In the 1960s and 1970s Ray Johnson was a familiar presence at art events handing out photocopy announcements with unusual designs, and collecting addresses for future mail-art networking.
Artistically, Johnson can be classified as part of the Fluxus and Conceptual art movements, but his hard to decipher, sui generis messaging, his droll humor, and his commitment to ephemeral art formats gave him the semblance of an eccentric outsider.
Born in 1927, Ray Johnson had a rich art-world pedigree that included Black Mountain College during its most creative era in the late 1940s. Here he interacted with John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and Merce Cunningham, and developed his own fusion of art and life and blend of disciplines.
Gallery 98’s collection of Johnson flyers comes from the estate of art critic Edit DeAk who was a regular recipient of Johnson’s mailings and handouts. The flyers promote Johnson’s exhibitions and performances, solicit responses as a form of participatory art, or just seek to amuse and entertain. Many of the photocopies contain handwritten notes, rubber-stamp impressions, and bits of collage.
Following his death in 1995, and the discovery of his large and well-maintained archive of works, Johnson has been embraced by the art world. Today he is credited as a progenitor of pop, performance, conceptual art and mail art. This week a Ray Johnson exhibition will open at the David Zwirner Gallery; the Morgan Library has a Johnson exhibition scheduled for 2022.
Truman Gallery, Ray Johnson, New York Correspondence School, photocopy, c. 1970s. Size: 8.5 x 11 inches.
Ray Johnson, History of Yoko Ono, double-sided photocopy on thick glossy paper with rubber stamp and ink drawings, c. 1975. Size: 8.25 x 7.75 inches.
Ray Johnson, Jean Seberg’s Letters to Ray Johnson, double-sided photocopy, N.D. Size: 8.5 x 11 inches.
Ray Johnson, Please Add To And Return To Ray Johnson, photocopy with handwritten note in pencil to Edit DeAk, c. 1976. Size: 8.5 x 11 inches.
Ray Johnson, Toby Spiselman, Thanks for Art Rites, photocopy with rubber stamp impression and collage, September 5, 1978. From the estate of Edit DeAk. Size: 8.5 x 11 inches.
