At Gallery 98 we are always living in the past as we catalogue and market art announcement cards from the 70s – 90s.
One does not usually think of the late 20th century as a great period for women artists, in part because of the Guerilla Girls’ successful poster campaign that revealed how few women exhibited in NYC’s major museums and galleries. Yet a survey of the announcement cards from this period shows numerous women having exhibitions, and that at least in some quarters, perhaps thanks to the Guerilla Girls, things were changing for the better.
Many of the cards show the long overdue emergence of major artists from earlier decades like Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and Elaine DeKooning. Other cards document the new generation: Jennifer Bartlett, Colette, April Gornik, Mary Heilmann, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman, Joan Snyder, Kiki Smith etc. The woman’s collaborative gallery A.I.R.founded in 1974 by 20 artists show how women took control of their own destinies during these years.
Collecting art ephemera is about art history. It is also about connecting with your favorite artists by owning vintage memorabilia.
