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David Gurin Collection on Jack Smith

Call Number

MSS.458

Date

1961-1991, inclusive

Creator

Gurin, David
Smith, Jack, 1932-1989

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet in 1 half manuscript box

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The David Gurin Collection on Jack Smith contains materials about or created by New York-based actor, experimental filmmaker, photographer, and performance artist Jack Smith (1932-1989). These materials were assembled by his friend David Gurin in the early 1960s and following his death in 1989. Materials include correspondence, clippings, promotional ephemera, and photographs. The collection is of particular importance to researchers interested in the development of Smith's most notable film Flaming Creatures.

Biographical / Historical

David Gurin was a friend of New York-based actor, experimental filmmaker, photographer, and performance artist Jack Smith (1932-1989) and was one of the uncredited participants in Smith's most acclaimed film Flaming Creatures. Gurin met Smith through his friend Irving Rosenthal, a writer associated with the Beat Generation, and spent much of the spring and summer of 1961 wandering around Manhattan with Smith -- going to movies on 42nd Street, visiting Gurin's mother in Brooklyn, and relaxing in Tompkins Square Park -- before leaving for graduate studies at Harvard University. Afterwards, Gurin saw Smith during school holidays and participated in some of his projects. In late 1961 or early 1962 Gurin posed for photographs with Marian Zazeela in Smith's Lower East Side apartment. During the summer of 1962, Gurin spent time on the roof of the Windsor Theatre during the filming of Flaming Creatures, either helping Smith set up scenes or acting as a member of the chorus while costumed in drag. The two remained friends as Smith moved to several other apartments in the city, including his loft in Soho. He even accompanied Smith during a meeting with Isabel and Fred Eberstadt, Park Avenue residents who were benefactors of Smith's art and providers of his loft. Since Gurin was working as a city planner at the time, the two once contemplated working on a film about New York City, a project that Smith referred to as No City, but the film was ultimately never realized.

Arrangement

This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.

Scope and Contents

The David Gurin Collection on Jack Smith contains materials about or created by New York-based actor, experimental filmmaker, photographer, and performance artist Jack Smith (1932-1989). These materials were assembled by his friend David Gurin in the early 1960s and following the artist's death in 1989. The collection more specifically contains some of Smith's handwritten letters to Gurin from the early 1960s; one of Smith's business cards; gallery announcements, newspaper clippings, and fliers advertising some of Smith's films and art performances in the 1960s and 1970s; staged photographs that pre-date the conclusion of Flaming Creatures; as well as a slide Smith took during a trip to Rio de Janeiro in the mid-1960s. The collection also includes clippings about Smith's death and an invitation to the artist's memorial.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; David Gurin Collection on Jack Smith; MSS 458; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by David Gurin in December 2015. The accession number associated with this gift is 2017.002.

Related Materials

Jack Smith Papers (MSS 440)

Collection processed by

Andrea Kutsenkow

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:02:32 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

At the time of accessioning, the entire collection was rehoused in acid-free folders, and some more fragile materials were rehoused in Mylar sleeves in February 2017. The materials were described at the collection-level with a folder-level inventory. No other arrangement, description, or physical interventions have taken place.

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012