Ray Johnson: Correspondences

by Donna De Salvo, Catherine Gudis

In 1995, the resolutely reclusive Ray Johnson reemerged into the spotlight when he died in a mysterious and spectacular way, leading to the discovery of thousands of works of art in his house. Drawing upon this vast trove, Donna De Salvo, the Wexner Center's Curator at Large, has organized Ray Correspondences, the first comprehensive exhibition to be mounted (with the complete cooperation of the artist's estate). Like Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, and later Andy Warhol and Jim Rosenquist, Johnson combined the signs and symbols of contemporary culture with the lessons of abstraction to develop a new lexicon of forms. A pioneer in the use of 'found' images and techniques of mechanical reproduction, Johnson created in 1955 what may have been the first informal happening. Johnson first created 'mail art' in the fifties. These were part collage, part manifesto, part parody; he often instructed recipients to 'add to', 'return to', or 'send to', spawning an interactive art form, a continuous happening, that pre-figured electronic mail. Johnson was the nerve center of this pre-digital netscape that spread around the nation and, eventually, the world, which continues to flourish today. By the eighties, Johnson was a legend in the artistic community. Ray correspondences, offers the first opportunity for in-depth examination of the work of an artist who reflected and dissected many of the aesthetic, cultural, and theoretical preoccupations of the last forty years; a figure whose impact and influence will finally be made known.

Genres: Art

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 1999

About the author

Donna De Salvo is a prominent American curator and a leading expert on contemporary art. She currently serves as the senior adjunct curator of special projects for the Dia Art Foundation, where she began her career. De Salvo is perhaps best known for her influential tenure at the Whitney Museum of American Art, serving as its first Chief Curator and later as Deputy Director. Her international experience includes a senior curatorial role at Tate Modern and organizing major exhibitions for artists like Andy Warhol and Anish Kapoor.

Reviews

[Aaron Bartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hadn't actually read all the way through it, but perused it thoroughly in the Modern book store one day and was blown away by more than I previously knew. A must have for Johnson fans. But the book was like $50 new, so I'll keep an eye out.