January 2, 2025

Lets Party Like Its 1985: Art, Nightlife and Club Ephemera

From our newsletter archives — Originally published August 16, 2024.

In the 1980s culture-loving New Yorkers not only attended gallery openings, theater events and movies, but also participated in New York’s flourishing nightclub scene. While music and dancing were the main attraction, clubs also hosted art exhibitions, performances, fashion, film and video. During these years, almost every gallery opening, film premiere, theater debut, fashion show, and book publication was followed by a nightclub after-party. Clubs were the places where artists mingled, and the clubs competed for their patronage.

Given all of this activity, it is no surprise that Gallery 98 has a large selection of nightclub-related ephemera. We have included here a few items connected to the more prominent clubs. You can see more in our online exhibition The Night Time Is The Right Time – N.Y.C. Nightclub Ephemera, 1980s.

Max’s Kansas City (1965 – 1981)

Max’s Kansas City, Group Show, Cover Photo by Anton Perich “Andrea Feldman at Max’s”(1972), Steven Kasher Gallery, Card, 2010

Card
Size: 6 x 8.5 inches
Available

Max’s Kansas City 2012 Reunion, Cover Photo by Lee Black Childers “Jayne County,” Bowery Electric, Folded Flyer, June 7-10, 2012

Flyer
Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
Available

See more ephemera from Max’s Kansas City

CBGB (1973 – 2006)

Arturo Vega, Blitz Benefit, CBGB, Silkscreen T-Shirt, 1978. Benefit concert T shirt to help pay the medical expenses of Johnny Blitz of the Dead Boys injured in a knife fight.

T-Shirt
Size: Medium
Available

Harvey Wang, Graffiti CBGB Men’s Room (1980), Signed Vintage Silver Gelatin Work Print for Publication, 1981

Print
Size: 8 x 10 inches
Available

See more ephemera from CBGB

Studio 54 (1977 – 1989)

Studio 54 Admission Pass, Double-Sided Card “Grants the Holder Complimentary Entrance to Studio 54, ND

Card
Size: 2.5 x 3.5 inches

Interview Magazine, Steve Rubell, February 1979. Along with Ian Schrager, Steve Rubell was a co-founder of Studio 54, frequently visited by Interview Magazine founder Andy Warhol.

Magazine
Size: 11 x 17 inches
Available

See more ephemera from Studio 54

Mudd Club (1978 – 1983)

DETAILS Magazine, cover image Tina L’Hotsky (Queen of the Mudd Club), ten page feature on the ten year anniversary of the Mudd Club: other club coverage includes Pyramid, October 1988.

Magazine
Size: 9 x 11.5 inches

Rene Ricard, Patti Astor, Eric Mitchell, at the Mudd Club, publicity photo for Mitchell’s film Underground USA, 1980

Photograph
Size: 8 x 9.75 inches
Available

See more ephemera from the Mudd Club

Club 57 (1978 – 1983)

Harvey Wang, Ann Magnuson Outside Club 57, Signed Vintage Silver Gelatin Work Print for Publication, 1979/80. Magnuson was the principle creative force behind Club 57.

Print
Size: 8 x 10 inches
Available

Harvey Wang, Lady Wrestling at Club 57 (1980), Signed Vintage Silver Gelatin Work Print for Publication, 1985

Print
Size: 8 x 10 inches
Available

See more ephemera from Club 57

Danceteria (1979 – 1986)

Danceteria, The Black Designers’ Collective, Card, 1984

Card
Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches

Danceteria, Afrikan Abstrakts, commemorating African Awareness Month, Card, 1984

Card
Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Available

See more ephemera from Danceteria

Pyramid (1979 -2020)

John Sex and Delilah, Halloween 1982, from an exhibition of Polaroids by Trey Speegle, Pyramid, Card, 1983

Card
Size: 3.5 x 4.25 inches
Available

Pyramid, The Wild Party! Benefit For Wendy Wild, with Lady Bunny, Jayne County, Joey Arias, Card, 1993

Card
Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
Available

See more ephemera from Pyramid

Palladium (1985 – 1997)

Roy Lichtenstein, Palladium, Poster, 1985. After-opening party hosted by Leo Castelli at the Palladium on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition Roy Lichtenstein at Leo Castelli Gallery.

Poster
Size: 11 x 17 inches

Private party to celebrate the 24th birthday of Boy George, Palladium, Card, 1985

Card
Size: 5 x 7 inches
Available

See more ephemera from Palladium

Tunnel (1986 – 2001)

Rudolf’s 42nd Birthday, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, paintings on front and back by Francis Bacon, Tunnel, Card, 1988

Card
Size: 4 x 6 inches
Available

Jimmy DeSana, Invitation for Art Un-Censored, Tunnel, 1987. A nightclub “protest” against the decision by the Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts to “fig leaf” the genitals in Jimmy DeSana’s photographic self-portrait, Rope, part of an “East Village art” exhibition curated by Baird Jones.

Card
Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Available

See more ephemera from Tunnel

See more Nightclub Ephemera on Gallery 98

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Everybody At The Bar Gets Tipsy: SX-70 Polaroids Taken in Amsterdam (NL), 1980

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Bettie Ringma and Marc H Miller Selling Polaroids in the Bars of Amsterdam, 1980. Bilingual (English and Dutch). Hardcover. 216 pages. Published by Lecturis (NL). 2023. All books ordered before Christmas will be signed by Miller with a memorial inscription for Ringma, who died in 2018.
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Newsletter
“A More Stores” (as the COLAB stores were called) became yearly events with sympathetic galleries providing artists with the necessary retail space. In 1982, the idea went global when COLAB members Stefan Eins and Jenny Holzer set up a Fashion Moda Store at Documenta 7, the international art fair in Germany. Keith Haring took the idea a…

Lets Party Like Its 1985: Art, Nightlife and Club Ephemera

Max’s Kansas City (1965 – 1981)

CBGB (1973 – 2006)

Studio 54 (1977 – 1989)

Mudd Club (1978 – 1983)

Club 57 (1978 – 1983)

Danceteria (1979 – 1986)

Pyramid (1979 -2020)

Palladium (1985 – 1997)

Tunnel (1986 – 2001)

See more Nightclub Ephemera on Gallery 98

December 31, 2024Gallery 98 Introduces Short Videos: Colette – Roger de Montebello – M. Henry Jones – Sam Wagstaff

December 19, 2024The Year in Review: Our Favorite 2024 Newsletters

December 12, 2024$50 Holiday Suggestions – Keith Haring, Jane Dickson, Andy Warhol, Mike Kelley, Comme des Garcons, Rineke Dijkstra

December 3, 2024Everybody At The Bar Gets Tipsy: SX-70 Polaroids Taken in Amsterdam (NL), 1980

November 29, 2024Revisiting Graffiti’s Heyday: Looking Back at Prized Ephemera

November 21, 2024Kiki Smith — Happy Winter: Holiday Photos Sent to Friends

November 14, 2024The Legendary FAST, 1982: Basquiat, Haring, Hambleton, Wojnarowicz

November 7, 2024Search Our Inventory by Theme: You Don’t Have To Be An Art Aficionado To Like Our Ephemera

October 31, 2024Art Ephemera & Art History: For Collectors and Researchers

October 24, 2024Collaborative Projects Inc (aka Colab): A 1980s Artist Group and The Rise of Cultural Activism

October 17, 2024What is an “A More Store?” – Artists Take Control of Their Own Marketing, 1980-1983

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December 31, 2024
Gallery 98 Introduces Short Videos: Colette – Roger de Montebello – M. Henry Jones – Sam Wagstaff

December 19, 2024
The Year in Review: Our Favorite 2024 Newsletters

December 12, 2024
$50 Holiday Suggestions – Keith Haring, Jane Dickson, Andy Warhol, Mike Kelley, Comme des Garcons, Rineke Dijkstra

December 3, 2024
Everybody At The Bar Gets Tipsy: SX-70 Polaroids Taken in Amsterdam (NL), 1980

November 29, 2024
Revisiting Graffiti’s Heyday: Looking Back at Prized Ephemera

November 21, 2024
Kiki Smith — Happy Winter: Holiday Photos Sent to Friends

November 14, 2024
The Legendary FAST, 1982: Basquiat, Haring, Hambleton, Wojnarowicz

November 7, 2024
Search Our Inventory by Theme: You Don’t Have To Be An Art Aficionado To Like Our Ephemera

October 31, 2024
Art Ephemera & Art History: For Collectors and Researchers

October 24, 2024
Collaborative Projects Inc (aka Colab): A 1980s Artist Group and The Rise of Cultural Activism

October 17, 2024
What is an “A More Store?” – Artists Take Control of Their Own Marketing, 1980-1983