The papers of painter Jerome Caja measure 7.9 linear feet and date from circa 1920 to 1995. The papers document his career as an artist in San Francisco through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art organizations, and galleries; poetry, prose, and other writings; exhbiition announcements, newspaper and magazine clippings, and other printed materials, gallery and exhibition files; artwork, including sketchbooks and numerous small paintings, sketches and drawings, photographs; audiovisual materials including film reels, vido and audio cassettes.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Jerome Caja measure 7.9 linear feet and date from circa 1920 to 1995. The papers document his career as an artist in San Francisco through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art organizations, and galleries; poetry, prose, and other writings; exhbiition announcements, newspaper and magazine clippings, and other printed materials, gallery and exhibition files; artwork, including sketchbooks and numerous small paintings, sketches and drawings, photographs; audiovisual materials including film reels, vido and audio cassettes.
Biographical Material includes a family history, a short autobiography, school documents from elementary through college, yearbooks, identifications and certificates. Correspondence includes letters numerous letters from parents, letters from some brothers, and letters from friends. Writings consist primarily of short plays and skits by Caja, prose and poetry, a journal, and writings by friends. Gallery and Exhibition Files consist of correspondence, inventory and price lists, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and contracts from museums and galleries where Caja did exhibitions or auctions. Personal Business Records consist of price lists, invoices, receipts for works he sold to individuals or institutions. Printed Materials consist of newspaper and magazine clippings detailing Caja's exhibition or his involvement in the gay scene of San Francisco. There are also books with inscriptions that were given to Caja by friends, and there are publication materials that belonged to Caja.
Artwork primarily consists of numerous small drawings and sketches in ink, chalk, and nail polish. Also included are sketchbooks of Caja's drawings and oversized paintings and sketches. Photographs primarily consist of personal photos of Caja and his family during his childhood, photos of his grand parents and geat grandparents, and photos of nieces and nephews. There are also photos and slides of his ceramic work and some of his paintings and sketches. The majority of the photos are of Caja taking part in various events around San Francisco. Audio-Visual Materials consists of video cassettes, audio cassettes, and motion picture reels. Videos document Caja reading his book, Caja taking part in events in San Francisco, his artwork, and a movie that he was featured in. Audio cassettes consist primarily of music, but also of Caja reading stories. Film material consists of people working in an artist's workshop, a pool party, and a satirical narrative between children and their mother.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1949-1994 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1980-1995 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1980-1995 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 4: Gallery and Exhibition Files, 1982-1995 (0.4 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1990-1995 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1960-1995 (1.3 linear feet; Box 2-3, Box 9)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1980-1995 (1.7 linear feet: Box 4-5, Box 9, OV 13-15, Artifact)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1920-1995 (1.8 linear feet; Box 5-6, Box 9, OV 14)
Series 9: Audio-Visual Material circa 1980-1995 (1.4 linear feet; Box 7-8, FC 16-23)
Biographical / Historical:
Jerome Caja (1958-1995) was a painter who worked primarily in San Francisco, CA. Caja was born in Ohio in 1958 and attended Clevaland State University. He moved to San Francisco in the 1980s and attended the San Francisco Art Institute from which he graduated in 1984. Caja pushed the boundaries of gender, performance, and art in the nightclub scene in San Francisco during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Caja died from complications related to HIV in 1995, during height of the AIDS-Art-Activism era in San Francisco.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Jerome Caja conducted by Paul Karlstrom, August 23-September 29, 1995, and Letters from Jerome Caja to Anna van der Meulen, 1995.
Provenance:
The Jerome Caja papers were donated in two installments from 1994 to 1995. The first installment was donated by Jerome Caja in 1994, and the second installment was donated by Anna van der Meulen, executor of Caja's estate, in 1995.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Jerome Caja papers, circa 1920-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Netherlands -- Amsterdam -- Description and Travel
New York (N.Y.) -- Description and Travel
Tanzania -- Description and Travel
Date:
2017 March 27-29
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Lyle Ashton Harris, conducted 2017 March 27 and 29, by Alex Fialho, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Harris's studio and home in New York, New York.
Harris speaks of his childhood in the Bronx; his family's influence on his race-consciousness; living in Tanzania for two years as a child and the effects on his understanding of race and sexuality; his grandfather's extensive photographic archive; contact with the South African diaspora through his step-father; attending Wesleyan University; formative experiences in London, Amsterdam, and New York in the mid-1980s; his education and development as a photographer; attending CalArts and encountering West Coast AIDS activism; encountering systemic racism in Los Angeles; close friendships with Marlon Riggs and Essex Hemphill; exhibitions of his work in New York in the early 1990s; the production of his Ektachrome Archive and his impulse to photograph daily life; his work on the Black Community AIDS Research and Education (Black C.A.R.E.) project in Los Angeles; participating in the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program; being diagnosed with HIV and remaining asymptomatic; attending the Dia Black Popular Culture Conference in 1992; photographing and mounting "The Good Life" in 1994 and "The Watering Hole" in 1996; issues of blackness and queerness in his photographic work; his residency at the American Academy in Rome in 2000; moving to Accra, Ghana for seven years in 2005; his pedagogy as an art professor; his thoughts on the lack of voices of color in the Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic Oral History Project and in the larger power structures of the art world; and his hope that his artistic legacy will be evaluated in its proper context. Harris also recalls Jackie and Robert O'Meally, Jay Seeley, Ellen O'Dench, Francesca Woodman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jim Collier, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allan Sekula, Hazel Carby, Isaac Julien, Catherine Lord, Millie Wilson, Todd Gray, John Grayson, Tommy Gear, Marlon Riggs, Essex Hemphill, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Nancy Barton, Vickie Mays, Connie Butler, Greg Tate, Henry Louis Gates, Houston Baker, Nan Goldin, Jack Tilton, Simon Watson, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Lyle Ashton Harris (1965- ) is an artist who works in video, photography, and performance in New York, New York. Alex Fialho (1989- ) is a curator and arts writer and works as Programs Director for Visual AIDS in New York, New York.
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.
Occupation:
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Video artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Julie Tolentino, 2018 April 11-12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview with Julie Tolentino conducted 2018 April 11 and 12, by Alex Fialho, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at a friend's apartment in the East Village, New York.
Tolentino speaks of her childhood in San Francisco; her family dynamics, including caring for her sister with developmental disabilities; Harvey Milk's assassination; early exposure to dance and art-making; early exposure to queer nightlife; briefly pursuing dance training in Los Angeles after high school; soon thereafter moving to New York; volunteering for the National Gay and Lesbian Suicide Hotline; her involvement with ACT UP; experiences of AIDS-related grief; her close friendships during this time; continuing her dance education and performance practice in the late '80s and '90s; founding and operating the Clit Club; changes in the landscape of queerness during the '90s; managing the performance companies of David Roussève and Ron Athey; the beginning of her solo practice with Mestiza-Que Ojos Bonitos Tienes; the installation Marks of My Civilization; the beginning of ART+; her role in Madonna's book Sex; her reflections on the visibility of her body; developing the Lesbian AIDS Project's Safer Sex Handbook; her performance works For You, Sky Remains the Same, and Honey; her video work evidence; and her awareness of the past's construction and meaning in the present. Tolentino also recalls Page Hodel, Doug McDowell, Maxine Wolfe, Ann Northrup, David Robinson, Ray Navarro, Aldo Hernandez, Anthony Ledesma, Lola Flash, Catherine Gund, Zoe Leonard, Robert Garcia, Jocelyn Taylor, Martina Yamin, Cookie Mueller, Diamanda Galas, D.M. Machuca, Pigpen, John Lovett, Alessandro Codagnone, John Killacky, Lia Gangitano, Alistair Fate, Steven Meisel, Cythia Madansky, Kim Christensen, Kate Clinton, Lori Seid, Ori Flomin, Abigail Severance, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Julie Tolentino (1964- ) is a visual and performance artist in New York and Josua Tree, California. Alex Fialho (1989- ) is a curator and arts writer who is the Programs Director for Visual AIDS in New York, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
The transcript and audio recording are open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Oral history interview with Jim Hodges, conducted 2017 March 9 and May 25, by Cynthia Carr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Hodges' studio in Queens, New York.
Hodges speaks of his childhood in Spokane, Washington; exposure to art-making in high school and at Fort Wright College; attending Pratt Institute in 1983; his first New York gallery job in 1984; discovering his sexuality and becoming interested in queer life and history; the early years of the AIDS crisis; taking a studio with the Dannheisser Foundation; his body of work in mixed media; his gallery exhibitions in the late 1980s and early '90s; becoming sober in 1990; and the influence of the AIDS crisis on his artwork and art-making process. Hodges also recalls Karen Kaiser, Scott Smith, Marnie Fuller, Davie Nyzio, Lynn McCarty, Robert Vallenciano, Bob Morris, Linda Montano, Joseph Nechvatal, Rhys Chatham, Nancy Hoffman, Hunter Reynolds, Tony Feher, Bill Arning, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Doug Safranek, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jim Hodges (1957- ) is an installation artist in New York, New York. Cynthia Carr (1950- ) is a writer in New York, New York.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jerome Caja, 1995 August 23 and September 29. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Nancy Brooks Brody, 2018 January 12-28. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of artist Jerome Caja conducted 1995 August 23-1995 September 29, by Paul J. Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Discussion of Caja's illness from AIDS; his loss of sight and the role of memory in "seeing"; the effects of AIDS on his work; his working procedures, goals; the meaning of his work; support of his family, while not acknowledging his homosexuality; attitude toward audience; art as communication of self; the San Francisco gay community and his experiences as a gay artist; growing up in Cleveland with ten brothers, his strong religious background; art training at Cleveland State.
Moving to San Francisco; experiences at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he received an MFA in 1986; his teachers Sam Tchakalian and Richard Shaw; switching from ceramics to painting; recollections with Anna van der Meulen (present at this session) of their meeting and friendship; influences on his work, especially lifestyle as a drag queen; clowns in his work; desire for anonymity; theme of gender in work; his friend Charlie who died in 1991, the subject of a memorial show "Remains of Day" at Southern Exposure Gallery in San Francisco; importance of religion in his work; mysticism, philosophy in work; small works, miniatures and his bottle cap paintings; exhibitionism in life and art; his inclusion in the "Bad Girls West" exhibition at UCLA; the future of his works and participation in history.
Biographical / Historical:
Jerome D. Caja (1958-1995) was a painter and sculptor of San Francisco, California. Caja grew up in Ohio,and studied at the Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State University before enrolling at the San Francisco Art Institute. His art was an expression of his involvement in the flamboyant San Francisco drag queen community, using raw materials such as eyeliner, lipstick and nail polish.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 39 min.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Four letters and two postcards written to van der Meulen, Caja's closest friend and executor, during the final years of his life. Also included are Caja's handwritten "House Rules," coined by Caja for visitors coming into his studio/home.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, sculptor; San Francisco, Calif. Caja grew up in Ohio, and studied at the Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State University before enrolling at the San Francisco Art Institute. His art was an expression of his involvement in the flamboyant San Francisco drag queen community, using raw materials such as eyeliner, lipstick and nail polish.
Provenance:
Donated 1999 by Anna van der Meulen, friend and executor of Caja's estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
An interview with Nancy Brooks Brody conducted 2018 January 12-28, by Svetlana Kitto, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Brody's home and studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Brody speaks of her childhood in Manhattan; her Eastern European ancestry and spending time with her grandmother and great-aunt in New Jersey; early experiences of art-making; early expressions of her gender identity and sexuality; formative childhood and adolescent experiences at summer camp; early memories of Fire Island; various living arrangements, social settings, and jobs as a young adult in Manhattan; her relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat; attending the High School of Music & Art and the School of Visual Arts; the rise of Lower East Side art galleries in the 1980s; her first exhibitions, at New Math Gallery and elsewhere; her involvement in ACT UP; her involvement in fierce pussy; witnessing widespread death and bodily decay during the AIDS crisis; the illness and deaths of her very close friends David Knudswig, David Switzer, David Nelson, and Tony Feher; her practice of art-making during the AIDS epidemic; working for the Forest Service on Mount St. Helens from 1993 to 1996; working for Circus Amok upon her return to New York; her activism during the George W. Bush era; her memories of September 11, 2001; fierce pussy's series of retrospectives and new work beginning in 2008; her current activism for universal healthcare; and her most recent art-making and exhibition experiences. Brody also recalls Don Tinling, Adele Bertei, Ivonne Casas, Jonathan Schneider, Erika Belle, Madonna, Zoe Leonard, John Lurie, Hannah Wilke, Greer Lankton, Jennifer Bartlett, Jennifer Miller, Joy Episalla, Carrie Yamaoka, Hoaui Montaug, Edwige Belmore, Donald Mouton, Andrea Rosen, Kim Pierce, Sarah Johnson, Barbara Hughes, Jonathan Berger, Andrea Blum, Avram Finkelstein, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Nancy Brooks Brody (1962- ) is an artist who works in painting, drawing and sculpture in New York, New York. Svetlana Kitto (1980- ) is a writer and oral historian in Brooklyn, New York.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Angel Rodriguez-Diaz conducted 2004 Apr. 23-May 7, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in San Antonio, Tex.
Rodriguez-Diaz speaks of his mother's upbringing and her untimely death from cancer; his childhood and schooling in Santurce, Puerto Rico, particularly his art experiences; his parents' conversion to Pentecostalism; the importance of travel in Puerto Rican culture; attending the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras; discovering his sexuality during adolescence; living in New York City; the city's gay scene on Christopher Street; exploring his identity as a Puerto Rican American; his jobs at mannequin factories; and his gradual ingratiation into the New York art world, mostly through Robert Morris. Rodriguez-Diaz also mentions his relationship with Rolando Briseño; the motifs in his paintings, such as mirrors and masks; witnessing the Tompkins Square Park riots of 1988; organizing a strike at his mannequin factory; contracting the HIV virus from a partner; Mexican art cinema; the cultural and historical similarities of Mexico and Puerto Rico; moving to San Antonio; choosing the models for his "Goddess" series; Anglo/Latino conflict within the San Antonio art scene; the commodification of Mexican culture in San Antonio; the spiritual importance of portraiture; the history of Puerto Rican artwork and culture, particularly native cultures; and the Smithsonian's acquisition of his painting, "The Protagonist of an Endless Story." Rodriguez-Diaz also recalls Antonio Molina, Sandra Cisneros, Arnoldo Roche-Rabell, John Anthes, Manuel Ramos Otero, Nitsa Tofino, Candida Alvarez, Soon Yong Ming, Robert Sward, Linda Pace, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Angel Rodriguez-Diaz (1955- ) is an artist from San Antonio, Tex. Cary Cordova (1970- ) is an art historian from Austin, Tex.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr., 46 min.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Painters -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Search this
This interview is part of the series "Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas," supported by Federal funds for Latino programming, administered by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives.
The digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Rolando Briseño conducted 2004 March 16 and 26, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in San Antonio, Texas.
Briseño speaks of his family background; as a child going to Mexico during the summer; growing up in San Antonio; visiting the Witte Museum, taking art classes there; Jackie von Honts, a special tutor of Briseño; scholarship to Cooper Union in New York; Catholicism; Melita del Villar and realizing "Christian mythology"; exchange program with University of Texas, Austin and La Pontifica Universidad Católica del Peru, Lima, Peru; calling himself Chicano; passion for food; traveling around Europe; politics and its influence; coming to terms with his sexuality; graduate school at Columbia University; interest in boxing; involvement in Con Safo; working on a computer as opposed to painting; and the Historic and Design Review Commission of San Antonio. Briseño also recalls Roland Mazuca, Fernando de Syzslo, Santa Barraza, Sylvia Orozco, Kathryn Kanjo, Linda Pace, Jesse Amado, Chuck Ramirez, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Rolando Briseño (1952-) is an artist from San Antonio, Texas. Cary Cordova (1970-) is an art historian from Austin, Texas.
General:
Due to technical problems the interview was recorded on both compact disc and mini disc.
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs and 2 compact discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 26 min.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Painters -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Search this
This interview is part of the series "Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas," supported by Federal funds for Latino programming, administered by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives.
The digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
23 Items (sound files (7 hrs.), digital, wav)
148 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2016 April 25-May 23
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Avram Finkelstein conducted 2016 April 25-May 23, by Cynthia Carr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Finkelstein's home and studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Finkelstein speaks of his childhood on Long Island; attending the School of the Museum of fine Arts in Boston; moving to New York in the late 1970s; losing his first partner, Don Yowell, to AIDS; the genesis and distribution of his many AIDS activist posters; the beginnings and actions of ACT UP and Gran Fury; the context of the 1990s culture wars; the mishandling of HIV/AIDS as a public health issue in the 1980s and 1990s; his personal transformation as a result of living through the AIDS crisis; and his work on Flash Collective. Finkelstein also recalls Nan Goldin, David Armstrong, P.L. DiCorcia, Jorge Socarras, Lou Molette, Richard Goldstein, Larry Kramer, Chris Lione, Simon Doonan, Mark Simpson, Don Moffett, Todd Haynes, Robert Vasquez, Loring McAlpin, Michael Nesline, Tom Kalin, Amy Heard, Mark Harrington, Richard Deagle, Julie Tolentino, Lola Flash, Davod Meieran, Patrick Moore, Maria Maggenti, Sean Strub, Eric Sawyer, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Avram Finkelstein (1952- ) is an artist, writer, and activist in New York, New York. Cynthia Carr (1950- ) is a writer in New York, New York.
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.
An interview of Graciela Sanchez conducted 2004 June 25-July 2, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in San Antonio, Tex.
Sánchez speaks of her family background, her family's move to Chicago, return to San Antonio, and cultural traditions; San Antonio's Chili Queens; activism in the community; high school, attending Yale University; MEChA; Gloria Anzaldúa and This Bridge Called My Back; working for the Southwest Voter Registration Project; MALDEF, Mexican American Legal Defense; the foundation of Esperanza Peace and Justice Center with Susan Guerra and others; going to Cuba to study film; the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center; the values of being "buena gente," "good people"; Ellas, a Latina lesbian organization; working with Amy Kastely, lawyer; Mujer Artes; her film "No Porque lo Diga Fidel Castro"; working for AIDS prevention/education; the newsletter "The Interchange" which became "La Voz de Esperanza"; Stonehaven Ranch, a retreat location; the film screenings "Other America"; the complete de-funding of Esperanza in 1997 and the four year litigation with the city of San Antonio; trying to save the building La Gloria and other endeavors taken on by the Esperanza; the Cuentos Project and recent events sponsored by the Esperanza. Sánchez also recalls Audre Lorde, Luz Calvo, Eduardo Diaz, Liliana Wilson Grez, Cherríe Moraga, Cynthia Perez, Genevieve Vaughn, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Graciela Sanchez (1960- ) is an arts activist and the executive director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio, Tex. Cary Cordova (1970- ) is an art historian from Austin, Tex.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound discs. Duration is 5 hr., 30 min.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Search this
This interview is part of the series "Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas," supported by Federal funds for Latino programming, administered by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives.
The digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
California -- San Francisco -- Description and Travel
Date:
2012 August 13-27
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Catherine Opie conducted 2012 August 13-27, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art, at Opie's home and studio in Los Angeles, California.
Opie discusses her childhood in Sandusky, Ohio, moving to California, and introduction to photography; her life in San Francisco and its role in her formulation of sexuality and identity; the importance of identity within her work, especially that of the queer community; the role of architecture and her landscape paintings as metaphor for the queer community and the search for identity; the role of reconceptualization in her work, leading to the ever-changing nature of her works, including comparisons between her portraiture and her landscape photography; her influences and her moniker of the "American photographer" Opie also recalls her partner, painter Julie Burleigh; gallery owners Stuart and Shaun Regen; members of her community and subjects of her portraiture, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Catherine Opie (1961- ) is an artist and professor in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is a writer and art historian in Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded as 7 digital sound files. Duration is 5 hr., 17 min.
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.
Restrictions:
For information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services.
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Photographers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
An interview with Joey Terrill conducted 2017 December 30 and 31, by Alex Fialho, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Terrill's home and studio in Los Angeles, California.
Terrill speaks of his family and upbringing in Los Angeles; early exposure to '60s politics and working-class Chicano activism; early exposure to art-making; early understanding and experience of his queerness; attending Cathedral High School and Immaculate Heart College; moving to New York in 1980; making and distributing the first batch of Maricón and Malflora T-shirts; contemporary appreciation and revitalization of his work; the genesis, production, distribution, reissue, and legacy of Homeboy Beautiful; his seroconversion in 1980; exhibiting his Chicanos Invade New York series in 1980; memories of the early AIDS crisis and ensuing activism; testing HIV-positive in 1989, and subsequent developments in his art; his relationships with Mundo Meza, Jack Vargas, Ray Navarro, Gerardo Velazquez, Alice Armendariz, Teddy Sandoval, Carlos Almaraz, and Harry Gamboa, Jr; contributing an essay to the Art AIDS America catalogue; his still life painting practice; his 2013 retrospective at ONE Archives; ideas for an new anniversary issue of Homeboy Beautiful; his current and ongoing AIDS activism with AIDS Healthcare Foundation; and his hopes for future assessments of his legacy. Terrill also recalls Carlton Dinnall, Patssi Valdez, Jim Aguilar, Gronk, Roberto Legorreta, Willie Herrón, Terry Saunders, Richard Crawford, Sister Corita Kent, Joey Arias, Steven Fregoso, Victor Durazo, Richard T. Rodriguez, David Frantz, Ondine Chavoya, Paul Polubinskas, Daniel Ramirez, Efren Valadez, Carole Caroompas, Skot Armstrong, Greg Poe, Rea Tajiri, Richard Gildart, John Henninger, Craig Brown, Chris Brownlie, Richard Starr, Paul Coleman, Steven Muñoz, Roger Horwitz, Dr. Eugene Rolgolsky, Jef Huereque, Beto Araiza, Miguel Angel Reyes, Guillermo Hernandez, Monica Palacios, Robert Gil de Montes, Eddie Dominguez, Simon Doonan, Jonathan Katz, Rob Hernandez, Dan Guerrero, Diane Gamboa, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Joey Terrill (1955- ) is an artist in Los Angeles, California. Alex Fialho (1989- ) is a curator and arts writer who is the Programs Director for Visual AIDS in New York, New York.
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.
Topic:
Artists -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
An interview with Frank Holliday conducted 2017 January 24 and 26, by Theodore Kerr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Holliday Studios in New York, New York.
Holliday speaks of a beautiful relationship with his Grandmother Holliday; growing up in suburbia with a glamorous mother and industrialist father; being encouraged to draw and paint constantly to keep busy and out of trouble; realizing at a young age that art can bring happiness and cheer to others; feeling free and open until society told him he was different and the resulting need to protect himself by trying to be super-masculine; attending junior high in Greensboro, North Carolina during integration and becoming a young politician bringing people and groups together; studying ballet at the North Carolina School of the Arts during high school; continuing his study in New York City until visiting the Museum of Modern Art and deciding he was destined to be a painter; moving to San Francisco at age 18 to live among gay people; the utopian counter-culture that existed before AIDS; making art constantly through photography, film, painting; the theft of much of his early work over the years; realizing he needed to return to New York to escape his street-oriented lifestyle in San Francisco; attending School of Visual Arts; studying gay men semiotically through signs and social cues with Keith Haring and Bill Beckley; working at Warhol's Factory on Union Square and Interview magazine; the genesis of Club 57; imagining his sets at Club 57 as installations with live people; the appeal of his projects being anti-everything; learning about a "gay cancer" and his then-boyfriend becoming sick and dying from an unknown brain issue; living under the assumption that he was HIV-positive for eight years before falling extremely ill with pneumonia; learning of his HIV/AIDS diagnosis two weeks before "the cocktail" came out in 1996; his breakthrough show "Trippin' in America" in 2001; the process of getting sober six years before his diagnosis; learning to make art without the feeling the need to rely on drugs for creativity; meeting his partner of nineteen years and learning to feel worthy of love; self-hatred and homophobia after getting sober; gaining a tremendous respect and appreciation for the gay community living bravely just as they were; witnessing the World Trade Center towers collapse on 9/11; answering a Craigslist ad and being cast in a movie; acting in several films including "American Gangster;" trading three years of acting lessons with Bill Esper for one painting; how acting helped with his painting; comparing his body being tuned to painting as a dancer's is to music; how living with AIDS has made him very aware of the physical-ness of his body and what it means to be alive; the importance of leaving his mark on his art; academia taking over the art world; feeling looked over in retrospectives of AIDS artists, but identifying more as a human with a disease than as an "AIDS artist;" and purposefully leaving room in his paintings to allow the viewer to enter and experience. Holliday also recalls Harvey Milk, Michael Lowe, Mike Bidlo, Philip Taaffe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Art Garibay, Henry Post, Bill Collum, and Elizabeth Murray.
Biographical / Historical:
Frank Holliday (1957- ) is a painter in New York. New York. Theodore Kerr (1979- ) is a writer and organizer in New York, New York.
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.
Occupation:
Actors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Joan Snyder conducted 2010 February 25-26, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art, at Snyder's home and studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Snyder speaks of her childhood and education, growing up in a Jewish household in Brooklyn; education at Douglass College at Rutgers University, New Jersey; work with anti-poverty programs; her involvement in the wave of feminism, WAC (Women Art Collective), and Women Against War; Snyder's work on the magazine "Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics"; relationship with ex-husband, photographer Larry Fink; Snyder's important early showing at Bykert Gallery and Hirschl & Adler; the works Small Symphony for Women (1974), Resurrection (1977), Love's Pale Grapes (1982), Apple Tree Mass (1983), Beanfield with Music for Molly (1984), Savage Dreams, (1981-82), Women in Camps (1988), Morning Requiem for the Children (1987-88), Faces, Journey of the Souls (1993), Cherry Tree (1993), and her work into the 21st century; themes in her work that refer to the AIDS crisis, the treatment of women and female sensibility, lives of children, and religion; recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship in 2007; her teaching experience at Parsons and School of Visual Art (SVA). Snyder also recalls Ulfred Wilke, Lucy Lippard, and various individuals associated with the Feminist/women's movement, daughter Molly Snyder-Fink, and partner Maggie Cammer.
Biographical / Historical:
Joan Snyder (1940- ) is an abstract artist in Brooklyn, New York. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 6 memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 18 min.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
