Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Search Results

Collections Search Center
23 documents - page 1 of 2

John Held papers relating to mail art, 1947-2018, bulk 1973-2013

Creator:
Held, John, 1947-  Search this
Subject:
Cavellini, Guglielmo Achille  Search this
Durland, Steve  Search this
Summers, Rod  Search this
Brown, Jean  Search this
Cage, John  Search this
Bloch, Mark  Search this
Braumuller, Hans  Search this
Andre, Carl  Search this
Ackerman, Blaster Al  Search this
Cohen, Ryosuke  Search this
Leigh, Michael  Search this
Shimamoto, Shozo  Search this
Greenberg, Clement  Search this
Kaprow, Allan  Search this
Johnson, Ray  Search this
Janssen, Ruud  Search this
Higgins, Dick  Search this
Gaglione, Bill  Search this
Gutai Bijutsu Ky?kai  Search this
San Francisco Art Institute  Search this
Type:
Diaries
Interviews
Citation:
John Held papers relating to mail art, 1947-2018, bulk 1973-2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Mail art  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6273
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)216618
AAA_collcode_heldjohn
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_216618
Online Media:

John Held papers relating to mail art

Creator:
Held, John, 1947-  Search this
Names:
Gutai Bijutsu Kyōkai  Search this
San Francisco Art Institute  Search this
Ackerman, Blaster Al, 1939-2013  Search this
Andre, Carl, 1935-  Search this
Bloch, Mark, 1956-  Search this
Braumuller, Hans, 1966-  Search this
Brown, Jean, 1911-1994  Search this
Cavellini, Guglielmo Achille, 1914-  Search this
Cohen, Ryosuke, 1948-  Search this
Durland, Steve  Search this
Gaglione, Bill  Search this
Higgins, Dick, 1938-  Search this
Janssen, Ruud, 1959-  Search this
Kaprow, Allan  Search this
Leigh, Michael  Search this
Shimamoto, Shozo, 1928-  Search this
Summers, Rod  Search this
Interviewee:
Cage, John, 1912-1992  Search this
Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this
Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this
Extent:
12.9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diaries
Interviews
Date:
bulk 1973-2013
1947-2018
Summary:
The papers of rubberstamp and artistamp artist, performance artist, collector of mail art, and fine arts librarian John Held, Jr. date from 1947-2018, bulk 1973-2013, and measure 12.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, 18 printed diaries, letters received by Held from mail artists around the world, art work consisting of artistamps designed by miscellaneous mail artists, interview transcripts, writings, project and event files, printed material, mail art sent for the Gutai Historical Survey Exhibition held at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2013, and a collection of biographical material presented by Held at a Mail Art Study Day held at the Archives of American Art in 2018.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of rubberstamp and artistamp artist, performance artist, collector of mail art, and fine arts librarian John Held, Jr. date from 1947-2018, bulk 1973-2013, and measure 12.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, 18 printed diaries, letters received by Held from mail artists around the world, art work consisting of artistamps designed by miscellaneous mail artists, interview transcripts, writings, project and event files, printed material, and mail art sent for the Gutai Historical Survey Exhibition held at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2013.

Scattered biographical material consists primarily of miscellanous biographical writings and accounts. Eighteen printed diaries provide very brief descriptions of daily activities and more detailed descriptions of art mail events, conferences, and travel experiences.

Letters comprise the largest and most significant series in the collection. Letters received by John Held, Jr. are from an extensive number of national and international mail artists, including Mark Bloch, Hans Braumüller, Jean Brown, William Gaglione (a.k.a. Picasso Gaglione), Dick Higgins, Ray Johnson, Shozo Shimamoto, Ryosuke Cohen, Michael Leigh, Guglielmo Cavellini, and Rod Summers. There are also scattered letters from Carl Andre and Clement Greenberg, typescripts of letters sent by Held, and a file of letters exchanged with Steve Durland.

There are twelve folders of artistamps, non-official or pseudo-postage stamps designed by miscellaneous participants in the international mail art network.

Transcripts are of interviews conducted by John Held, Jr. with some of the more notable artists involved with the mail art movement including Al Ackerman, John Cage, Ray Johnson, and Allan Kaprow. There are also interviews with John Held, Jr., William (Picasso) Gaglione, and Milan Knizak, including an interview with Held conducted by Ruud Janssen.

Extensive writings by John Held, Jr. consist of catalog essays, miscellaneous essays, bibliographies, miscellaneous box set texts, and miscellaneous typescripts. Project and event files concern miscellaneous projects, tours, lectures, and exhibitions with which John Held, Jr. was involved.

Printed material consists primarily of printouts of Bibliozone issues, a newsletter, exhibition catalogs, and press releases concerning mail art.

The Gutai exhibition project files include printed material related to the 2013 Experimental Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the mid-Winter Burning Sun: Gutai Historical Survey and Contemporary Response held at the San Francisco Art Institute. The bulk of the series consists of mail art created by over 135 artists who were asked to submit work inspired by Gutai and the artist Shozo Shimamoto.

The Mail Art Study Day Material consists of mostly biographical material regarding John Held, presented by him at the Archives of American Art's Mail Art Study Day on November 9, 2018. This assortment of largely printed material (news clippings, invitations, and programs) as well as select correspondence and photographs, each representing a year in the life of the artist, accompanied by a key for around 450 items dating from 1947-2018. They serve to document his career with regard to creating and disseminating Mail Art.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1990-1999 (5 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Diaries, 1990-2000 (20 folders; Box 1)

Series 3: Letters, 1973-2008 (7.9 linear feet; Box 1-8, Box 12)

Series 4: Artwork, 1985-2007 (12 folders; Box 8)

Series 5: Interview Transcripts, 1977-1995 (7 folders; Box 8)

Series 6: Writings, 1984-2000 (0.5 linear feet; Box 8)

Series 7: Project and Event Files, 1982-2000 (11 folders; Box 8)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1989-2000 (11 folders; Box 8)

Series 9: Gutai Exhibition Project Files, 2012-2013 (Box 9-11, Box 13, OV 14)

Series 10: Mail Art Study Day Materials, 1947-2018 (Box 15)
Biographical Note:
John Held, Jr. (1947-) of San Francisco, California, is a rubberstamp and artistamp artist, participant in the international mail art network, activist, performance artist, collector of mail art, and a fine arts librarian.

Jonathan Held was born on April 2, 1947. In the mid-1970s he took the name of the early twentieth century illustrator, John Held, Jr., famous for his images of "flapper girls" in the 1920s. This name change was both in tribute to the older artist as well as an expression of Dada.

Earning a Bachelor's Degree in 1969, Held received a Master of Library Science Degree from Syracuse University School of Information Studies in 1972 and expanded his interests toward participating in the international mail art network and assembling one of the largest archives of mail art in the United States. He was mentored by mail artist Ray Johnson, and Jean Brown, a leading participant in Fluxus, whose interest in the Dada and Surrealism movements promoted emerging art forms including mail art, visual poetry, and artists' books.

From 1981 to 1995, Held was a Fine Arts Librarian at the Dallas Public Library. In 1982, he began making artistamps, pseudo-postage stamps used as an art medium, and opened the Modern Realism Gallery and Archive in Dallas, Texas, with his future wife Paula Barber. The gallery sought to preserve the record of contemporary avant-garde cultural activity.

Held published Mail Art: An Annotated Bibliography, a five-hundred page listing of secondary sources on the field in 1991. In 1996, Held moved to San Francisco, California, where he established the Modern Realism Gallery and acted as curator of the Stamp Art Gallery, an exhibition space devoted to rubberstamp and artistamp works.

John Held, Jr. has lectured at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Havana; and at the National School of Art, Prague. He participated in international exhibitions and, since 1986, engaged in international performance work, appearing in Japan, Russia, Uruguay, and Yugoslavia, as well as in the United States. One of Held's more notable performance creations is the Fake Picabia Brothers, in partnership with artist Picasso Gaglione.

John Held, Jr. lives in San Francisco, California.
Provenance:
John Held donated his papers relating to mail art in 1999, 2008, 2013, and 2018.
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:
Mail artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Librarians -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Mail art  Search this
Genre/Form:
Diaries
Interviews
Citation:
John Held papers relating to mail art, 1947-2018. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.heldjohn
See more items in:
John Held papers relating to mail art
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93dd2159c-b4cd-4edd-9e2f-9b0b78cc5bf6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-heldjohn
Online Media:

Outreach

Collection Creator:
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
Container:
Box 12, Folder 15
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1975-1978
Collection Citation:
Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Woman's Building records
Woman's Building records / Series 2: Education Programs / 2.2: Feminist Studio Workshop
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b945bc60-acec-44c6-af3f-5be3372d4740
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-womabuil-ref557
1 Page(s) matching your search term, top most relevant are shown: View entire project in transcription center
  • View Outreach digital asset number 1

Robert Kushner papers, 1967-2011

Creator:
Kushner, Robert, 1949-  Search this
Subject:
Goldin, Amy  Search this
Solomon, Holly  Search this
98 Green St. Loft  Search this
Kitchen, The  Search this
Clocktower Gallery  Search this
Paula Cooper Gallery  Search this
St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Place:
SoHo (New York, N.Y.)
Citation:
Robert Kushner papers, 1967-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Pattern and decoration (Art movement)  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)16135
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)363702
AAA_collcode_kushrobe
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_363702
Online Media:

Robert Kushner papers

Creator:
Kushner, Robert, 1949-  Search this
Names:
98 Green St. Loft  Search this
Clocktower Gallery  Search this
Kitchen, The  Search this
Paula Cooper Gallery  Search this
St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Goldin, Amy  Search this
Solomon, Holly  Search this
Extent:
4.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Place:
SoHo (New York, N.Y.)
Date:
1967-2011
Summary:
The papers of the artist Robert Kushner measure 4.6 linear feet and date from 1967 to 2011. The collection documents primarily the early career of Robert Kushner through performance videos and other media artworks, correspondence, notes, lab records, inventories, an exhibition proposal, and subject files regarding critic Amy Goldin.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the artist Robert Kushner measure 4.6 linear feet and date from 1967 to 2011. The collection documents primarily the early career of Robert Kushner through performance videos, other media artworks, correspondence, notes, lab records, inventories, an exhibition proposal, and subject files regarding critic Amy Goldin.

Performances and artworks comprise the bulk of the collection and include video recordings, sound recordings, and motion picture films documenting works by Robert Kushner created between circa 1967 and 1982. Most of the video footage documents live performances of Kushner's pageants and fashion shows that took place between 1972 and 1981, primarily in art spaces in the SOHO district of New York City. In addition to live performance documentation, videos and films include four moving image artworks, recorded music used in performances, and publicity including a television news magazine segment featuring Kushner and his edible costumes. Paper documentation of Kushner's video recordings includes correspondence, notes, lab records, performance programs, edit worksheets, and inventories of Kushner's performance videos. An exhibition file contains documentation of the development of a proposed exhibition from 1999-2000 entitled "Pret-a-porter: Robert Kushner, performance and fashion, 1970-1980."

Subject files compiled by Robert Kushner regarding critic Amy Goldin (1926-1978), Kushner's former teacher and close friend, contain mainly photocopies and a few original documents. Included are published and unpublished writings, letters to and from Goldin, photographs, and biographical material. A small amount of original primary sources related to Goldin are also found.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged in 3 series:

Series 1: Performances and Artwork, 1967-1988 (Boxes 1-4, FC 6-7; 3.7 linear feet)

Series 2: Video Documentation and Exhibition Proposal, 1988-2002 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Research Material on Amy Goldin, 1971-2011 (Boxes 4-5; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Kushner (1949- ) is a New York, N.Y.-based painter of the Pattern and Decoration movement and an installation artist who began his career as a performance artist.

Kushner was born in Pasadena, California in 1949 and studied visual arts at the University of California at San Diego, La Jolla in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Kushner met and worked closely with the critic Amy Goldin at UCSD, and his work was strongly influenced by her scholarship and thinking about non-Western visual cultures, particularly regarding Islamic decorative art.

Kushner began his work with fashion, costume, and performance in the early 1970s in New York City. He performed and exhibited in the many SOHO art spaces that emerged at that time supporting avant garde and experimental art, such as the 98 Greene Street Loft, the Kitchen, The Clocktower, St. Mark's Church, and Paula Cooper Gallery. The work evolved from the creation of soft sculptures using found materials, to the creation of costumes and fashion "lines" with nontraditional materials, including fresh food, which he presented in the performance genres of pageants and fashion shows, using models to exhibit his works before live audiences. In 1973, art dealer Holly Solomon became a champion of his work. He was a founding member of the Pattern and Decoration movement beginning in the mid-1970s, and his performance, costume, and paintings are strongly associated with that movement.

Kushner has exhibited his work widely, with major exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art. Kushner's work is included in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the National Gallery of Art, among many others. He is represented in New York by the DC Moore Gallery.
Provenance:
Donated 2013 by Robert Kushner.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Pattern and decoration (Art movement)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Robert Kushner papers, 1967-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.kushrobe
See more items in:
Robert Kushner papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9461894b1-9774-4831-b4de-493e481e4633
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-kushrobe

James A. McGrath papers, 1950-2011

Creator:
McGrath, James A., 1928-  Search this
Subject:
Wiley, William T.  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Rauschenberg, Robert  Search this
Type:
Drawings
Poems
Prints
Postcards
Paintings
Sketches
Illustrated letters
Christmas cards
Photographs
Citation:
James A. McGrath papers, 1950-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Illustrators -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)15948
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)301046
AAA_collcode_mcgrjame
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_301046
Online Media:

Tom Marioni papers, 1970-2017

Creator:
Marioni, Tom, 1937-  Search this
Subject:
Crown Point Press (Oakland, Calif.)  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Tom Marioni papers, 1970-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Performance art  Search this
Conceptual art  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17561
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)394150
AAA_collcode_mariotom
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_394150

Oral history interview with Jerome Caja, 1995 August 23 and September 29

Interviewee:
Caja, Jerome D., 1958-1995  Search this
Interviewer:
Karlstrom, Paul J  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
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
Gay artists  Search this
Artists (LGBTQ)  Search this
Cross-dressers  Search this
Communities (LGBTQ)  Search this
Drag queens  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12295
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215891
AAA_collcode_caja95
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_215891
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Guillermo Gómez-Peña, 2020 September 11

Interviewee:
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, 1955-  Search this
Interviewer:
Franco, Josh T., 1985-  Search this
Subject:
Pandemic Oral History Project  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Video recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Guillermo Gómez-Peña, 2020 September 11. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Pandemics  Search this
COVID-19 (Disease)  Search this
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Theme:
Latino and Latin American  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)21995
AAA_collcode_gomez20
Theme:
Latino and Latin American
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_21995

Oral history interview with Nayland Blake, 2016 November 25-26

Interviewee:
Blake, Nayland, 1960-  Search this
Interviewer:
Fialho, Alex, 1989-  Search this
Subject:
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project  Search this
ACT UP San Francisco (Organization)  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Nayland Blake, 2016 November 25-26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Installations (Art)  Search this
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this
African American artists  Search this
Theme:
African American  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17406
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)384314
AAA_collcode_blake16
Theme:
African American
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_384314
Online Media:

Oral history interview with John Held, Jr, 2017 September 28-October 3

Interviewee:
Held, John, 1947-  Search this
Interviewer:
Karlstrom, Paul J  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Held, Jr, 2017 September 28-October 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Librarians -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Mail art  Search this
Political activists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Rubber stamps  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17514
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)390740
AAA_collcode_held17
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_390740
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Tom Marioni, 2017 December 21-22

Interviewee:
Marioni, Tom, 1937-  Search this
Interviewer:
Riedel, Mija, 1958-  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Tom Marioni, 2017 December 21-22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17535
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)392052
AAA_collcode_marion17
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_392052
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Julie Tolentino, 2018 April 11-12

Interviewee:
Tolentino, Julie, 1964-  Search this
Interviewer:
Fialho, Alex, 1989-  Search this
Subject:
Athey, Ron  Search this
Madonna  Search this
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project  Search this
ACT UP New York (Organization)  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Julie Tolentino, 2018 April 11-12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
AIDS (Disease) and the arts  Search this
Women artists  Search this
AIDS activists  Search this
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Artists (LGBTQ)  Search this
Lesbian artists  Search this
Women performance artists  Search this
Theme:
Latino and Latin American  Search this
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17564
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)394193
AAA_collcode_tolent18
Theme:
Latino and Latin American
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_394193

Oral history interview with Guillermo Gómez-Peña

Interviewee:
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo  Search this
Interviewer:
Franco, Josh T. (1985-)  Search this
Names:
Pandemic Oral History Project  Search this
Extent:
1 Item ((23 min.), digital, mp4)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Video recordings
Date:
2020 September 11
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Guillermo Gómez-Peña conducted 2020 September 11, by Josh Franco, for the Archives of American Art's Pandemic Oral History Project at Gómez-Peña's home in San Francisco, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Guillermo Gómez-Peña (1955- ) is a Chicano performance artist, arts educator, installation artist, and activist in San Francisco, California. Gómez-Peña was a founding member of Border Arts Workshop and is the executive director of La Pocha Nostra.
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.
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 audio 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 audio recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Installation artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Educators -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Political activists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Pandemics  Search this
COVID-19 (Disease)  Search this
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Video recordings
Identifier:
AAA.gomez20
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9027e7ef2-e875-4a60-a06c-832a7bc07a77
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-gomez20
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Julie Tolentino

Interviewee:
Tolentino, Julie  Search this
Interviewer:
Fialho, Alex, 1989-  Search this
Names:
ACT UP New York (Organization)  Search this
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project  Search this
Athey, Ron  Search this
Madonna, 1958-  Search this
Extent:
7 Items (sound files (6 hr., 14 min.) Audio, digital, wav)
79 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2018 April 11-12
Scope and Contents:
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
Choreographers  Search this
Topic:
AIDS (Disease) and the arts  Search this
Women artists  Search this
AIDS activists  Search this
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Artists (LGBTQ)  Search this
Lesbian artists  Search this
Women performance artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.tolent18
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ac18ca4a-3b6a-442d-9acc-a18a96398e0d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-tolent18
Online Media:

James A. McGrath papers

Creator:
McGrath, James A.  Search this
Names:
Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Wiley, William T., 1937-2021  Search this
Extent:
5.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Poems
Prints
Postcards
Paintings
Sketches
Illustrated letters
Christmas cards
Photographs
Date:
1950-2011
Summary:
The papers of arts educator James A. McGrath measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1950-2011. Included are McGrath's papers concerning his artist's residencies and workshops for the United States Information Agency (USIA) in the Yemen Republic, Saudi Arabia, and the Republic of the Congo, 1990-1995. Also found are McGrath's papers concerning artist William Wiley. These papers date from Wiley's high school days and includes correspondence, writings, student files, printed materials, photographs, and artwork. Letters from Wiley to McGrath span several decades and provide details about his artwork, family, and travels.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of arts educator James A. McGrath measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1950-2011. Included are McGrath's papers concerning his artist's residencies and workshops for the United States Information Agency (USIA) in the Yemen Republic, Saudi Arabia, and the Republic of the Congo, 1990-1995. Also found are McGrath's papers concerning artist William Wiley. These papers date from Wiley's high school days and includes correspondence, writings, student files, printed materials, photographs, and artwork. Letters from Wiley to McGrath span several decades and provide details about his artwork, family, and travels.

James McGrath's papers regarding his artist's residencies and workshops are currently unprocessed.

Wiley's high school student files consist of exams and two Columbia High School yearbooks with contributions from Wiley. Correspondence includes mostly letters written from Wiley to McGrath, some of which are illustrated. There are also Christmas cards, postcards, prints and a wedding invitation and photograph of Wiley and his wife Mary. Wiley writes about his artwork, family, travels and his mother's death. There are also letters to McGrath from Wiley's first and second wives, Dorothy and Mary, his mother, and artists Robert Rauschenberg and Mark Tobey.

Printed materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, news and magazine clippings, and the books Distraction, Lyrica and Almost Old/New Poems, all illustrated by Wiley.

Artwork by Wiley includes block prints, sketches and drawings, poems, paintings, prints and posters. Photographs are of Wiley's high school yearbook staff, art work and exhibitions, and a dinner honoring Wiley. There is a signed high school photograph of Wiley and a booklet of photographs of an exhibition of McGrath's art. There are also slides of artwork by Wiley, Bob Hudson and Bill Allan.
Arrangement:
The papers are arranged as 2 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: James A. McGrath Papers Concerning William T. Wiley (Box 1-3, OVs 4-6; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 2: Unprocessed James A. McGrath Papers, circa 1990-1995 (Boxes 7-9, OVs 10-12)
Biographical Note:
Arts educator James A. McGrath was a high school art teacher at Columbia High School in Richland, Washington where he taught William T. Wiley in the mid-1950s. They remained life-long friends. Later, McGrath worked at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe as Director of Arts, Professor of Painting, and Dean. In 1973 he became Director of Arts, Humanities and Culture in the Department of Defense and was stationed in Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines. He also worked for the United States Information Agency in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the Republic of the Congo. He continues to be active as an arts education specialist.

William T. Wiley (1937-2021) was a contemporary artist painting and teaching primarily in the San Francisco area. His artwork is associated with the Bay area Funk Movement. Wiley studied at the California School of Fine Arts and completed his MFA in 1962. One year later he joined the faculty of the UC Davis art department along with artists Robert Arneson and Roy DeForest. Wiley's students included Bruce Nauman and Deborah Butterfield.

Wiley's first solo exhibition was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1960, and he had works in the Venice Biennial (1980) and Whitney Biennial (1983), as well as major exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. His artwork is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among many others. Wiley was the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship Award in 2004 and, in 2009, the Smithsonian American Art Museum presented a retrospective exhibition of Wiley's career.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds several collections related to William T. Wiley including an oral history interview conducted by Paul J. Karlstrom, October 8-November 20, 1997 and the William T. Wiley illustrated journals on microfilm reel 910. The University of Washington also holds papers of James A. McGrath.
Separated Material:
Six Documenta catalogs, originally donated to AAA with the James A. McGrath Papers Concerning William T. Wiley, were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by James A. McGrath in five accessions between 2010-2015. A drawing on tree bark was donated by William T. Wiley in 2016.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
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:
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Illustrators -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Poems
Prints
Postcards
Paintings
Sketches
Illustrated letters
Christmas cards
Photographs
Citation:
James A. McGrath papers, 1950-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.mcgrjame
See more items in:
James A. McGrath papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f46f5e33-d56b-4f72-9bdc-6c6a5de8071b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-mcgrjame

Tom Marioni papers

Creator:
Marioni, Tom, 1937-  Search this
Names:
Crown Point Press (Oakland, Calif.)  Search this
Extent:
6.7 Linear feet
7.37 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1970-2017
Summary:
The papers of conceptual and performance artist Tom Marioni measure 6.7 linear feet and 7.37 GB and date from 1970-2017. The collection documents Marioni's career through photographs, address and appointment books, visitor books from performances, exhibitions, and other gatherings, printed material, and digital sound and video recordings of exhibitions and events.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of conceptual and performance artist Tom Marioni measure 6.7 linear feet and 7.37 GB and date from 1970-2017. The collection documents Marioni's career through photographs, address and appointment books, visitor books from performances, exhibitions, and other gatherings, printed material, and digital sound and video recordings of exhibitions and events.

The bulk of the collection consists of photographs that document Marioni's weekly performances of "The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art," which were held in his San Francisco studio in the 1990s and early 2000s, and digital video recordings of one series of performances at the Hammer Museum in 2010. Also found are snapshots taken at exhibitions, museums, and galleries, and photos of artwork by Marioni.

Printed material includes editions 1-5 of Vision, an art journal published by Crown Point Press for which Marioni served as editor.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series.

Series 1: Address and Appointment Books, 1970-2011 (Box 1; 11 folders)

Series 2: Guest Books, 1991-2017 (Box 1-2; 1 linear foot)

Series 3: Printed Material, 1991-2006 (Box 2, OV 13; 11 folders)

Series 4: Photographs, 1970-2012 (Box 2-3, 5-12; 4.5 linear feet, ER01-ER05; 7.37 GB)
Biographical / Historical:
Tom Marioni (1937- ) is a conceptual and performance artist in San Francisco, California, known for his role in the emergence of the conceptual art movement in the 1960s to the mid-1970s.

Marioni was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and from an early age had an interest in music, particularly jazz, and played the violin. He attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati before moving to San Francisco where his art was included in a juried exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Marioni served in the U.S. Army between 1960-1963 and was stationed in Germany, before returning to pusue a career as an artist and educator.

Through his works "One Second Sculpture" (1969) and "The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art" (1970), and his role in the founding of the Museum of Conceptual Art in 1970, Marioni played a key role in the conceptual art movement, and held several art shows at the Museum of Conceptual Art before its closure in 1984. In weekly Cafe Wednesdays, Marioni's renditions of "The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art" were performance art shows in which guests were both participants and observers who were asked to follow several rules, drink beer, and interact. The show was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1979, and renditions of the performance have since occurred in museums around the world. In 1989, Marioni established an artists club in his San Francisco studio and began holding Cafe Wednesdays again. In 1999 the name "Cafe Wednesday" was changed to the Society of Independent Artists.

Marioni has had many solo shows throughout his career including exhibitions at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, de Young Museum, and Kunstsaele in Berlin, Germany. Retrospectives of Marioni's work have been held at the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and Mills College Art Museum in Oakland, and he has completed installations and participated in group exhibitions internationally, including at Y1 Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden, Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Lyon Biennale in France, Secession Gallery in Vienna, Austria, and many others. Marioni's work can be found in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Stadtische Kunsthalle in Mannheim, Germany, the Pompidou Center in Paris, and elsewhere.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Tom Marioni in 2018.
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 born-digital records or 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:
Conceptual artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Performance art  Search this
Conceptual art  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Tom Marioni papers, 1970-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.mariotom
See more items in:
Tom Marioni papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ceb21e42-e53f-4ce6-ad28-4bb1c2bd7994
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-mariotom

Clippings

Collection Creator:
Casas, Mel, 1929-2014  Search this
Container:
Box OV 3, Folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1987-1998
Collection 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.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Mel Casas papers
Mel Casas papers / Series 4: Printed Materials
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9892210c7-a4e0-414f-91e1-630abb620a0b
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-casamel-ref43
1 Page(s) matching your search term, top most relevant are shown: View entire project in transcription center
  • View Clippings digital asset number 1

Oral history interview with John Held, Jr

Interviewee:
Held, John, 1947-  Search this
Interviewer:
Karlstrom, Paul J.  Search this
Extent:
9 Items (Sound recording: 9 sound files (5 hr., 4 min.), digital, wav)
131 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2017 September 28-October 3
Scope and Contents:
An interview with John Held, Jr. conducted 2017 September 28 and October 3, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, at Karlstrom's home in San Francisco, California.
Biographical / Historical:
John Held (1947-) is a rubberstamp artist, participant in the international mail art network, activist, performance artist, collector of mail art, and a fine arts librarian in San Francisco, California. Interviewer Paul Karlstrom (1941-) is a writer and art historian in San Francisco, California.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the papers of John Held.
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:
Librarians -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Mail art  Search this
Political activists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Rubber stamps  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.held17
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9343bff02-f7f7-46a6-9fdc-38a3e7c575ca
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-held17
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Tom Marioni

Interviewee:
Marioni, Tom, 1937-  Search this
Interviewer:
Riedel, Mija, 1958-  Search this
Extent:
5 Items (Sound recording: 5 sound files (3 hr., 32 min.), digital, wav)
100 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2017 December 21-22
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Tom Marioni conducted 2017 December 21-22, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art, at Marioni's studio, in San Francisco, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Tom Marioni (1937- ) is an artist in San Francisco, California. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a writer and editor in San Francisco, California.
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:
Conceptual artists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Topic:
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Oral history interview with Tom Marioni, 2017 December 21-22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.marion17
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw91b6a621d-a0fe-4317-944d-d778e294da83
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-marion17
Online Media:

Modify Your Search







or


Narrow By