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Oral history interview with Mary Heilmann, 2022 June 16 and 2023 February 1

Interviewee:
Heilmann, Mary, 1940-  Search this
Interviewer:
Sultan, Terrie, 1952-  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mary Heilmann, 2022 June 16 and 2023 February 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women painters  Search this
Beat generation  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)22248
AAA_collcode_heilma23
Theme:
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_22248

Oral history interview with Mary Heilmann

Interviewee:
Heilmann, Mary, 1940-  Search this
Interviewer:
Sultan, Terrie, 1952-  Search this
Extent:
15 Items (sound files (2 hrs., 38 min.), digital, wav)
64 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2022 June 16 and 2023 February 1
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Mary Heilmann conducted 2022 June 16 and 2023 February 1, by Terrie Sultan for the Archives of American Art, at Heilmann's studio in Bridgehampton, NY.­
Biographical / Historical:
Mary Heilmann (1940- ) is a painter known for her incorporation of disparate visual lexicons such as Beat and surf culture with geometric abstraction and striking palettes. Raised and trained in San Francisco, Heilmann moved to New York City in 1968 and made her career there and in Bridgehampton, NY.

Terrie Sultan (1952-) is a curator and cultural consultant based in Southampton, NY; she previous served as the director of the Parrish Art Museum.
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:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its Oral History Program interviews available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. Quotation, reproduction and publication of the recording is governed by restrictions. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers must quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers must quote from the recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Women painters  Search this
Beat generation  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.heilma23
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90d9e93a8-6894-41e1-b8de-fabcff19dc1e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-heilma23
Online Media:

Colin de Land collection

Creator:
De Land, Colin, 1955-2003  Search this
Names:
American Fine Arts, Co.  Search this
Armory Show (1913: New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Art Cologne  Search this
Art Forum Berlin  Search this
Biennale di Venezia  Search this
Documenta  Search this
International Art Fair  Search this
Balk, Dennis  Search this
Beckwith, Patterson  Search this
Davey, Moyra  Search this
Dion, Mark, 1961-  Search this
Fend, Peter  Search this
Fraser, Andrea  Search this
Greene, Carol  Search this
Heilmann, Mary, 1940-  Search this
Marks, Matthew  Search this
McDonald, Daniel  Search this
Morris, Paul  Search this
Pierson, Jack, 1960-  Search this
Wadlin, Craig  Search this
Waters, John, 1946-  Search this
Extent:
15.15 Linear feet
0.901 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Date:
1968-2008, bulk 1980-2003
bulk 1980-2003
Summary:
The Colin de Land collection measures 15.15 linear feet and 0.901 GB and dates from 1968 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from the early 1980s through 2003. The majority of the collection consists of photographic material, primarily snapshots, documenting daily life in and around de Land's gallery American Fine Arts, Co., as well as de Land's pesonal life and affairs. There are candid photographs of exhibition openings, day-to-day gallery operations, art fairs, vacations, social gatherings, and New York City street scenes. Also included are some personal objects belonging to de Land and his wife Pat Hearn, as well as two scrapbooks containing items once decorating the walls of de Land's office at American Fine Arts. The collection includes video recordings documenting trips to Cape Cod, Hearn's illness, and occasional art world events.
Scope and Contents:
The Colin de Land collection measures 15.15 linear feet and 0.901 GB and dates from 1968 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from the early 1980s through 2003. The majority of the collection consists of photographic material, primarily snapshots, documenting daily life in and around de Land's gallery American Fine Arts, Co., as well as de Land's pesonal life and affairs. There are candid photographs of exhibition openings, day-to-day gallery operations, art fairs, vacations, social gatherings, and New York City street scenes. Also included are some personal objects belonging to de Land and his wife Pat Hearn, as well as two scrapbooks containing items once decorating the walls of de Land's office at American Fine Arts. The collection includes video recordings documenting trips to Cape Cod, Hearn's illness, and occasional art world events.

The bulk of the collection consists of snapshots, along with their negatives and the envelopes provided by commercial photographic printers. The envelopes are sometimes annotated. The photographs, not typically identified by photographer, were taken by de Land, Hearn, and gallery employees, artists, and visitors. Most of the snapshots provide a candid record of life within de Land's circle, and not formal documentation of gallery exhibitions.

The figures in this collection often occupied blurred boundaries between artist, gallery employee, critic, and friend. Many of the photographs include AFA staff, including Daniel McDonald, Patterson Beckwith, and Craig Wadlin. Also of note are photos showing AFA artists, including John Waters, Mark Dion, Andrea Fraser, Moyra Davey, Dennis Balk, Peter Fend, and Jack Pierson.

In addition to life within the gallery, de Land's cameras also documented a larger art world of the era, candidly showing openings at other galleries, art fairs such as Art Basel, Art Cologne, and the Berlin Artforum, as well as festivals including the Venice Biennale and Documenta, many of which included AFA artists. There is some documentation of the Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair and The Armory Show. The photographs frequently include de Land and Hearn's friends and fellow art dealers Paul Morris, Matthew Marks, and Carol Greene. Some images include artists that showed at Pat Hearn Art Gallery, such as Mary Heilmann. Collectors, celebrity visitors to the gallery, and critics also occasionally appear in the photographs. There is one 1968 photograph of de Land's mother and a small number of 1970s images of both de Land and Hearn.

In addition to the snapshots, there are a variety of other photographic formats, including digital, in the collection. The contents of the slides are of similar nature to the snapshots. The contact sheet binders offer some formal exhibition installation documentation, but are not exhaustive.

The collection also includes film and video footage. Thirty-five reels of Super-8 motion picture film primarily documents frequent vacations to Cape Cod, as well as the final stages of Hearn's illness and subsequent death. The 31 DV-mini cassettes include similar content, and some footage of opening receptions and other art world events.

Most of the official gallery records are missing, most likely lost in the frequent floods in the gallery basement. Two scrapbooks include material that was often photographed on the walls surrounding de Land's desk at AFA. Additional artifacts include one small painting by artist Charles Clough, inscribed to Hearn, a baseball hat frequently worn by de Land and appearing in many of the snapshots, and one page of an autographed calendar.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 4 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Photographic Material, 1968-2003, bulk 1980-2003 (14 linear feet; Box 1-14, 0.901 GB; ER01)

Series 2: Scrapbooks, circa 1980s-2003 (0.2 linear feet; Box 19)

Series 3: Video and Film Recordings, circa 1980-2003 (1.1 linear feet; Box 15, 16, 18)

Series 4: Artifacts, 1988-2008 (0.3 linear feet; Box 14, 17, 19)
Biographical / Historical:
Colin de Land (1955-2003) was a gallery owner whose New York City spaces challenged traditional modes of exhibition and art dealing.

Raised in Union City, New Jersey, de Land came to the art world from an academic background, having studied philosophy and linguistics at New York University. In 1984, de Land opened Vox Populi, a largely unrenovated space in the East Village, at 511 East 6th Street. The gallery showed experimental work by emerging artists, including the enigmatic John Dogg, thought to be a collaboration between de Land and artist Richard Prince.

In 1986, De Land opened his longest standing gallery, American Fine Arts, Co. (AFA), in the same space previously occupied by Vox Populi. The gallery moved to SoHo in 1988, first to 40 Wooster Street then to 22 Wooster Street in 1993. During the late 1990s, as most SoHo galleries moved to Chelsea, AFA remained a mainstay of the downtown arts scene. De Land's wife, Pat Hearn, whom he married in 1999 after over a decade together, was also a well known art dealer. Her gallery, Pat Hearn Art Gallery, also moved from the East Village to SoHo, later becoming one of the first to set down roots in Chelsea.

Known for his eccentric fashion and unorthodox business style, de Land cultivated a culture of experimentation within the AFA community. He typically hired young art students or recent graduates, often nurturing their own artistic careers. Along with a group of Cooper Union graduates, many of whom worked at the gallery, he founded the artist collective Art Club 2000. De Land often showed artists working in hybrid media, for example film and photography or music and installation. He was especially interested in ecological and environmental art, as well as work that took as its subject exhibition practice and the act of creating art. He often staged large thematic group shows. Artists who showed at the gallery included Mark Dion, John Waters, Andrea Fraser, Moyra Davey, Dennis Balk, Peter Fend, Tom Burr, James Welling, Mariko Mori, Dan Graham, Jessica Stockholder, Alex Bag, Christian Philipp Muller, and Jack Pierson.

In 1994, de Land and Hearn, along with gallerists Matthew Marks and Paul Morris, established the Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair. Fashioned after the tradition of inexpensive hotel art fairs, four galleries were invited to exhibit artwork in rooms of the Gramercy Park Hotel, to be sold in a cash and carry model. The fair became an annual event, branching out to other cities, including Miami and Los Angeles, and growing significantly in size in New York. It later became known as The Armory Show.

De Land often carried a point-and-shoot camera and kept several on hand in the gallery. He documented opening receptions, art world social gatherings, concerts, and day-to-day happenings and invited visitors to the gallery and employees to do the same.

After Hearn's death from liver cancer in 2000, de Land became involved with Kembra Pfahler, the performance artist and leader of the rock band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. De Land took over Hearn's Chelsea gallery, operating it as a second location of AFA. Following his own struggle with cancer, de Land passed away in 2003. AFA remained open, closing at the end of 2004 with a tribute group exhibition to de Land.
Related Materials:
The archival gallery records of Colin de Land's art gallery American Fine Arts, Co. as well as the gallery records of the Pat Hearn Gallery are available at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York. The gallery records there also include a fair amount of de Land's personal papers. Bard also acquired de Land's and Hearn's personal library.
Provenance:
The Colin de Land papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2008 by Dennis Balk, an artist represented by American Fine Arts, Co. and a close friend of de Land.
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 and born-digital records 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.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Citation:
Colin de Land papers, 1968-2008, bulk 1980-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.delacoli
See more items in:
Colin de Land collection
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f9da47c1-bd20-49da-8477-4f57e4a58874
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-delacoli
Online Media:

Mary Heilmann : all tomorrow's parties

Title:
All tomorrow's parties
Author:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Wiener Secession  Search this
Erste Bank  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Physical description:
84 p. : col. ill., ports. ; 30 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Date:
2003
C2003
Call number:
ND237.H427 A4 2003
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_740157

Mary Heilmann : the architecture of heaven / [text by Mary Heilmann and John Hutchinson]

Title:
Architecture of heaven
Author:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Hutchinson, John 1950-  Search this
Douglas Hyde Gallery  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Physical description:
1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 22 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Date:
2003
C2003
Call number:
ND237.H427 A4 2003b
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_801674

Mary Heilmann : October 10-November 9, 1986

Author:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Smith, Roberta 1947-  Search this
Pat Hearn Gallery  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Physical description:
[12] p. : col. ill. ; 28 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Date:
1986
Call number:
ND237.H427 A4 1986
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_803932

Mary Heilmann : Save the last dance for me / Terry R. Myers

Title:
Save the last dance for me
Author:
Myers, Terry R  Search this
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940- Save the last dance for me  Search this
Physical description:
94 p. : ill ; 22 cm
Type:
Books
Date:
2007
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_826110

Jessica Stockholder : vortex in the play of theater with real passion ; [anlässlich der Ausstellung Jessica Stockholder - Mary Heilmann (Gemälde aus der Sammlung Hauser und Wirth) im Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 18. März bis 25. Juni 2000] / [Herausgeber, Roland Wäspe ; Texte, Konrad Bitterli ... ; Übersetzung, Konrad Bitterli, Jeanne Haunschild, Gerhard Mack]

Title:
Vortex in the play of theater with real passion
Author:
Stockholder, Jessica 1959-  Search this
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen  Search this
Subject:
Stockholder, Jessica 1959-  Search this
Physical description:
55 p. : ill. (all col.) ; 28 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Date:
2001
Call number:
N6537.S732 A4 2001
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_829626

Mary Heilmann : to be someone / organized by Elizabeth Armstrong ; essays by Elizabeth Armstrong, Johanna Burton and Dave Hickey

Title:
To be someone
Author:
Armstrong, Elizabeth 1952-  Search this
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Burton, Johanna  Search this
Hickey, Dave 1940-  Search this
Orange County Museum of Art (Calif.)  Search this
Contemporary Arts Museum  Search this
Wexner Center for the Arts  Search this
New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Heilmann, Mary 1940- Criticism and interpretation  Search this
Physical description:
192 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 28 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Date:
2007
C2007
Topic:
Painting, Abstract  Search this
Call number:
ND237.H427 A4 2007
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_831660

Mary Heilmann : good vibrations / edited by Bonnefantenmuseum ; translations, Jeanne Haunschild, Laura Watkinson

Title:
Good vibrations
Artist:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Host institution:
Bonnefantenmuseum  Search this
Neues Museum (Nuremberg, Germany)  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Physical description:
236 pages : color illustrations ; 27 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Exhibition catalogs
Date:
2012
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1041089

Mary Heilmann : February 26-March [26], 1988

Author:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Gallery Mukai  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940- Exhibitions  Search this
Physical description:
1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 21 cm
Type:
Books
Date:
1988
[1988]
Call number:
ND237.H427 A4 1988
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_709089

Mary Heilmann : Farbe und Lust = color and passion / herausgegeben von Christa Häusler

Title:
Farbe und Lust
Color and passion
Author:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Häusler, Christa  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Physical description:
61 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 20 cm
Type:
Books
Date:
1997
C1997
Call number:
N40.1.H45755 H3 1997
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_550768

The indiscipline of painting / [curated by Daniel Sturgis with Sarah Shalgosky and Martin Clark]

Author:
Sturgis, Dan  Search this
Tate Gallery St Ives  Search this
Mead Gallery  Search this
Subject:
Armleder, John  Search this
Barré, Martin 1924-1993-  Search this
Baudevin, Francis 1964-  Search this
Grosse, Katharina 1961-  Search this
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Law, Bob 1934-2004  Search this
Palermo 1943-1977  Search this
Stout, Myron 1908-1987  Search this
Young, Peter 1940-  Search this
Physical description:
123 p. (some folded) : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 25 x 25 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Date:
2011
20th century
21st century
Topic:
Art, Abstract  Search this
Painting, Modern  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_980468

Mary Heilmann : Little 9 x 9 (1973)/blue room (1997) / von Konrad Bitterli ... ; Redaktion, Irene Müller

Author:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Bitterli, Konrad 1960-  Search this
Müller, Irene 1941-  Search this
Sammlung Hauser & Wirth  Search this
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen  Search this
Subject:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Sammlung Hauser & Wirth  Search this
Physical description:
71 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm
Type:
Books
Exhibitions
Date:
2000
Call number:
ND237.H427 A4 2000
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_613716

Art 21 : art in the 21st century. Season 5 [videorecording]/ a production of Art21 Inc. ; series created by Susan Sollins and Susan Dowling

Title:
Art in the twenty-first century
Art twenty-one
Art in the 21st century
Art 21, season five
Art:21
Author:
Sollins, Susan  Search this
Dowling, Susan  Search this
Ortega, Eve-Laure Moros  Search this
Atlas, Charles  Search this
Tatge, Catherine  Search this
Sutton, Mark  Search this
Kentridge, William 1955-  Search this
Weems, Carrie Mae 1953-  Search this
Salcedo, Doris 1958-  Search this
Koons, Jeff 1955-  Search this
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Maier-Aichen, Florian 1973-  Search this
Cao, Fei 1978-  Search this
Shonibare, Yinka 1962-  Search this
Sherman, Cindy  Search this
McCarthy, Paul 1945-  Search this
Mehretu, Julie 1970-  Search this
Baldessari, John 1931-  Search this
Kim, Soo-ja 1957-  Search this
McCollum, Allan 1944-  Search this
Physical description:
1 videodisc (ca. 240 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in
Type:
Videorecordings
Biography
Interviews
Video recordings for the hearing impaired
Place:
United States
Date:
2009
C2009
21st century
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Art--Forecasting  Search this
Artists  Search this
Documentary television programs  Search this
Call number:
video 001502
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1083923

Voulkos : the breakthrough years

Title:
Breakthrough years
Writer of added commentary:
Adamson, Glenn  Search this
Perchuk, Andrew  Search this
Gifford, Barbara Paris  Search this
Sorkin, Jenni  Search this
Voulkos, Peter 1924-2002  Search this
Melchert, Jim 1930-  Search this
Neri, Ruby 1970-  Search this
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Shechet, Arlene  Search this
Auther, Elissa  Search this
Author:
Voulkos, Peter 1924-2002 Sculptures Selections  Search this
Host institution:
Museum of Arts and Design (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Renwick Gallery  Search this
Subject:
Voulkos, Peter 1924-2002  Search this
Physical description:
207 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 28 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Exhibition catalogs
Date:
2016
20th century
Topic:
Sculpture, American  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1072641

Unfinished business : paintings from the 1970s and 1980s by Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl, and David Salle / David Pagel ; with an introduction and acknowledgments by Terrie Sultan ; interview by Terrie Sultan and David Pagel ; special contributions by Mary Heilmann

Interviewer:
Pagel, David  Search this
Writer of introduction:
Sultan, Terrie 1952-  Search this
Writer of added commentary:
Heilmann, Mary 1940-  Search this
Author:
Bleckner, Ross Works Selections  Search this
Fischl, Eric 1948- Works Selections  Search this
Salle, David 1952- Works Selections  Search this
Host institution:
Parrish Art Museum  Search this
Subject:
Bleckner, Ross  Search this
Fischl, Eric 1948-  Search this
Salle, David 1952-  Search this
Physical description:
87 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 27 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Exhibition catalogs
Date:
2016
20th century
Topic:
Painting, American  Search this
Drawing, American  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1101677

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