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Stone's Throw
Literary Nonfiction. Art. Essays. LGBT Studies. This multi- layered text describes the social, political and personal context that framed the emergence of one of the most critically acclaimed artists of the late-20th century, Felix Gonzalez- Torres. STONE'S THROW attests to the importance of relationships forged throughout the most challenging years of the North American AIDS crisis, as Deitcher recounts his friendships with Gonzalez-Torres, with the activist curator Bill Olander, and the milieu to which they belonged.
The title, STONE'S THROW, refers to the resonating effects on the author of a single sentence by Carl "My sculptures are masses and their subject is matter." Gonzalez-Torres brought that sentence to the author's attention soon after Deitcher accepted the artist's invitation to write the introductory essay for the catalogue that accompanied Gonzalez-Torres's 1992 project for Magasin 3 Konsthall (Stockholm).
Now, twenty years after Gonzalez-Torres's death, Deitcher revisits many of his most celebrated works. STONE'S THROW strikes a balance between personal remembrance and cultural analysis, and is richly illustrated with previously unpublished ephemera and full color reproductions of poignant works by, among others, Nayland Blake, Tony Feher, Jim Hodges, and Roni Horn. In its combination of critical re-evaluation and personal testimony, STONE'S THROW marks a further development in Deitcher's commitment to writing intimate art histories.
"David Deitcher is a master at the critical memoir. STONE'S THROW is a sumptuously written elegy not only for Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Bill Olander, but also for all those artists we lost to AIDS."—Marvin J. Taylor, director, Fales Library and Special Collections
The title, STONE'S THROW, refers to the resonating effects on the author of a single sentence by Carl "My sculptures are masses and their subject is matter." Gonzalez-Torres brought that sentence to the author's attention soon after Deitcher accepted the artist's invitation to write the introductory essay for the catalogue that accompanied Gonzalez-Torres's 1992 project for Magasin 3 Konsthall (Stockholm).
Now, twenty years after Gonzalez-Torres's death, Deitcher revisits many of his most celebrated works. STONE'S THROW strikes a balance between personal remembrance and cultural analysis, and is richly illustrated with previously unpublished ephemera and full color reproductions of poignant works by, among others, Nayland Blake, Tony Feher, Jim Hodges, and Roni Horn. In its combination of critical re-evaluation and personal testimony, STONE'S THROW marks a further development in Deitcher's commitment to writing intimate art histories.
"David Deitcher is a master at the critical memoir. STONE'S THROW is a sumptuously written elegy not only for Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Bill Olander, but also for all those artists we lost to AIDS."—Marvin J. Taylor, director, Fales Library and Special Collections
158 pages, Paperback
Published March 10, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 30, 2022
In 2001, David Deitcher published a book called "Dear Friends", which collected daguerreotypes of American male companionship and closeness from the late 18th to early 19th century. The book conveyed Deitcher's experience of communicating with the collectors of these pictures and his own experiences growing up gay before the proliferation and easy access to gay media. In "Stone's Throw", a book written over a decade later, Deitcher moves to his experience of living through the AIDS crisis in New York, and how it influenced the artistic movements of minimalism and conceptualism -- specifically Felix Gonzalez Torres who was a friend and fellow activist.
There are two essays: one focused on art criticism and Felix Gonzalez-Torres' work, and the other a more personal essay about the loss of Bill Oleander, an art curator and close friend. The first is a moving examination of FGT's oeuvre, one which recognises the importance of Felix's identity as a gay man while respectfully refusing to reduce the formal, rigorous qualities of his art to mere biography. This stance is drawn from Felix himself, who once rejected Deitcher's draft introduction to a gallery showing because it framed his art as a rejection of prior questions posted by other artists. Deitcher writes and situates Felix's work amongst that of his contemporaries - Carl Andre, Roni Horn, Jean Michel Basquiat, David Wojnarowicz to name a few.
The second essay retains the lens of cultural analysis but turns it upon Deitcher's own memories -- the loss of Bill Oleander, the AIDS memorial quilt, the initial move to organize as part of ACT UP. Deitcher like many struggled to process the devastation of AIDS and he writes, sadly, about how much of his memory in New York city is lost behind a fugue. The brief reprieves he can recall were of visits out of the city, as well as ephemeral postcards, actions, and objects that he held on to. Though I now think it errs more on the side of a cultural essay than an elegy, I remember being deeply moved when I first read it.
Stone's Throw's writing is I feel, fairly academic, assuming familiarity with the prevailing art movements and their lines of inquiry. However, the combination of the second essay, the inclusion of artworks, and private pictures from Deitcher's collection, turns this slim book of art criticism a hybrid first-hand account of the AIDS crisis. It provides a snapshot into the art world, showing us not only the artist's concerns but their personal histories.
There are two essays: one focused on art criticism and Felix Gonzalez-Torres' work, and the other a more personal essay about the loss of Bill Oleander, an art curator and close friend. The first is a moving examination of FGT's oeuvre, one which recognises the importance of Felix's identity as a gay man while respectfully refusing to reduce the formal, rigorous qualities of his art to mere biography. This stance is drawn from Felix himself, who once rejected Deitcher's draft introduction to a gallery showing because it framed his art as a rejection of prior questions posted by other artists. Deitcher writes and situates Felix's work amongst that of his contemporaries - Carl Andre, Roni Horn, Jean Michel Basquiat, David Wojnarowicz to name a few.
The second essay retains the lens of cultural analysis but turns it upon Deitcher's own memories -- the loss of Bill Oleander, the AIDS memorial quilt, the initial move to organize as part of ACT UP. Deitcher like many struggled to process the devastation of AIDS and he writes, sadly, about how much of his memory in New York city is lost behind a fugue. The brief reprieves he can recall were of visits out of the city, as well as ephemeral postcards, actions, and objects that he held on to. Though I now think it errs more on the side of a cultural essay than an elegy, I remember being deeply moved when I first read it.
Stone's Throw's writing is I feel, fairly academic, assuming familiarity with the prevailing art movements and their lines of inquiry. However, the combination of the second essay, the inclusion of artworks, and private pictures from Deitcher's collection, turns this slim book of art criticism a hybrid first-hand account of the AIDS crisis. It provides a snapshot into the art world, showing us not only the artist's concerns but their personal histories.
March 2, 2016
In the end, Stone's Throw is only really for people who were already interested in Felix Gonzalez-Torres's art or who have a very deep interest in contemporary art. While I certainly didn't hate this book, I can't say it made me want to look further into Gonzalez-Torres's artwork. The best part about of this is the clarity and insight of David Deitcher's art criticism writing, which does make me interested in what else he's written in this field
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