Series contains records documenting the creation and public exhibition of shows at the Contemporary Wing galleries from its inception in 1964 to its close in 1975, as well as records for several exhibitions that were in development but not yet realized when the college closed. Documentation includes artist files, checklists, correspondence, writings, exhibition catalogs, photographs, interviews, films and videos documenting exhibitions or created for exhibition, artist statements, loan documentation, insurance documentation, and publicity in the form of press releases, exhibition announcements, clippings, and posters. A run of exhibition catalogs filed at the beginning of the series represent about half of the exhibitions held in the Contemporary Wing. Catalogs are also found filed under each exhibition's title for most of the exhibitions in the series, often annotated with insurance values or in various drafts.
Unlike the artist files in series 2, artist files specific to exhibitions tend to contain richer documentation, including writings and original correspondence with the artist, artist statements, photographs, or information about particular artworks.
Interviews are found on 9 sound cassettes and 14 sound tape reels scattered in the exhibition files, all conducted by Elayne Varian and relating to the exhibition at hand. They include Alan Sonfist ("Alan Sonfist: Time Landscape"), Mel Bochner ("Art in Process IV), Hans Richter ("Hans Richter Retrospective"), Ruth Richards on Hugo Weber ("Hugo Weber Retrospective), James Brooks and Janet Katz ("James Brooks Retrospective," transcript only), Physicists Lloyd G. Cross, Allyn Z. Lite, and Gerald Thomas Bern Pethick ("N-Dimensional Space), Margaret Benyon ("N-Dimensional Space"), Irwin Hollander (transcript only, "Prints from Hollander's Workshop"), David Anderson ("The Private Collection of Martha Jackson"), Doris Chase ("Projected Art: Artists at Work"), and Will Insley, Michael Kirby, Les Levine, Ursula Meyer, Brian O'Doherty, Charles Ross, and Tony Smith ("Schemata 7"); Douglas Davis, Jane Davis, and Russ Connor ("Talk-Out!"); Les Levine ("The Troubles"); Michael Mazur and Paul Gedeohn ("Two Aspects of An Illusion"). An additional sound recording describing the installation and content of the exhibition "Towers" is found on one sound tape reel.
In addition to the recorded interviews, a number of moving image recordings are found. The video in Artists' Videotape Performances (1971) is a complex mix of recordings, ranging from simple, single-channel video works that were played in the gallery, to components of multi-channel installations, artifacts of interactive sound and video installations, and recordings of performances put on in the gallery. Other motion pictures found in the series include videos of artists Sam Weiner, Lynda Benglis, and Michael Singer working in Projected Art: Artists at Work (1971), and film of the installed exhibition Art in Process: The Visual Development of a Structure (1966). In total, motion pictures in this series are on 19 videoreels (1/2 inch), 2 film reels (16 mm, with VHS and Digital Betacam videocassette access copies).
Other artworks or components of artworks found include original writings by Dan Graham in Art in Series (1967-1968) and mail art by Richard Merkin and Ray Johnson in Art in Process: The Visual Development of a Collage (1967). Artists books found in the series include Statements by Lawrence Weiner and Identikit by Jim Brodey, found in Lynda Benglis' artist file; both of these publications are with records for Art in Process IV (1969-1970). Schematic drawings, floor plans, and installation instructions are found for Robert Morris for Art in Process V (1972) Douglas Davis and several other artists for Artists' Videotape Performances (1971), Michael Kirby for Schemata 7 (1967), Stan Vanderbeek for Projected Art (1966-1967), and various works for N-Dimensional Space (1970).
Arrangement:
Series is arranged alphabetically by exhibition title, with materials for each exhibition arranged by type. Selected exhibition catalogs are also arranged alphabetically at the beginning of the series. The records of each exhibition are arranged slightly differently, and what arrangement was found is retained, with folder headings sometimes changed for clarity. Additional exhibition files for shows curated by Elayne Varian outside of Finch College are found in series 3, Elayne Varian personal papers.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Exhibition records of the Contemporary Study Wing of the Finch College Museum of Art, 1943-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program. Funding for the digitization of two motion picture films was provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee, and for the remaining sound and video recordings from the Smithsonian's Collection Care Pool Fund. Funding for the digitization of the collection, not including audiovisual materials, was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
