An interview with Tom Otterness conducted 2009 April 10 - May 13, by Avis Berman for the Archives of American Art, at Otterness' studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Biographical / Historical:
Tom Otterness (1952-) is a sculptor well-known for his public art in New York, N.Y.
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 access restricted; written permission is required. 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:
Public artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records measure 25.7 linear feet and 0.891 GB and date from circa 1975 to circa 2007. Records include administrative files; correspondence with artists, collectors, dealers, galleries, and others; eight gallery appointment books and fourteen notebooks; exhibition files; extensive artists' files; financial and legal materials; sculpture production and inventory files; and photographic and digital materials.
Scope and Contents:
The Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records measure 25.7 linear feet and 0.891 GB and date from circa 1975 to circa 2007. Records include administrative files; correspondence with artists, collectors, dealers, galleries, and others; eight gallery appointment books and fourteen notebooks; exhibition files; extensive artists' files; financial and legal materials; sculpture production and inventory files; and photographic and digital materials.
Administrative records document the daily operations of the Art Foundry and AFE. Correspondence is with artists, galleries, art collectors and dealers, patrons, and others.
The appointment books and notebooks document daily operations within the Foundry administrative offices, including phone messages and daily appointments, and also include notes and conversations regarding various artists' ongoing sculptural plans and projects. Entries have been made by Dwight Hackett, artists, and other staff members.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of artists' files representing over 132 artists, which may include scattered correspondence and notes; scattered exhibition materials; financial materials; photographic materials; digital materials; and sketches and plans for various sculptural productions and projects. Artists include Terry Allen, Larry Bell, Lynda Benglis, Judy Chicago, Lesley Dill, Una Hanbury, Luis Jimenez, Allan Houser, Maya Lin, Andrew Lord, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Gabriel Orozco, Tom Otterness, Michael Rees, Fritz Scholder, Peter Shelton, Kiki Smith, Valeska Soares, and Richard Tuttle, among many others. Seven CD-Rs contain material related to artists Terry Allen, Charles Arnoldi, Lesley Dill, and Michael Rees.
Financial and legal materials include invoices and financial statements, consignment agreements, and miscellaneous legal documents.
Sculpture production and inventory files document casting guidelines and costs incurred; casting logs and records; sculpture production records for various artists; and inventory cards and photographs and digital documentation for various projects and works.
The collection contains hundreds of snapshots and Polaroids that depict the collaborative atmosphere Hackett was able to create at Art Foundry. There are also slides, negatives and nine photograph albums.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series. Researchers should note that Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records were merged prior to processing.
Missing Title
Series 1: Administrative Files, circa 1980-circa 2004 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1985-2000 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Gallery Appointment Books and Notebooks, 1985-2000 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1986-1997 (0.2 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 5: Artists' Files, circa 1980-circa 2007 (16.8 linear feet; Boxes 3-19, OV 27-31, 0.891 GB; ER01-ER03)
Series 6: Financial and Legal Materials, 1991-circa 2001 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 19-20)
Series 7: Sculpture Production and Inventory Files, circa 1975-circa 2002 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 20-23, OV 31)
Series 8: Photographic Materials, circa 1977-circa 2002 (3.0 linear feet; Boxes 23-26)
Biographical / Historical:
Art Foundry (est.1980-closed 2000) and Art Foundry Editions (est. 1992-closed 2000) were organizations founded and operated by Dwight Hackett in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
While working for another foundry in New Mexico, Dwight Hackett met Una Hanbury and began casting her work at his home, using a relatively new technique called cold casting. The process produced work that lighter than bronze and less expensive to produce. Una Hanbury helped Hackett travel to Washington, D. C. to study with Harvey Moore at his foundry. He formally established his studio, Art Foundry, in New Mexico, in 1980 with a loan from Hanbury and subsequent investment from the Apache sculptor Allan Houser. According to Hackett, Art Foundry's mission was to "collaborate with artists, not just work for them, and to challenge the limits of traditional casting technique."
In 1990, Hackett extended the operation by establishing Art Foundry Editions (AFE) through which he invited artists to come to Santa Fe for a residency and produce multiples of their work. AFE would acquire half of each artists' edition, and then market the works to galleries and collectors. One of AFE's first artists was Lynda Benglis, who purportedly came for a two-week residency and stayed for nine months.
Hackett sold Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions in 2000.
(Much of the biographical note was taken from collecting specialist Jason Stieber's acquisition report published in the Archives of American Art Journal, Volume Number 54, 2016.)
Provenance:
The Art Foundry and Art Foundry Editions records were donated by Dwight Hackett in 2014.
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.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Tom Otterness, 2009 April 10 - May 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Weatherspoon Art Gallery Spring Garden & Tate Street Greensboro North Carolina 27412 Accession Number: 1981.2862.1
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Weatherspoon Art Gallery Spring Garden & Tate Street Greensboro North Carolina 27412 Accession Number: 1983.3478
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Weatherspoon Art Gallery Spring Garden & Tate Street Greensboro North Carolina 27412 Accession Number: 1983.3487
