“Edit,” marker and pen on envelope by unidentified artist, N.D. — Available for Purchase
In the 1970s and 80s, Hungarian-born Edit DeAk (née Deák) was an influential artworld participant widely respected as a writer, curator and friend to artists. Her beginnings were in Art-Rite, a low budget magazine that she co-founded and co-edited with Walter Robinson from 1973 through 1978. Art-Rite connected DeAk with both young and established artists, and she was soon curating performances, film showings and exhibitions, as well as, writing for other periodicals like Artforum.
DeAk had an intuitive understanding of where the action was happening, and her enthusiastic personality helped her develop relationships with top artists and trend-setters. Much activity took place in her large Soho loft at 149 Wooster Street, a combination of living space, office, and performance venue, with plenty of room for guests, art-making and parties. When the building went co-op (and Edit was evicted), a wall from her loft covered with the “tags” and scribbles of her artist visitors was preserved by the developers, and moved into the lobby of what was now an upscale building!
Gallery 98 was fortunate to have received from the Edit DeAk estate a large collection of cards, posters, books, and miscellaneous papers containing everything from shopping lists to suspended project proposals. This newsletter features some of these items arranged to tell Edit’s story, along with the story of the artworld in which she lived and worked.
Escape From Communist Hungary Through Albania to Italy, 1968
In 1968 DeAk and artist Peter Grass (née Grósz) had risked everything to escape communist Hungary for the freedom that the New York art world offered.
Edit DeAk and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, 1973
Whitney Museum, invitation to MUƎƧUM, an exhibition curated by students in the Whitney Independent Study Program, Photo by Ezra Stoller, Card, 1973. Card Size: 5.25 x 5.25 inches — Available for Purchase
Whitney Museum, MUƎƧUM, curated by Edit DeAk and Walter Robinson and the other students in the Whitney Independent Study Program, detail of a page from the 8-Page Exhibition Guide, 1973. Program Size: 8.5 x 10 inches — Available for Purchase
As an art history major at Columbia University, DeAk met Walter Robinson and Joshua Cohn, and the idea for starting Art-Rite was born. The three were accepted into the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program, where they were part of the student team that curated MUƎƧUM, a surprisingly unconventional view of how the Whitney grew and functioned.
Art-Rite: Founded and Co-Edited by Edit DeAk and Walter “Mike” Robinson, 1973 – 78
Art-Rite Magazine, Edit deAk, Walter Robinson, Business Card, c. 1975. Card Size: 2 x 3.5 inches
(Left to Right) Art-Rite Magazine, Issue No. 11/12, 1975-76, Cover by Ed Ruscha; Art-Rite Magazine, Issue No. 15, April 1977, Cover by Rosemary Mayer; Art-Rite Magazine, issue No. 14, 1976-77, Cover by Carl Andre. Publication Size: 8 x 10.75 inches (each) — Available for Purchase
With Walter Robinson, DeAk co-edited and published Art-Rite, a newsprint magazine that was distributed for free at galleries. From 1973 – 78 the publication numbered 20 issues. While Joshua Cohn can be credited as a founder of Art-Rite, his involvement was short lived.
Some of Edit DeAk’s Favorite Artists, c. 1975
Persona, performance series curated by Art-Rite Magazine (Edit DeAk and Walter Robinson) at Artists Space, Offset Card with rubber stamp, 1974. Card Size: 4 x 6 inches — Available for Purchase
Not Photography/Photography, Group Show curated by Edit DeAk, Fine Arts Building, Offset Card with rubber stamps, 1975. Card Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches — Available for Purchase
Through her involvement with Art-Rite, DeAk participated in the rise of conceptual art, performance art, and other art modes embracing real-life engagement These two cards provide a broad list of the artists DeAk favored around 1975. Persona was a performance series organized by Art-Rite, and Not Photography was one of three influential exhibitions at the Fine Arts Building in Tribeca.
Edit DeAk and Ray Johnson, c. 1975
Edit deAk, “I had to go. Leave a note if you can come at a specific time,” Xerox with Handwritten Note to Ray Johnson, c. 1975. Xerox Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
Ray Johnson, “Thanks for the Art Rites,” handwritten note to DeAk added to xerox flyer with image, c. 1976. Xerox Size: 8.5 x 11 inches — Available for Purchase
DeAk often cultivated relations with artists outside the mainstream, such as, mail art pioneer Ray Johnson. Other favorites included performance artist Jack Smith, and Rammellzee, the creator of the graffiti variant ‘Iconoklast Panzerism.’
Promoting Downtown Nightclub Culture in the Art Venues of the US and Europe, c. 1980
Dubbed in Glamour: Three Nights of Spectacle and Extravagance. Curated by Edit DeAk, Kitchen, Poster, 1980. Poster Size: 16.5 x 21.5 inches — Available for Purchase
New Cinema, New Wave, New York, Curated by Edit deAk, Image of Anne Deon, Centre d’art Contemporain Genève (Switzerland), Xerox Flyer, c. 1980. Flyer Size: 8.5 x 11 inches — Available for Purchase
DeAk was an early participant in the downtown nightclub scene where art mixed with performance, music, fashion and film. Dubbed in Glamour provided a respected art venue for the creative women of the Mudd Club. As the reputation of New York’s downtown scene spread, Edit partnered with Diego Cortez to present No Wave music and film to Europe.
Edit DeAk and Francesco Clemente, c. 1986
Francesco Clemente, Polaroid by Unidentified Photographer, from the collection of Edit DeAk, c. 1985. Size: 4 x 4 inches — Available for Purchase
Muscle Opera, a performance featuring body builders organized by Chi Chi Valenti with a selection of pictorial effects and backgrounds by Francesco Clemente, Selected by Edit DeAk, Palladium, Card, 1986. Card Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches — Available for Purchase
With the revival of painting in the mid-1980s, DeAk began advocating for the new crop of European artists working in the “neo-expressionist” style. Francesco Clemente was a particular favorite. In Muscle Opera DeAk worked with Clemente selecting images that complemented a show of bodybuilders at the Palladium nightclub.
The Estate of Edit DeAk and Gallery 98
Marc H Miller looking through two large boxes of ephemera and books given to Gallery 98 by the Edit DeAk Estate, 2020.
At the start of the Covid shutdown in 2020, Gallery 98 was fortunate to receive from the DeAk Estate a large collection of ephemera and books. The Gallery 98 section titled Edit DeAk Ephemera focuses exclusively on her projects. The section titled Library of Edit DeAk provides an overview of the artworld she inhabited.
