George Petros
George Lawrence Petros (born 11 January 1955) is an American art designer, author, editor, and illustrator. He is the author of several books, and has edited several magazines. From 1984 through 1992 he published and edited Exit, a punk-inspired art and science fiction magazine he founded with Adam Parfrey.
George Petros

Robert Lund · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- George Petros
- Birth Name
- George Lawrence Petros
- Born
- 11 January 1955
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Occupation
- Art designer, author, editor, interviewer, illustrator
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- illustration · visual arts · editing
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
George Lawrence Petros (born 11 January 1955) is an American art designer, author, editor, and illustrator. He is the author of several books, and has edited several magazines. From 1984 through 1992 he published and edited Exit, a punk-inspired art and science fiction magazine he founded with Adam Parfrey.
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wikidata · Q5543374 · wikipedia · George Petros
In this article
Biography
Biography
From 1992 through 2000 he edited and art-directed Seconds, an all-interview music and culture magazine founded by Steven Blush, and was later an editor for the magazines Juxtapoz and Propaganda.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — George Petros • Birth Name — George Lawrence Petros • Born — 11 January 1955 • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Occupation — Art designer, author, editor, interviewer, illustrator • Years Active — 1984–present • Website — https: georgepetros.com
Early life
Early life
George Lawrence Petros was born in Chicago, Illinois, on January 11, 1955. His family later moved to Clearwater, Florida; as an adult, he returned to Chicago, attending the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago.
Career
Career
Petros did the cover art for the new wave band Devo's 1981 compilation album, E-Z Listening Disc, as well as the interior art. In 1984, Petros and Adam Parfrey launched Exit, a, New York City-based large-format alternative comic art magazine focused on science fiction and graphics. It was known for its outrageous and offensive content. Petros and Parfrey later had a falling out and Parfrey quit the magazine, calling Petros a "prima donna". Petros continued editing the magazine. Five issues of Exit were released in total; a sixth was partially completed. Petros released Exploding Hearts Exploding Stars, a collection of his art for Exit, in 1992. Another collection of Exit by Petros, The Exit Collection, was published in 1998 by Tacit, collecting the 5 published issues and material from the unfinished 6th. While working on Exit, Petros became the co-editor of Seconds, a New York City-based music and culture magazine founded by Steven Blush. Petros began writing for Seconds in 1990, writing for it until its end in 2000. He was later a contributing editor for the art magazine Juxtapoz, and the senior editor of Propaganda, a goth magazine. Petros was a contributor to the collection of the transgressive, Apocalypse Culture II, edited by Adam Parfrey and published by Feral House in 2000. He edited and designed for Steven Blush's 2001 book on the history of the punk movement, American Hardcore: A Tribal History. He later co-edited a collection of Seconds interviews with Blush,.45 Dangerous Minds, published in 2005 by Creation Books. In 2007, he authored Art That Kills: A Panoramic Portrait of Aesthetic Terrorism 1984-2001, a collection of materials related to "aesthetic terrorism", what the book describes as "[u]sing the element of surprise through the usage of past clichés, knowledge and 'home truths' being flung out of joint, and therefore used as a weapon or subversive force", focusing on the nihilistic, the satanic, and transgressive.
Musical compilations
Musical compilations
• Black Sunshine: The Tampa Underground and Beyond compiled and produced by George Petros (Cleopatra Records, 2003) • New York City Rock N Roll compiled and produced by Steven Blush; project coordinator etc.: George Petros (Radical Records, 2004) • Easy Listening Acid Trip compiled by George Petros, 1987-2007
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count.
Publications
* * * • * * * *
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.George Petros Biography. georgepetros.com.
- 2.Caldwell, Tim. Exit's George Petros. Small Press Review. 26. 4. 15, 18. April 1994. 0037-7228.
- 3.Coogan, Kevin. How "Black" Is Black Metal?. Hit List. 1. 32–49. March 1999.
- 4.Exploding Hearts, Exploding Stars. Factsheet 5. 47. 29. 1993. 0890-6823.
- 5.Salemi, Dom. Exploding Hearts Exploding Stars – The Serial Art & Propagandart of George Petros. Brutarian. 11. 62–63. 1994. 45794730.
- 6.Hellman, Danny. The Exit Collection. Brutarian. 26. 67. 1999. 45794730.
- 7.Jarach, Lawrence. The EXIT Collection. Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed. 48. 17. 2000. 1044-1387.
- 8.The End of the World, Part 2. New York Press. 2015-02-16. 1538-1412.
- 9.Bennett, J. Hunter. Steven Blush, American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Hit List. 3. 4. 159–160. April-May 2002.
- 10.Tribby, Mike. 45 Dangerous Minds: The Most Intense Interviews from Seconds Magazine. The Booklist. 101. 19/20. 1738. 2005-06-01. 0006-7385.
- 11.Hellman, D. .45 Dangerous Minds — eds. Steven Blush & George Petros (2005) Creation Books. Brutarian. 46. 78–80. 2006. 45794730.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 3
- Headpress. Headpress Guide to the Counter Culture: A Sourcebook for Modern Readers. 2004. 978-1-900486-35-4.
- Petersen, Jesper Aagard. Violence and New Religious Movements. Oxford University Press. 351–376. 2011. 978-0-19-973563-1.
- Sunshine, Spencer. Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason's Siege. Routledge. 2024. 978-0-429-20009-0.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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