was being detained in a psychiatric hospital under Section 3 of the UK
Mental Health Act 1983 The Mental Health Act 1983 (c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered people, the management of their property and other related matters, forming part of the ment ...
. The subject matter of the album was purported to be based on the delusions Blinko was experiencing at this time.


Writing

Blinko has written and illustrated three books. The first, ''The Primal Screamer'', was a fictionalized semi-autobiographical novel with horror elements. It was published in 1995 by Spare Change Books and received a second printing in 1997 and a third in 2002. The book is written as a series of journal entries made by the therapist of "Nathaniel Snoxell" (who starts a band which is never named but is similar to Rudimentary Peni in many ways). This book was reprinted in 2011 by
PM Press PM Press is an independent publisher, founded in 2007, that specializes in radical, Marxist and anarchist literature, as well as crime fiction, graphic novels, music CDs, and political documentaries. It has offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, ...
, and collected artwork used for several previous editions under one cover for the first time. The 2011 edition was distributed by the
Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, t ...
label. Blinko's second book, ''Haunted Head'', was published in 2009 by
David Tibet David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he a ...
via
Coptic Cat Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...
, in a limited edition of approximately 350 copies. An exclusive micro-edition of 60 copies was also published, featuring an original piece of art, while all copies of the book contained a postcard with a handwritten excerpt from the book. The edition size reflected the number of Blinko's handwritten postcards, from which the text of the book was transcribed, and which were included in the book. The book also included a one-track CD of a song by Rudimentary Peni called "
Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by ...
The Chances" His third book was titled ''Visions of Pope Adrian 37th''. It was published in 2011, again by Coptic Cat, in two extremely limited editions which both included a small piece of original art by Blinko, drawn directly onto a page of the book. The "standard edition" was limited to 370 copies, while the "special edition" was limited to 37. The book included 87 drawings, an introduction by outsider art specialist Colin Rhodes and a brief introduction by Blinko. The artwork in this book was reproduced in its original A5 size. Blinko also contributed to a collection of punk fiction short stories, ''Gobbing, Pogoing and Gratuitous Bad Language!: An Anthology of Punk Short Stories by Stewart Home (1996-04-06)'', published in 1996 by Spare Change Books. His story, "Punk Alice" (a reference to Rudimentary Peni's song "Alice Crucifies the Paedophiles"), is written in a sketchbook style of doodles and scribbled phrases referencing the death of
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
,
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
, Catholicism, depression,
goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...
, Rudimentary Peni lyrics and drug chemicals.


Art

Blinko has contributed album artwork to several musical projects aside from his own. Among these are Part 1's 1985 release ''Pictures of Pain'', released on
Pushead Brian Schroeder, better known as Pushead, is an American graphic artist. He is best known for his album covers and other merchandise for bands in the hardcore punk and heavy metal genres. Career Originally from Boise, Idaho, Schoeder formed t ...
's label Pusmort; Coil's 1997 release, ''
Unnatural History III ''Unnatural History III'', subtitled ''Joyful Participation in the Sorrows of the World'', is the third and final release in the ''Unnatural History'' series of compilation albums by British experimental band Coil. Unlike the compilations '' St ...
'', released on
Threshold House Threshold House is one of several record labels created by Coil to release their own work and that of affiliated projects. Associated labels include Eskaton and Chalice. It is also the name for the official Coil website. The label was initi ...
;
Iron Lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator (NPV), a mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body, and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space, to stimulate breathing.Shneerson, Dr. John M., Newmarket General ...
's 2007
Prank Records A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
release ''Sexless//No Sex''; Omaniescum Aorisum's 2013 Solitude Records release ''Mademoiselle Hélène''; and Fire in the Head's 2010 release ''Confessions of a Narcissist''. He also contributed musically to two releases by Fire in the Head. Blinko's artwork has been shown internationally and featured in books and magazines related to the field of outsider art. An exhibition at the
National Schizophrenia Fellowship Rethink Mental Illness is a mental health charity in England. The organisation was founded in 1972 by John Pringle whose son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The operating name of 'Rethink' was adopted in 2002, and expanded to 'Rethink' Mental Il ...
in 1994 first brought his art to public attention; he is now represented in the
Collection de l'art brut The Collection de l'art brut (literally "Collection of Raw Art"; sometimes referred to as "Musée de l'art brut") is a museum dedicated to outsider art located in Lausanne, Switzerland. See also * American Visionary Art Museum The American ...
in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
. He had a show at Kinz + Tillou Gallery in New York City in 2006. Some of Blinko's artwork was featured at the
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
art exhibit "Entartete Kunts" in June 2009. In 2011, he had a solo exhibit titled "Visions of Pope Adrian 37th" at
Pallant House Gallery Pallant House Gallery is an art gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It houses one of the best collections of 20th-century British art in the world. History The Gallery's collection is founded on works left to the city of Chichester by ...
in the U.K. Colin Rhodes' ''Outsider Art: Spontaneous Alternatives'', published by
Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...
in 2000, featured Blinko's art and a description of his working process.


Personal life

Blinko currently resides in
Abbots Langley Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and was f ...
, Hertfordshire. He has been diagnosed with
schizoaffective disorder Schizoaffective disorder (SZA, SZD or SAD) is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal thought processes and an unstable mood. This diagnosis is made when the person has symptoms of both schizophrenia (usually psychosis) and a mood disorder: ...
. Blinko's younger brother is Timothy Blinko, composer and Professor of Music at the
University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...
.


References


External links


Nick Blinko's Artwork from the Henry Boxer GalleryRudimentary Peni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blinko, Nick 1961 births 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists Anarcho-punk musicians English anarchists English male guitarists English male novelists English male singers English punk rock guitarists English punk rock singers Living people Musicians from Hertfordshire Gothic rock musicians Outsider artists People from Abbots Langley People with schizoaffective disorder