Not Nothing: Selected Writings by Ray Johnson 1954-1994

by Ray Johnson (Illustrations), Elizabeth Zuba (Editor), Kevin Killian (Text)

Ray Johnson (1927–1995) blurred the boundaries of life and art, of authorship and intimacy. Correspondence is the defining character of all of Johnson’s work, particularly his mail art. Intended to be read, to be received, to be corresponded with, his letters (usually both image and textual in character) were folded and delivered to an individual reader, to be opened and read, again and again. Johnson's correspondence includes letter to friends William S. Wilson, Dick Higgins, Richard Lippold, Toby Spiselman, Joseph Cornell, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Robert Motherwell, Eleanor Antin, Germaine Green, Lynda Benglis, Arakawa and Madeline Gins, Christo, Billy Name, Jim Rosenquist and Albert M. Fine, among many others. The subjects of his correspondence ranged from the New York avant-garde (Cage, Johns, de Kooning, Duchamp) to filmmakers such as John Waters, philosophers such as Jacques Derrida and writers such as Gertrude Stein and Marianne Moore. This collection of more than 200 selected letters and writings--most of which are previously unpublished--opens a new view into the sprawling, multiplicitous nature of Johnson’s art, revealing not only how he created relationships, glyphs and puzzles in connecting words, phrases, people and ideas, but also something about the elusive Johnson himself. In a 1995 article in The New York Times , Roberta Smith "Make room for Ray Johnson, whose place in history has been only vaguely defined. Johnson’s beguiling, challenging art has an exquisite clarity and emotional intensity that makes it much more than simply a remarkable mirror of its time, although it is that, too."

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Poetry

380 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2014

Reviews

[Robert Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray Johnson is (was) a formidable artist and presence in the New York art scene for decades. This venerable collection of his collected writings, collage art, brilliance of creative output, is a must read for artists and writers, particularly those who enjoy the margins, or combination prose, art, hybrid forms, and all things nonsensical or bizarre. Think Dr. Seuss meets David Lynch/ Gertrude Stein with a twist of Jean Genet on the salted rim. Shaken, not stirred.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I would have preferred more of his collages and art than his writings. Having said that there was still enough here to keep me reading and fascinated. I was especially happy to see his how to draw John Waters and a set of artiststamps made in which each individual stamp had an image in the shape of his head and when you looked at the sheet as a whole it was Ray Johnson's face. One of the introductory essays seems to be written by someone who didn't know that much about Ray Johnson. Seems like they could have chosen someone better for at least one of them. The book, especially one of the indexes, did a good job at showing just how connected he was in the art world and who he knew and exchanged art with, though it wasn't always clear if some of these people had bridged the line into being his lover or just a friend. I'm now curious about the re-publication of his book "The Paper Snake". It seems that may be a bit more consistent as my understanding is it deals with work sent to a single person.

[Mills College Library]

818.54 J686n 2014

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am going to get a ray johnson tattoo