Discover Top Posts Tagged with #group material

Artists’ book display for the week of January 14th, 2019

Tomorrow by Group Material by Group Material- La Jolla, California : Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, 1994

Enfeuillage by Terence Gower- Koln: Druckstore, 1991

Solange untreu nox by Oogentroost van Kust- Amhem : Oogentroost van Knust, 1989

In the spirit of Fluxus Elizabeth Armstrong- Minneapolis

Midcontinental : v.2 n.3 Published by Midcontinental Media Group Inc., 1983

I'm saddened by the news that Tim Rollins has died at the far too young age of 62. His work with Kids of Survival (and before that, with Group Material) was always something to think about, celebrate, challenge, and wrestle with. A big regret I have from undergrad was being invited to a dinner with him by one of my professors and saying no, because I hadn't done the work to learn who he was and I'm not even sure I attended his lecture. So stupid. Later I was at least fortunate enough to hear him speak a couple times in Chicago. Today I am at Harold Washington Library, where their Chicago Authors Room features thirty-two works on paper by Tim Rollins and K.O.S. The piece is titled "AMERIKA - FOR THE AUTHORS OF CHICAGO" (1990-91). I gave a lecture on Public Collectors in this room several years ago. It's a special space. You can see into it through the glass doors, but it's normally kept locked. I approached the security guard that is stationed at a desk just outside the room and asked if it was open. He said no. I said, "The artist that made the artwork in this room just died, and I'd like to pay my respects. Is it possible to unlock it for just a few minutes?" Still the answer was a quick no. He could have at least checked with someone, and the library couldn't possibly be less busy on this freezing day, but he didn't. I was angry. I walked away, but didn't want to let this pass. I walked around the room and took a photo through the glass doors on the other side, but was still irritated. After taking a minute to chill out, I went back to the 7th floor and approached a friendly and receptive librarian named Sandra. I explained the situation, and the importance of Harold Washington Library having this work permanently installed. We looked at Tim Rollins' obituary which is up on Art News' website and the example they chose to illustrate his work looks very similar to the smaller works in the library's collection. After consulting with someone else on staff, Sandra returned, grabbed the key, and was kind enough to unlock the door for me and let me have about ten minutes with the work by myself. I was a little sorry that the guard had moved from his post during this time - not because I felt like I wanted to rub it in (okay, maybe a little bit), but because he should know that this work is treasured and this life and collaboration should be celebrated. My hope is that now that I've made a couple librarians aware of Tim Rollins' passing, they'll be able to keep the room open for public viewing beyond the sporadic events that are held in this space. It's a beautiful thing to see, and one of the more considerable art projects in a building that is filled with art on every floor.

#Tim Rollins #Tim Rollins and K.O.S.#HaroldWashingtonLibrary #ChicagoPublicLibrary #Group Material #Kids of Survival

Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996), Untitled, 1988. Framed photostat.

#Felix Gonzalez-Torres #Felix Gonzalez Torres #Group Material #Contemporary Art #Cuban Art #American Art #Art History #Art #1980s

#group material

Group Material, Group Material storefront at 244 East 13th Street, New York, 1980

#group material

Group Material, DA ZI BAOS. 1982

#group material

Primer (for Raymond Williams) Group Material May 29 – July 17, 1982

For its first exhibition at Artists Space in 1982, the artists collective Group Material filled Gallery 207 with an installation of furniture, flags, banners, posters, and paintings – objects that landed at various points on the spectrum from recognizable art objects to disposable media and political paraphernalia. Included in the exhibition were works by James Brown, Sharon Hunt, Conrad Atkinson, Dorothy Kohn, the FSLN of Nicaragua, Futura 2000, and Tim Rollins, and six children from the South Bronx. The participating artists created individual responses to a list of 31 words that where then displayed on the exhibition postcard.

The exhibition title’s reference to the British academic Raymond Williams calls to mind that author’s seminal work, Keywords (1978), in which he approaches the etymology of particular words - “art,” “bureaucracy,” “culture,” and “work,” for example – from a cultural perspective, revealing the ways in which culture influences and complicates semantic meaning. The title of the exhibition, Primer, played with the idea of ambiguous etymology with a double meaning of its own, as a simultaneous reference to both a preparatory coat of paint as well as a textbook for learning to read. The installation worked as a primer in both senses: as a presentation of objects just on the edge of being artworks, and also as a semi-controlled experiment in understanding how subjective interpretation obfuscates the most basic components of language.

From its inception in 1979, Group Material had operated out of a storefront space on East 13th St., New York, and this exhibition at Artists Space marked the start of an experimental transition towards collaborating with more institutional venues. In a statement on his involvement with Artists Space as part its 25th anniversary publication, 5000 Artists Return to Artists Space: 25 Years, Group Material founding member Tim Rollins recalled, “We tried to create an alternative artists’ space within the context of Artists Space.”