Raymond Pettibon

No Title (What is the...) by Raymond Pettibon, 2026.

• Raymond Pettibon (American, born 1957).
• LITO Hi-Rnd © technology print on anodized aluminum.
• Part of a limited edition of 15.
• Signed and numbered by the artist.
• This work is presented framed.

Sotheby’s and LITO present a new release of Exclusive Editions by Raymond Pettibon, featuring three works drawn from the artist’s enduring engagement with the imagery of the ocean and the solitary surfer.

Emerging from the Southern California punk scene of the 1980s, Pettibon developed a visual language that would come to define a generation. Originally recognized for his graphics, posters and album artwork for influential bands including Black Flag and Sonic Youth, he has since established himself as one of the most celebrated figures in contemporary American art. Throughout his practice, Pettibon has combined image and text to create works that are at once poetic, provocative and psychologically charged.

First developed in the mid-1980s, Pettibon’s wave and surfer works occupy a distinctive place within his oeuvre. Neither straightforward depictions of surfing nor celebrations of coastal life, these compositions explore the tension between human scale and the immense, unpredictable forces of nature. The motif of the lone surfer navigating towering waves has become one of the most enduring and recognizable subjects in the artist’s work.

The three new editions — No Title (What is the…), No Title (As she turn’d…) and No Title (But the sand…) — embody this recurring theme through dynamic compositions, expressive mark-making and vibrant color. Conceived on mirrored aluminum and anodized aluminum, the works engage with the material qualities of their supports, creating shifting visual experiences that evolve with light, perspective and environment. Produced using LITO’s proprietary Hi-Rnd© technology, the editions bring together texture, relief, color and surface in a new original body of work.

Signed and numbered by the artist on backplate.