Richard Hambleton - 1952 to 2017

 

Scene from Blitzkunst taken in San Francisco 1979

Ginny Lloyd: Sorry to read about Richard's death. He stayed at my place in San Francisco for about a week as a favor for a gallery in town. I hardly saw him since he slept all day and was out all night working his magic on the city walls and pavement. I was beginning work on the book "Blitzkunst" so had the forethought to take this photo. I think it says a lot about Richard.

Monty Cantsin Amen: Thanks Ginny, I saved this. Whatever else comes to your mind pls message it, and if you see friends from mail-art or SF connection, etc, let them know I'm collecting memories, many thanks.

Ginny Lloyd: Thanks Monty for asking for my thoughts or other comments. In my conversations with Richard he had a plan and was determined to achieve stardom. He was handsome in a male model way and very intelligent. He talked about how he wanted a life about “wine, women and song”. 

Monty Cantsin Amen: That's a great pic you put up here. Richard was a good model. Do you have it in high res?  
 

Kazu Yanagi with Monty Cansin Amen - 1980

Ginny Lloyd: Yes I have one.  

Monty Cantsin Amen: I'm writing his biography. Let people know who might have comments.

Ginny Lloyd: The first time I saw the outlined image looking like a crime scene I hesitated to walk on it wondering what it was for. He liked to watch from a distance to see the reactions people had to this ‘scene”. His impromptu shadow paintings were popular after trying the paper posters. It was obvious he was a painter when you saw the shadow people. I believe he was in Brazil for a spell living the high life the last time I heard anything about him. Or maybe that was someone else. I don’t like the way the art world has shunned him instead of showing compassion. His story reads like a painter’s tale of a different era, like one of the gifted greats.

Note: There are several articles about Richard online. He was also part of Club 57, the club discussed in the previous post. In 2010 two rare Richard Hambleton pieces at the amfAR 17th Annual Cinema Against AIDS Gala During the Cannes Film Festival sold for $960,000.

Club 57 Catalog

Amy Chaiklin has done a good job keeping us informed. Thanks Amy!

The 1982 feminist group exhibition of all female artists is now documented and published in a museum exhibition catalog, Club 57 and the Short, Happy Life of the East Village Art Scene written by Laura Hoptman, MoMA Curator of Painting and Sculpture.

This exhibit has made Art History! 

 Also some additional people you may know exhibited there: Carlo Pittore, Buster Cleveland, john EvAns, Sur, and Brian Doherty. Mark Bloch got mentions too. Mark says its a very interesting show.

UPDATE

Art History! MoMA Curator Ron Magliozzi writes in his catalogue essay:

Art is What you Make it: Club 57 and the Downtown Scene, "Homemade zines and copy art proved among the most useful and accessible mediums of choice on the downtown scene, and exhibitions such as Watch These Girls: 19 Women Who Do Copy Art (October 14, 1982), curated by Amy Chaiklin, confirmed that women had taken the lead in shaping the medium's creative uses.".

MoMA Club 57 : Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village 1978-1983 Exhibition Catalog Page 16.

Image: Orginal poster for “Watch These Girls : 19 Women Who Do Copy Art”, offset print, 22 x 18 inches, 1982

William S Wilson (Bill) - 1932 to 2016

Sad news - Bill and I grew up across the river from each other and our families were connected since 1600s. It was Ray who first learned of the connection and brought us together. He was incredibly generous sending me a large box of Ray J postcards and note pads to hand out to workshop participants. I miss him!

This is a test video taken with a drugstore toy camera that shares Bill's fun side.

Cavellini Celebration in NYC

Photo taken by Ginny Lloyd (me) in 1980 of Cavellini. One of my historical photos from my photo archive of artists taken over a span of 30+ years. First appeared in the book Inter DADA 84: True DADA Confessions.

Drawing of Cavellini by Mark Bloch at White Box Gallery - also show organizer.

Cavellini oversees the events. Nice turnout Mark!

MOMA FluXus Score - performed March 31st

Emergency INDEX 2011 Documents Screw Head Performance

I am happy to tell you that INDEX is printed and available. THE LAUNCH PARTY was on March 20th at The Kitchen in NYC. It featured performances and a videos of performances including Screw Head.

This year's Emergency INDEX documents 249 performances in over 500 pages, and includes a comprehensive index of terms. If yu want a copy of the book and more info go to http://www.uglyducklingpresse.org/catalog/browse/item/?pubID=217

See the performance video with Altemus, McCarthy, and Campbell in the sidebar on this page.

NYC Artists Book Fair

Anticham and Francis of Redfox Press, Ginny, Sticker Dude aka Joel Cohen.

Here we are again with Mark Bloch (Panman) added to the crew.

Ginny and Francis with his silkscreens on the wall.

I love books! I have since I was a kid, before I could read I loved to look at books. I read anything and everything in the house. I came to believe I could learn to do anything if I could find something in print on the topic. I also believe you can become anything, as long as you can find the instruction manual.

 I have written a sizable number of instruction manuals for corporate clients and their employees/customers and developed training programs for the same. But I digress into a different "blog". I went up to NYC for this fair for several reasons. When I heard about it I knew I had to....see the books (what is happening now in artists books?), look for publisher leads for a planned artistamp book, meet Anticham and Francis, get to see their books first hand, and go tot he MOMA for a good modern art fix.

I was not disappointed. After getting my room squared away - unbelievably the hotel was sold out and did not have my reservation!! Adding to the stress of this, their internet access was down so I could not quickly find another. But that ended up with them putting me into a suite, reserved for this type of issue, the manager said. (Does this happen often?)

I spent my first afternoon at MOMA and dinner, then over to see Bill Wilson, the Ray Johnson and May Wilson art collector. Bill and I have only met in person once before but it is as though I've known him for years. Well I could have, since we grew up across the river from each other on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. A long way from international artists book art, mail art, FLUXUS, artistamps and more. It's a rural, small town Southern culture we're from and we share a few historical connections that is for another story. Southerners like to talk about family history when they get together.

Kitchen Fluxkit by George Maciunas

Yoko Ono Fluxus Score

Wonder photo of Potatoes Flying by (don't remember)

Bill and Ginny

Bill Wilson

The book fair was huge - 3 stories of a former school filled with books; their makers and publishers ready to answer questions and sell you copies. It took 2 days for me to take it all in. The crowd Saturday afternoon was so thick you could barely move. Nevertheless it was wonderful to see how much artists books as an art form has grown. I recall my first book fair in Frankfurt where artists books were the rarity put in one corner. No longer.

On the third floor I discovered the zines and alternative books. And to my surprise, several booths of artists from San Francisco. We had lots to talk about and I shared my own zine history with several of these folks. One requested an interview for the SFMOMA which I gladly granted. I met a couple zine artists who looked younger than my grown grandchildren. I laughed as they did a double-take when I admired their zine art while I told them I used to make zines. I guess their grandmother doesn't make zines? I also saw works by Ulises Carrión and a $1,000 artistamp sheet by General Idea for sale.

Mark and Ginny

Antic and Francis

The Redfox Press booth was very popular. The output by Francis and Anticham has both quality and consistency, enough for them to make a living and do their international travel for the fair circuit. The suit of books by both of them and the guest artists were wonderful to see spread out amongst two long tables. Joel Cohen (Sticker Dude) was on hand to sign books, and played the guitar for the crowd. See the books in the video below.