Hi Sol
Sol Nte wrote:
Hi Reed,
Sounds like you had fun at Wexner.
Yeah, I did. Saw old friends and met new. Drank, ate, looked at art,
browsed the bookstore (of course considering that I had no money
at all because the plane ticket had cost me $430 this was a moot point),
did a lot of rubberstamping Saturday, and then sort of a relaxed
dinner on Sunday after the Panel Discussion. Met Judith Hoffberg
(listowner here) and Anna Banana, Alice Ames, Honoria was there
oh the list just goes on and on...
You wrote:
The mail art show was relegated to a back
concrete hallway where it was displayed on both
sides.
I get the impression you feel that the concurrent Mail Art show was sort of
pushed aside. If that's the case it's very disappointing since in many ways
In my opinion, they could have given the wall dedicated to a massive looming
Barbara
Kruger graphic about art consumerism to the mail art show and that would have
been justice.
Johnson owes much of his later career to the many mail artists whose
activity promoted him as an artist. I think Ray Johnson would have just been
another Pop Artist if it wasn't for the thousands of artists who
corresponded with him and made mail art into a movement for Johnson to
preside over.
Well, it did keep him busy- 4 hours per day from what he said in one of the
videos that
was playing.
Reed also wrote:
Mark showed me his mail art archive and some
collaborations
he had done with Bern Porter- I preferred that to anything I saw in the
Ray Johnson show.
Obviously I haven't seen the show but I do have the DeSalvo book that
accompanies it. Is the show stuff the same as what's illustrated in the
book. Or rather what, if anything, did you find lacking in the Johnson show?
Sorry, I don't have the book so I've no answer for you here.
Oh, OK now I remember the high point: the high point for me was the video
of Ray Johnson reading from Walt Whitman with two Reeses Cups
crammed in his mouth. Hilarious gag. (pun intended)
Reed
