Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Oral history interview with Sarah Edwards Charlesworth, 2011 November 2-9

Online Media

Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Charlesworth, Sarah Edwards, 1947-2013  Search this
Interviewer:
Richards, Judith Olch  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place of publication, production, or execution:
New York (State)
Physical Description:
121 Pages, Transcript; 9 sound files (7 hr., 47 min.) Audio, digital, wav
Access Note / Rights:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Summary:
An interview of Sarah Edwards Charlesworth conducted 2011 November 2-9, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art at Charlesworth's home, in New York, New York.
Charlesworth speaks of growing up in Summit, New Jersey; her family members; her early decision to become an artist; her experiences in elementary, junior high, and high schools; attending Bradford College in Massachusetts; Douglas Huebler as an important professor and mentor; visiting her friend at Barnard College in New York City and being exposed to the art scene and museums; attending Barnard to finish her undergraduate degree; her college experience in NYC, meeting other artists, and visiting galleries in the 1960s and '70s; beginning to make money off of her photography; her relationship with Joseph Kosuth; the gender inequalities and dynamics in the art world and society and how it has changed; traveling to Europe; starting up The Fox magazine with Kosuth and others; participation in Artists' Movement for Cultural Change, other publications, and forums; continuing her education; her first shows in galleries; she discusses the series Modern History; the series Stills; the series Tabula Rasa; the series In-Photography; the multiple series Objects of Desire; the series Academy of Secrets; the series Renaissance paintings; meeting Amos Poe and getting married; having children and being a working artist at the same time; her teaching positions and experiences; her transition from "appropriated" images to her own photographic work; her process for creating works; her interest in the interpretation of visual language; her current work and lifestyle. Charlesworth also recalls Kiki Smith, Judy Hudson, Douglas Huebler, Carl Andre, Robert Rauschenberg Joseph Kosuth, Betsy Baker, Seth Siegelaub, Lawerance Weiner, Bob Barry, Barbara Novak prof, Roy Anderson, Meyer Shapiro, Fred Friendly, Amos Poe, Lisett Model, Lucy Lippard, Gian Enzo Sperone, Nancy Spero, Leon Golub, Anthony McCall, Richard Prince, Barbara Kruger, Laurie Simmons, Cindy Sherman, Jan Van (Vera) Cruz, Tony Shafrazi, Sara VanDerBeek, Pat Steir, Elizabeth Murray, Susan Sterling, Louis Grachos, Louise Lawler, and others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Sarah Edwards Charlesworth, 2011 November 2-9. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Brown Foundation.
Biography Note:
Sarah Edwards Charlesworth (1947- 2013) was a conceptual artist and photographer in New York, New York. Judith Olch Richards is a former executive director of iCI in New York, New York.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women photographers  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)15993
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)305637
AAA_collcode_charle11
Theme:
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_305637