Gallery 98 is pleased to have lent works by Charlie Ahearn, John Ahearn, Jane Dickson, Stefan Eins, Bobby G., Jenny Holzer, Christof Kohlhofer, Dick Miller, Tom Otterness, and Christy Rupp to the exhibition Brand New: Art & Commodity in the 1980’s, which opens at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. on February 14th. Curated by Gianni Jetzer, the exhibition “offers a fascinating alternative history of art in the 1980s by tracing how a pioneering group of young downtown artists appropriated the tools and psychology of growing consumer culture—advertising, logos, products, even cable TV—to change the landscape of the art world.”
The eleven works that Gallery 98 lent are connected to Collaborative Projects, Inc. (COLAB), an artist group responsible for creating new ways to make art accessible for the masses. Bobby G.’s Money Talkspin was sold at the A More Store, an artist-run Christmas pop-up, organized by COLAB in 1980. Tom Otterness’s Zodiac Love sculptures were originally sold through Art Direct, a 1982 mail-order catalogue by COLAB and Printed Matter. That same year, COLAB members Jenny Holzer and Stefan Eins created a Fashion Moda store at Documenta 7, featuring artist t-shirts and other low priced multiples.
