Yvonne Rainer (Cover), Avalanche #5, includes The Performer as a Persona, a 14-page interview with Yvonne Rainer, Photo by Gianfranco Gorgoni, Summer 1972. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available Avalanche’s expansive view of Post-Minimalism included dance by the choreographer Yvonne Reiner, and music by the composer Philip Glass.
Old issues of Avalanche magazine are a reminder of how innovative the art world was in the early 1970s, and how so much of this work was captured in the pages of this short-lived, artist-run publication. Co-founded and co-edited by Willoughby Sharp and Liza Béar, Avalanche published thirteen issues between 1970 and 1976. Its mission was to help publicize the newest and most radical art, and avoid conventional art criticism in favor of letting artists speak for themselves.
Emancipated by the creative breakthroughs in the 1960s, artists in the early 70s enjoyed unparalleled freedom. This was the time of Fluxus, Conceptual, Earth, Performance, Body, Word and Video Art, which were loosely defined movements that Avalanche grouped together under the title “Postminimalism.” Each issue contained lengthy interviews, original artist texts and, documents. Today Avalanche is a valued primary resource for cutting-edge artists like Joseph Bueys, Vito Acconci, Robert Smithson, Gordon Matta-Clark and dozens of others.
Gallery 98’s inventory now includes 8 of the original 13 issues of Avalanche. The first issues, imitating the design of Artforum, were square and printed on quality paper. The last five issues were renamed Avalanche Newspaper and were printed in a larger format on newsprint. All of these issues are now exceedingly rare. In 2010, Primary Information published a limited-edition box set of Avalanche facsimiles. This set quickly sold out to libraries and museums.
See all our issues of Avalanche
Philip Glass
Phil Glass: an Interview in Two Parts; Score for Music in 12 Parts, 10-page illustrated interview in Avalanche #5, Photo by Van Schley, Summer 1972. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
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William Wegman
William Wegman (Cover), Avalanche #7, Man Ray, Do You Want To… Includes a 12-page Interview with William Wegman, and an Advertisement by Sonnabend Gallery, Winter/Spring 1973. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
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Ed Ruscha
“… a kind of Huh?”: 10-page Illustrated Interview with Edward Ruscha in Avalanche #7, Photos by Carol Mersereau, Winter/Spring 1973. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
WS: What interests me most about your books is the particular sensibility, the kind of ironic take you have on ordinary things.
ER: Mmmm. Yeah. That’s going to be hard to get at because what it amounts to is a style of living and the taste of things…filtering the taste with the style of living and then coming up with statements.
Chris Burden
The Church of Human Energy, 8-page illustrated interview with Chris Burden in Avalanche #8, Summer/Fall 1973. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
A feature on performance artist Chris Burden highlights many of his most extreme early performances, including “Shoot” (1971). “I was shot in the left arm by a friend. The bullet was from a copper jacketed 22 long rifle. My friend was standing 12 ft. away.”
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Vito Acconci
Vito Acconci’s “Seedbed” in the Power Field – Exchange Points – Transformations section of Avalanche #6, Fall 1972. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
Avalanche issue 6 is devoted exclusively to the work of Vito Acconci, and includes descriptions and images of his groundbreaking performances. In an interview, Acconci explains that while he was masturbating under a wooden platform in “Seedbed,” he was talking to and fantasizing about specific gallery goers whom he could not see, but imagined based on their footsteps.
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Robert Smithson
Robert Smithson 1938-1973 (Cover), Avalanche #8, Includes a 5-page feature on Amarillo Ramp, Summer/Fall 1973. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
Robert Smithson died at age 35 in an airplane crash while inspecting his unfinished earth work, Amarillo Ramp. In this Avalanche article, Smithson’s wife, the sculptor Nancy Holt, interviews Sid Feck, who had helped Smithson construct Amarillo Ramp.
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Lawrence Weiner
Lawrence Weiner (Cover), Avalanche #4, Spring 1972. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
This issue includes text works by Weiner, Hanne Darboven and Stanley Brouwn. There are also instructions for a Sol Lewitt drawing: “On this page using a pencil or a pen, draw lines from each vowel in this paragraph to each corner of this page.”
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Barry Le Va
Barry Le Va (Cover), Avalanche #3, Fall 1971. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
FOOD – Advertisement for an Artist Run Restaurant
Advertisement for the artist-run restaurant FOOD in Avalanche #3, Fall 1971. Size: 9.5 x 9.5 inches — Available
FOOD was started by Carol Gooden, Tina Girouard and Gordon Matta-Clark. More than just a restaurant, FOOD was conceived as “socially engaged food art.” FOOD advertisements can also be found in Avalanche issues #4, #6 and #7.
Mary Beth Edelson – An Advertisement for Henri 2 Gallery
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Willoughby Sharp Is Still Alive
Willoughby Sharp, 67th Birthday Celebration, SIGNED with the inscription “Willoughby Sharp is Still Alive!”, Card, 2003. Size: 6 x 4 inches — Available
The loudly extroverted Willoughby Sharp was an artist, curator, video producer, publisher, art dealer and just about everything else connected to avant-garde art. In his obituary The New York Times also noted that he was “the Ivy League-educated scion of one of New York’s most socially prominent families.” Sharp created Avalanche in collaboration with writer and filmmaker Liza Béar.
