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 Included are published and unpublished writings, letters to and from Goldin, photographs, and biographical material.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
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Chuck Close, 1987 May 14-September 30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Marek Cecula, 2009 May 19-20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Marek Cecula conducted 2009 May 19-20, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Cecula's studio, in New York, New York.
Marek Cecula speaks of his childhood in Kielce, Poland, during World War II; his move to Israel at age 16; studies with ceramists Gdula Ogen and Jean Mayer; the influence of Japanese ceramics on his early studies; life on the kibbutz HaSolelim in the late 1960s and early 1970s; the influence of Kurt and Gerda Spurey and their use of porcelain and slip-casting; his work in both functional and sculptural ceramics; his move to Tel Aviv in early 1970s, then to a commune in Binyamina in 1971; his move to Curitiba, Brazil, and subsequent work with Schmidt porcelain factory; "Art Project 79" exhibition, La Jola, Curitiba, Brazil, 1979; his move to Washington, D.C., with girlfriend (later wife) Lanie in 1976; Klepisko (2008); the cyclical nature in his work; move to New York City in late 1970s; the Soho arts scene in the 1970s and '80s; his work blending design and sculpture; establishing Contemporary Porcelain gallery, 1978; interest in work by Memphis Group, Peter Shire, Jack Earl, Ken Price, and Ron Nagle; head of ceramics department, at Parsons School of Design, New York City (1985-2004); continued design and production work, including for Tiffany & Co. and Barneys New York; establishment of Modus Design firm; continued exploration of industrial processes and use of decals in his work; influence of Howard Kottler; his quest to balance digital and handmade processes, and the continued importance of the tactile; "Scatology" exhibition; series Hygiene, his first purely sculptural series; Porcelain Carpet; representation at Garth Clark Gallery (New York City, Los Angeles, and Kansas City, Missouri); series Violations; series Mutants; series Industrial Interference; "Interface" exhibition (2002), in response to terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001; Look Into My Mind; The Stand For the Heroes, 2001; series Beauty of Imperfection; move to Poland in early 2000s; a teaching/artistic position at Bergen National Academy of Arts, Norway; establishment of Design Centrum Kielce in late 2000s; Menorah, 2007, Kielce (site-specific); Six Stations, 2007, Porsgrunn, Norway (site-specific); future projects for the city of Kielce; work with the Łódź Design Festival, Poland, and design center in Cieszyn, Poland; "kilo of earth" product; Last Supper; Mandala; Islam; limitations and advantages of ceramics as a medium; his globalized, multicultural experiences and outlook; the European vanguard in ceramics; periodicals and publications of interest; writers of interest: Edmund de Waal, Jorunn Veiteberg, Janet Koplos; the "desire society"; curating Third Biennale for Israeli Ceramics, 2004; fusion art, craft, and design; "Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics," Gardiner Museum, Toronto, 2008; redefinition of the concept of the object.
Biographical / Historical:
Marek Cecula (1944- ) is a ceramist and designer, who lives and works in New York and Poland.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 55 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.
The Robin Forbes Slides of SoHo collection measures 0.4 linear feet and consists entirely of 35mm color slides of the SoHo District of New York City, taken between 1975-1976. Depicted are street scenes of Spring Street, Prince Street, West Broadway, and other streets in SoHo; SoHo faces taken on West Broadway; businesses including the Spring Street Bar, the OH HO SO bar, Fanelli's Bar, Parocelso, The Cheese Store, Clockmaker/Miso, and the SoHo Weekly News staff; gallery installations, including Robert Morris and Robert Smithson exhibitions; artists working in SoHo studios including Margery Bihan, Rosemarie Castoro, Marisol, and unknown artists, and dance performances and poetry readings.
Scope and Contents:
The Robin Forbes Slides of SoHo collection measures 0.4 linear feet and consists entirely of 35mm color slides of the SoHo District of New York City, taken between 1975-1976. Depicted are street scenes of Spring Street, Prince Street, West Broadway, and other streets in SoHo; SoHo faces taken on West Broadway; businesses including the Spring Street Bar, the OH HO SO bar, Fanelli's Bar, Parocelso, The Cheese Store, Clockmaker/Miso, and the SoHo Weekly News staff; gallery installations, including Robert Morris and Robert Smithson exhibitions; artists working in SoHo studios including Margery Bihan, Rosemarie Castoro, Marisol, and unknown artists, and dance performances and poetry readings.
Arrangement:
Due to its small size, this collection has been arranged into one series. Box numbers in the finding aid container listing represent archival slide storage containers housed in one larger box. Within each new container, groupings of slides are titled and arranged according to the handwritten labels found on the original slide boxes. These groupings are listed as folders in the finding aid.
Series 1: Slides of SoHo, 1975-1976 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Robin Forbes (d. 1982) was a photographer working in the SoHo district of New York City in the mid-1970s. He captured numerous images of street scenes, artists, studios, exhibition installations, lofts, people, performances, and businesses of the era.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1988 by the estate of Robin Forbes via executor Jerremiah O. Bragstad.
Restrictions:
Use of 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.
Genre/Form:
Slides
Citation:
Robin Forbes slides of SoHo, 1975-1976, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Jackie Winsor conducted 1990-1992, by Lewis Kachur, for the Archives of American Art. Winsor describes her childhood in Newfoundland and New Brunswick, Canada; her art education at Massachusetts College of Art and Rutgers University; moving to New York City and the art scene there, especially SoHo; the development of her artwork; and a trip to India.
Biographical / Historical:
Jackie Winsor (1941- ) is a sculptor from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 10 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 20 digital wav files. Duration is 14 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. Funding for these interviews provided by the Lannan Foundation.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
One video cassette recording containing three short videos about SoHo: "Retrieval," "The Part That Just Happened," and "Park Rally." White interviews artists and community figures, and visually records the changing of the neighborhood from an artists' neighborhood into a housing and shopping district for the wealthy and a tourist destination, and documents the disappearance of public art in SoHo.
Biographical / Historical:
Lawrence White (1946- ) is a fimmaker, photographer, and graphic artist in New York, New York.
Provenance:
Donated 2001by Lawrence White.
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.
Soho 20 records measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1972 to 1979. The collection includes exhibition ephemera, clippings, membership lists and mailers, two artists' files, a Soho 20 artist booklet, press releases, and scant photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
Soho 20 records measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1972 to 1979. The collection includes exhibition announcements and catalogs, a Soho 20 artist booklet, press releases, membership lists and mailers, and clippings. Also included are writings, bibliographic information, exhibition ephemera, and clippings pertaining to Nancy Goldring; and photos of artist Noreen Bumb, her artwork, and installations.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the records are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Soho 20 is an artist-run gallery founded in 1973 in New York. The gallery's founding members are Elena Borstein, Cynthia Mailman, Barbara Coleman, Maureen Conner, Mary Ann Gillies, Joan Glueckman, Eunice Golden, Margaret Helenchild, Marion Ranyak, Rachel Rolon De Clet, Marilyn Raymond, Halina Rusak, Lucy Sallick, Morgan Sanders, Rosalind Shaffer, Sylvia Sleigh, Eileen Spikol, May Stevens, Suzanne Weisberg, and Sharon Wybrants-Lynch. Soho 20's mission is to provide women and other marginalized artists with resources and opportunities. The gallery became a legal non-profit in 1989.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1979 by Rachel Rolon de Clet, a director of the gallery.
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.
Soho 20 records, 1972-1979. 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.
An interview of Chuck Close conducted 1987 May 14-September 30, by Judd Tully, for the Archives of American Art.
Close speaks of his childhood; his art education in the Pacific Northwest and at Yale; the art scene in SoHo in the 1960s; his work methods; his work in portraiture. He recalls Al Held, Richard Serra, Klaus Kertess, Arnold Glimcher, and his affiliations with the Bykert Gallery and the Pace Gallery.
Biographical / Historical:
Chuck Close (1940- ) is a painter and photographer in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr., 38 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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 others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Artist Tenants Association (New York, N.Y.) Search this
Historic Districts Council (New York, N.Y.) Search this
New York (N.Y.). City Planning Commission Search this
New York (N.Y.). Dept. of Cultural Affairs Search this
New York (State). Commission on Cultural Resources Search this
Extent:
0.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Sound recordings
Reports
Place:
SoHo (New York, N.Y.)
Date:
1968-1978
Summary:
The records of the New York City SoHo Artists Association measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1968 to 1978. They document the Association's lobbying efforts to change New York City zoning laws to allow artists to live and work in SoHo lofts. Found within the collection are correspondence, reports, founding documents, notes, publicity and printed material, photographs, and a sound recording of the first meeting of the Association in 1970.
Scope and Contents note:
The records of the New York City SoHo Artists Association measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1968 to 1978. They document the Association's lobbying efforts to change New York City zoning laws to allow artists to live and work in SoHo lofts. Found within the collection are correspondence, reports, founding documents, notes, publicity and printed material, photographs, and a sound recording of the first meeting of the Association in 1970.
The records contain documentation of the SoHo Artists Association's relationship with other organizations and city commissions, including the Artists Tenants Association, Citizens for Artists Housing, Historic Districts Council, New York City Planning Commission, New York State Commission on Cultural Resources, and Department of Cultural Affairs.
The collection includes a sound recording of the Association's first official meeting held on June 5, 1970 after incorporation. Members discuss the history of negotiations, how to work with commissions and boards, membership growth, the definition of who is an artist, how much minimum space an artist needs, what an artist considers to be adequate living quarters, and how to raise visibility and support. The meeting concluded with a vote, the ballots of which are included in the records.
Publicity records includes festival and tour information, the SoHo Newsletter, clippings, and other materials. Photographs are of the SoHo Artists Association meeting on June 5, 1970.
Arrangement note:
Due to the small size of this collection the records are arranged as one series.
Missing Title
Series 1: SoHo Artists Association Records, 1968-1978 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical/Historical note:
The SoHo Artists Association was loosely formed in 1968 to centralize lobbying efforts to change New York City zoning laws to allow artists to live and work in SoHo loft spaces zoned for manufacturing. At that time, spaces that were vacated by manufacturers were being converted to studios by artists drawn by cheap rents, expansive spaces, and available natural lighting. Many artists also began to occupy their studio spaces, although zoning laws did not permit residency. The group voted to call itself the SoHo Artists Association at the same time they shortened the area designation on a city planning commission map from "South of Houston." The name for the neighborhood stuck and became a model for other neighborhood acronyms in New York City.
The Association acquired its incorporation certificate on June 2, 1970 and held its first "official" meeting a few days later. In addition to negotiating with the city, the SoHo Artists Association built community support and membership through community events and festivals. They also sought financial and foundation support for artists and extended those funds to purchase buildings for artists' residences as well as exhibition and performance spaces.
During negotiations and public hearings, the City placed a moratorium on evictions to allow more time to resolve the situation in a legal manner. In 1971 the Zoning Resolution was amended to permit Joint Live-Work Quarters for Artists. This law is still in effect and, for the most part, only visual artists and their families are permitted to legally live in converted lofts in SoHo.
Related Archival Materials note:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Artist Tenants Association records, 1959-1978.
Provenance:
The records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Gerhardt Liebmann, a member of the SoHo Artists Association, in 1979.
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.
Topic:
Artists -- Housing -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Better than ever : women figurative artists of the '70s SoHo co-ops / [curator and editor, Sharyn Finnegan ; participating artists, Dotty Attie ... et al.]
