An interview with Scott Burton (1 cassette; 21 p. transcript, incomplete) Mar. 1980, San Francisco, Calif., conducted by De Celle for publication in the newspaper, The Advocate; and two letters from Mark Thompson, 1980, editor for The Advocate, concerning the interview. Also included are exhibition announcements, clippings, an ArtWeek article on Burton by Robert McDonald, 1980; and reviews about Burton's artwork as well as his performance piece, "Individual Behavior Tableaux," at the University Art Museum, Berkeley, Calif., March 2, 1980.
In the interview, Burton discusses his work and that of several colleagues, including artists who have influenced him. Burton addresses the intereraction between gay culture and the art world establishment.
Biographical / Historical:
De Celle is an art dealer in San Francisco, Calif; Burton a sculptor (1939-1989), New York City.
Provenance:
Donated 1996 by Edward Brooks de Celle.
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.
The papers of Bay Area figurative artists James Huber and Michael Hossner measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1950 to 1993. This collection documents both James Huber and Michael Hossner's art careers in the San Francisco art scene in the 1970s and 1980s. Also included is material regarding Dino Vinti, an independent curator and curator at Footworks Studio, an alternative center for visual and performing arts. A bulk of this collection is comprised of personal correspondence, personal photographs, and photographs used as studies for works of art, and exhibition announcements and catalogs. The papers document the Bay Area art scene in the 1970s and 1980s of which Huber and Hossner were a part of, alternative spaces, and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Bay Area Figurative artists James Huber and Michael Hossner measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1950-1993. Included are personal correspondence; legal documents including a will; personal photographs and photographs used as studies for works of art; DVDs of annotated photographs, master paintings and drawings; printed material consisting of exhibition invitations and programs; and biographical information including artists' statements and address books. Also included is material regarding Dino Vinti, an independent curator and curator at Footworks Studio, an alternative center for visual and performing arts. The papers document the Bay Area art scene in the 1970s and 1980s of which Huber and Hossner were a part of, alternative spaces, and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: James Huber papers (1.0 linear foot; Box 1, OV 5)
Series 2: Michael Hossner papers (0.7 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 3: Dino Vinti papers (1.4 linear feet; Box 2-3, OV 6-7)
Biographical / Historical:
James Huber (1950-1988) and Michael Hossner (1954-1990) were Bay Area Figurative artists in San Francisco, California. Dino Vinti (1958-1989) was a independent curator and curator at Footworks Studio.
James Huber (1950-1988) was a Bay Area Figurative artist in San Francisco, California. His art is representative of the Bay Area Figurative Style and gay community. Huber's works can be categorized into three themes: Figurative, Abstract, and Landscape. Huber co-founded (along with Phil Linhares and David McClay) Open Studios in San Francisco. Open Studios is a national movement of artist-driven presentation of their work. James Huber created more than 900 paintings and sculptures before passing from complications from AIDS.
Michael Hossner (1954-1990) was also was a Bay Area Figurative artist in San Francisco, California. Hossner was greatly influenced by his mentor and lover, James Huber, and the Bay Area Figurative Style. Hossner drew inspiration from autobiographical sources for most of his art. Many of his paintings chronicle his experiences with the AIDS pandemic. He exhibited his paintings in more than a dozen galleries and non profit spaces throughout the Bay Area between 1985 and 1989. Michale Hossner passed of complications from AIDS in 1990.
Dino Vinti (1958-1989) was a close friend and former lover of James Huber. He was an independent curator and curator at Footworks Studio, an alternative center for visual and performing arts. Vinti collaborated on the initiation of the Edge Festival. He designed and installed many exhibitions, including "Urban Expressions" show in 1987. Dino Vinti passed from complications from AIDS in 1989.
Provenance:
Donated in 2021 by Lee Draper, a museum professional and consultant to philanthropy groups and non-profits, who was friends with Huber and Hossner.
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
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 10-12, Artifact)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1920-1995 (1.8 linear feet; Box 5-6, Box 9, OV 11)
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.
The Jerry Dreva papers measures 1.0 linear foot and dates from circa 1963-1982. The papers include biographical information; rare printed material; scrapbooks; correspondence consisting of letters of support for the exhibition DREVA/GRONK 1968-78: Ten Years of Art/Life (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 1978) and mail art; zines and small artist books exchanged with collaborators and friends; material documenting Dreva's relationship with performance artist, Gronk, including staged photographs, candid snapshots, correspondence, and ephemera, chronicling their shared practice, and the glam Hollywood, activist Chicana/o, and queer scenes in 1970s and 80s Los Angeles. Also included are two small labeled vinyl albums, one of which appears to have been used in a piece of artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The Jerry Dreva papers measures 1.0 linear foot and dates from circa 1963-1982. The papers include biographical information; rare printed material; scrapbooks; correspondence consisting of letters of support for the exhibition DREVA/GRONK 1968-78: Ten Years of Art/Life (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 1978) and mail art; zines and small artist books exchanged with collaborators and friends; material documenting Dreva's relationship with performance artist, Gronk, including staged photographs, candid snapshots, correspondence, and ephemera, chronicling their shared practice, and the glam Hollywood, activist Chicana/o, and queer scenes in 1970s and 80s Los Angeles. Also included are two small labeled vinyl albums.
Correspondence consists of letters to friends and institutions for which Dreva created mail and graphic art for. Some of the indiduals include: Vittore Baroni, John Jack, The Gay Activists Alliance, Michael Scott, and Sandy Robertson. Also included are files of mail art created by Dreva or sent to him by friends and other artists.
Professional files consist of some invoices and receipts, material related to the "Dreva/Gronk 1968-1978 Ten Years of Art/Life" exhibition, work for Mohammed publication company in Italy, certificates, a vinyl record produced by Le Petite Bon-Bons, and a scrapbook.
Printed material consists of clippings, announcements and posters, editions of Mainman Newsletter, "Despair" comic book, "How I Became Rich and Famous" by Captain Zerox, and "Mail Art Show" exhibition catalog.
Photographic material consists of photographs of Dreva, photographs of Dreva and Gronk, photographs of Le Petite Bon-Bons band members and various famous rock stars, and candid shots.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series
Series 1: Correspondence, 1972-1983 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Professional Activity Files, 1975-1984 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1964-1979 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Photographic Material, circa 1975-1979 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Biographical / Historical:
Jerry Dreva (1945-1997) was a performance artist, writer, activist, and teacher based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Los Angeles, California. Dreva was a leader in the mail art movement during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a founding member (together with Robert J. Lambert) of Les Petites Bon-Bons, a flamboyantly attired musical group that never played a single concert. In fact, they never so much as picked up an instrument. Instead they dressed as glitter rock musicians of the era (1970's) and were frequently featured in newspapers and magazines.
Provenance:
Donated in 2020 by Patrick Veda, a family attorney and the executor of Dreva's mother's estate.
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. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Performance artists -- California -- Los Angeles 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 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.
Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Angel Rodriguez-Diaz, 2004 April 23-May 7. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Search this
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.
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Avram Finkelstein, 2016 April 25-May 23. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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
California -- San Francisco -- Description and travel
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Catherine Opie, 2012 August 13-27. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Franco Mondini-Ruiz conducted 2004 July 7-8, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in Alameda and San Antonio, Tex.
Mondini speaks of his parents' disparate backgrounds; his repressed childhood in Boerne, Tex.; his family's electronics store; discovering that his brother was actually his half-brother; attending undergrad and law school at St. Mary's in San Antonio, Tex.; his Catholic rearing; raising his Latino consciousness during and after law school; his life as a successful lawyer; his ingratiation into both rich white and Latino cultures; his partying and coming-out as a gay man; his making of art as a counterpoint to his office work; advice for young Latino artists; the importance of cheap art; exoticizing of Mexican culture by Anglos; quitting law and his experience living in Mexico City; and being diagnosed with HIV. Mondini-Ruiz also speaks of opening his Infinito Botanica and how he operated it; American drug culture; San Antonio's cityscape and his "utopic" hope for it; his "Blue Star on Houston" exhibition; drug use; his show at Bard College as his big break; living with Alejandro Diaz; homosexual and Mexican rococo aesthetics; his exhibit at the 2000 Whitney Biennial and moving to New York City; the importance of found art; the universality of class and race struggles; the problems with over-materialization of artwork; his "Ballroom" show in Marfa, Tex. and the issues confronting that city's arts patronage; his making of the "Spurs Installation"; his new anti-materialistic mindset; and the patterns within his career. Mondini-Ruiz also recalls Michael Tracy, Ito Romo, Rolando Briseno, Sandra Cisneros, Jesse Amado, Donald Judd, Frederieke Taylor, Julia Herzberg, Danny Lozano, Maaretta Jaukkuri, Tracey Moffat, Mike Casey, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Franco Mondini-Ruiz (1961- ) is an artist in New York. Legal name is Gino Francisco Mondini. Interviewer Cary Cordova (1970-) is an art historian from Austin, Tex.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hrs., 12 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.
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.
Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Franco Mondini-Ruiz, 2004 July 7-8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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
School of Visual Arts (New York, N.Y.) Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Frank Holliday, 2017 January 24-26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
