David Ferguson

David Ferguson was an American international outsider-culture impresario, activist, music producer and concert promoter. Over his career, most of which has been spent on the West Coast, he worked with musical acts such as the Avengers, Iggy Pop, Bad Brains, Jean-Michel Basquiat,

The San Francisco Chronicle referred to Ferguson as the "godfather of the unorthodox", adding that Ferguson "...not only thinks outside the box — he crushes it, dances on top of it, reinvents it and calls it whatever he likes. He has spent his life making trouble." The East Bay Express wrote, "David Ferguson's life story reads like an encyclopedia of the underground."

Ferguson founded and headed the Institute for Unpopular Culture, a San Francisco-based arts organization. Through IFUC, Ferguson has maintained his involvement in anti-war protests, an activism which dates back to his student days at the University of Miami in the 1960s.

Early career

Ferguson was co-leader of the Union of Students to End the War in Vietnam and his activism lead to discussions of disciplinary action, the outcome of which is not clear. Ferguson had also arranged for Pop Art icon Andy Warhol to speak at the campus in 1968, an event that led to a professional association between the two.

Ferguson formed a lecture and appearance scheduling enterprise in 1973. Through the agency, he maintained an association with the Black Panther Party CD Presents as a concert promotion company. Ferguson's concert promotion career took an important turn when he was asked to produce West Coast shows for Public Image Ltd. during PiL's first two American tours (1980 and 1982).

In keeping with the group's image, PiL balked at major label promotion to back its tour, insisting instead on working with smaller, independent promoters. This led to the band's association with CD Presents, an informal partnership that put PiL and Ferguson on a collision course with music industry powers, most notably Bill Graham, head of the San Francisco-based Bill Graham Presents. Fearing riots if the PiL show was cancelled, city officials authorized CD Presents to proceed with the concert. Additionally, CD Presents released records from D.O.A, Butthole Surfers, CD Presents released the San Francisco group the Offs' First Record (1984) with a Jean-Michel Basquiat-designed cover. featuring a number of the era's most notable punk bands: the Avengers, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag w/Henry Rollins, Circle Jerks, the Subhumans, and D.O.A. Vol. 2 (1984) showcased a number of Texas punk bands including, Butthole Surfers, Big Boys, the Dicks, MDC along with the Southern California hardcore band, Minutemen. Rat Music, Vol. 3 (1987) featured the Adolescents, Naked Raygun and Mojo Nixon.

CD Presents released albums from artists in other genres besides punk, including the avant-garde musician, poet and actress Lydia Lunch and electronic and the experimental post punk act Minimal Man.

Institute for Unpopular Culture In 1989, Ferguson founded the Institute for Unpopular Culture (IFUC) as a non-profit organization to support artists outside the mainstream art world. "It is our aim to subvert all commercial avenues of art exploitation," Ferguson said. "It's not that we dislike people who own art galleries, we just think there could be a viable alternative." The orchestra has been featured on NPR and CBS Radio's The Osgood File. The PRO was voted San Francisco's Best Local Band in 2005 by readers of the SF Weekly.

The Institute has supported and been associated with a number of artists, including Obie-award-winning performance artist Holly Hughes and graffiti artist Barry McGee (a.k.a. "Twist"). Clinton Fein, founder of Annoy.com. Interns from the IFUC offered legal research in support of Fein's successful legal case against the U.S. government (ApolloMedia v. Reno) which challenged the constitutionality of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. IFUC has sponsored William Noguera, an artist who, since 1983 has been on death row at California's San Quentin State Prison and now creates photorealistic pointillist paintings with a rapidograph technical pen.