Happy Birthday . Have some fun......Don't behave Dr Surearts --- michael leigh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Ray who? > > Michael who? > > > --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > > Ray Johnson has been classified as a Pop Artist. > A > > more adequate way to > > describe him is to say that he was first within > Pop > > Art, among Pop Artists, but > > later he was next to Pop Artists. He made many > > collages which he designated > > as âportraitsâ? of other artists. His collage > > and his mail-art were > > elaborations of each other, governed by the same > > images and ideas. I have written a > > statement only as a preliminary sketch of the > theme > > of âfriendshipâ? in the > > life and art of Ray Johnson. --Bill Wilson > > Ray Johnson: en rapport > > Paul Cezanne, August 1906: "â¦le tout est de > > mettre le plus de rapport > > possibleâ¦" > > Ray Johnson responded to the work of other > artists > > as friendly > > communications to him. He reciprocated with > > collages which mention those artists with > > whom he experienced rapport. He often mailed > > envelopes with notes addressed to > > those artists, sometimes with apt images that > > related to a work of art, or > > to the artist, but always obliquely. He never > > pointed toward something deep > > and perhaps secret, but always directed attention > > toward something available on > > the surface. With his collages, his notes, and > > his lists of artists, Ray > > constructed more inter-relations with more > artists > > than anyone else working > > from 1955 to 1995. > > Ray also began to send apt images in the mail to > > people other than artists. > > By 1961, he began to ask a recipient to relay an > > image to someone else, > > thereby starting a network which in 1962 became > the > > New York Correspondance > > School of Art. Ray encouraged thousands of > people > > to participate in > > disinterested aesthetic actions, rather than > remain > > outside art as observers. By 2006, > > when postal mail has overlapped electronic mail, > > Rayâs network has become an > > international self-developing system of > > communication of aesthetic images and > > events. > > By the summer of 1944, his seventeenth summer, > Ray > > found himself safe in a > > field of visual artists. By the summer of 1948, > > he was a twenty-year-old > > student at Black Mountain College, near Asheville, > > North Carolina. As he wrote > > in 1974, he "â¦walked with Bill and Elaine one > sad > > evening up 'the Road' when > > they had just heard about Gorky's death." Bill > > and Elaine were Willem and > > Elaine de Kooning, painters who befriended Ray. > So > > he walked and talked > > with American painters who were struggling with > the > > achievements of Henri > > Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the European > > background, and of Arshile Gorky in the > > American foreground. > > At Black Mountain College, Ray studied the > > relativity of colors with Josef > > Albers. He became friends with Robert > > Rauschenberg, Sue Weil, Cy Twombly > > and Stan Vanderbeek. He learned beside students > > like Ruth Asawa, Arthur Penn, > > and Kenneth Snelson, a group who were mediating > > among European Modernisms and > > American pragmatisms. Forty years later, he > > reproportioned his chronology > > by adding that he had studied painting with Lyonel > > Feininger. When opening > > himself toward Europe, he listened to music like > > Gregorian chants that he had > > never heard in Detroit, but also 20th century > music > > from France and Germany. > > When opening himself toward Asia, he studied > Asian > > religio-philosophies to > > learn how to get ideas to disappear into actions, > > and how to fill abstract > > concepts with concrete sensory experiences. > > Through books and magazines from Europe, Ray > became > > familiar with the > > paintings of Paul Klee, the poems of Antonio > > Machado, and the collages of Kurt > > Schwitters, John Heartfield and Hannah Hoch. He > met > > Walter Gropius and > > Buckminster Fuller. Thus he arose in the midst of > > > Euro-American Modernisms in > > painting, music, dance, poetry, films, > architecture, > > and other arts, including the > > weaving of Anni Albers. He followed the gaze of > > immigrant European artists > > toward Native American Indian art, design and > > architecture, and participated > > in the study and use of the languages of Mayan > > glyphs, images which spoke to > > Josef Albers, Ben Shahn and Max Ernst. > > By 1952 Ray lived on Monroe Street, in > Manhattan, > > with artists who used the > > hypotheses of art in ordinary events. He > deepened > > his acquaintance with > > his neighbors, John Cage and Merce Cunningham, > two > > artists who adapted the > > methods and values they used in the construction > of > > their arts to their c > > onstruction of daily life. John and Merce made > > indeterminacy a way of life, but > > always in tension with precise knowledge and > > information, so that no one would > > eat a poisonous mushroom, and no one would break > a > > bone. Richard Lippold > > brought Ray to concerts, parties and openings of > > shows in galleries, where he > > met artists like Philip Guston, Kenzo Okada, > > Alphonse Ossorio, Hedda Sterne > > and Marcel Duchamp. Thus Ray learned Modernism > > through direct acquaintance > > with artists, their families and friends. At > that > > time, Manhattan in the > > 1950s, the realms of visual art and of music had > > several hierarchies, but the > > number of people in any group was small. > Although > > most artists might stay > > within their group of sympathetic artists, Ray > was > > taken to uptown mansions and > > downtown lofts, where marginal artists found > > margins in which to reconstruct > > life and art. > > Settled in New York, Ray was able to exhibit with > > the American Abstract > > Artists, because at Black Mountain College he had > > studied with Ilya Bolotowsky. > > As late as 1953, the visual and verbal thoughts > of > > painters such as Piet > > Mondrian inspired paintings of Euclidian > geometric > > forms. In those early > > paintings in oil, Ray experimented with abstract > > objects like circles and > > triangles, shapes conveying ideas that can lead > out > > of sensory experience toward > > transcendence. But after a few seasons in New > > York, his thoughts turned from > > participation in transcendental forms like > perfect > > circles and pure triangles, > > toward immersion in total immanence. As he > > subsumed his earlier formalist > > education in the construction of his own > > life-world, he began to work with > > images clipped from magazines and books. So > where > > once Ray's abstract paintings > > had been answerable to the paintings of Piet > > Mondrian, soon photographs of > > Mondrian became images in collages. The > aesthetic > > theories of Mondrian > === message truncated === http://www.picturetrail.com/lavonasherarts __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> See what's inside the new Yahoo! 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