New York Correspondance School
The New York Correspondance School was an informal group of artists founded by Ray Johnson in 1962 . It is widely considered to be the first network of the mail kind .
history
The New York Correspondance School emerged from a network of correspondence partners with whom the New York artist Ray Johnson had carried out artistic activities through correspondence since the 1950s . The actions usually consisted of a - sometimes graphically designed - instruction that was sent to the partners on a postcard or in a letter, and were often coded in a humorous way that was only understandable for the members of the group. The actions often related to current political or social events, but mostly remained playful, such as calling for a meeting of a - possibly purely fictional - fan club or the request to make 40 copies of the message sent and to forward one to Andy Warhol .
The merging of the network in 1962 under a common label goes back to an idea by Johnson's colleague Ed Plunkett. The later deliberately misspelled name - correspon dance instead of the correct ending -dence - should ironically refer to the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, which was current and internationally propagated at the time, as well as to advertising for art lessons in distance schools. In 1969, according to Johnson's own statements, the group comprised several hundred members, most of whom remained unknown and included quite random correspondents.
In 1970, the curator Marcia Tucker made it possible for Johnson to organize a group exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art . At his request, 106 artists sent in texts and works, which were then exhibited without further selection or curatorial intervention. Johnson himself did not show any of his work at the exhibition, only the replies from his correspondents. On April 5, 1973, he dissolved the - already informal - group with an obituary published in the New York Times , but continued to organize meetings and events on Mail Art under various new names such as Buddhette University or Spam Radio Club .
Fonts
- Ray Johnson: A mysterious New York Correspondance School meeting. New York 1968
- Ray Johnson: The Paper Snake. Something Else Press , New York 1965 ( artist book )
Exhibitions
- 1970: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- 1999: The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Official biography of the Ray Johnson Estate Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Arthur C. Danto: "Correspondance School Art" , in: The Nation , March 11, 1999
- ^ Edward M. Plunkett, "The New York Correspondence School," in Art Journal , 1977
- ↑ a b Information on the NYCS at the Ray Johnson Estate Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Guy Bleus : Ray Johnson , 1994 [1]
- ↑ John Held Jr .: Ray Johnson and the Mail Art Show , 1997 Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Karen Elliott: Interview ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. with Crackerjack Kid (Chuck Welch) and Honoria, 1993
