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Artists Space Collection of Artist Files

Call Number

MSS.506

Date

1982-2006, inclusive

Creator

Artists Space (Gallery)
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). Library

Extent

78.5 linear feet in 78 record cartons and 2 half manuscript boxes
6.53 Terabytes

Language of Materials

Materials primarily in English, with some publications in German, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, or Spanish.

Abstract

Artists Space is a New York City non-profit art gallery and arts organization. The organization aims to support young, emerging artists, specifically those who had not yet had a solo show in New York City. Artists Space became one of the most influential alternative non-profit arts spaces in the Downtown New York scene, hosting a variety of prominent exhibitions. This collection consists of materials submitted by artists documenting their work, including CVs, catalogues, photographic elements, correspondence, applications to Artists Space, drafts of published works, gallery floor plans and maps, grant applications, and promotional matter in the form of brochures, postcard announcements, newsletters, posters, and press releases. Artists Space events and exhibition programming are also documented through visual materials in this collection, including slides and prints, drawings, paintings and collages, and digital images. Topics covered in this collection include family, feminism, materialism, nature, and sociopolitical issues such as the AIDS crisis and society in the aftermath of 9/11. Many artists in this collection explore the ways in which culture, race, gender, and sexuality define their interactions with the world. The collection also helps document Artists' Space's function as an early pre-internet artist repository and database, and a cultural history of downtown New York City in the 1980s through the early 2000s.

Historical Note

Artists Space (originally called the Committee on Visual Arts, Inc.) was founded in 1972 by arts administrator Trudie Grace and critic Irving Sandler as a pilot project for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). The original goal of the Committee was to support young, emerging artists, specifically those who had not yet had a solo show in New York City. Quickly thereafter, Artists Space became financially independent of the State Council and over the years became one of the most influential alternative non-profit arts spaces in the Downtown New York Scene. Throughout the years Artists Space has retained its commitment to exhibiting new and experimental artworks, and has expanded its scope to include readings, panel discussions, film programs, and special series, including the International Projects Program, Selections from the Artists File, and others.

Provocative programming has been the hallmark of Artists Space throughout its history, and a variety of prominent exhibitions are well-represented in the collection, including Adrian Piper's "It's Just Art" (1981), Nan Goldin's "Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing" (1989), Douglas Crimp's "Pictures" (1977), and Michael Asher's "Untitled" (1988). "Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing" sparked controversy, when, due to an objection to an essay by David Wojnarowicz in the catalogue, the National Endowment for the Arts pulled its funding in the wake of Newt Gingrich's moral crusade in Congress. The attendant controversy is well-documented in the collection. Artists Space has also given many artists their first chance at the spotlight, amongst them: Joan Jonas, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Sherrie Levine, Louise Lawler, Laurie Anderson, Barbara Bloom, John Miller, John Baldessari, Jack Smith, Andrea Fraser, Haim Steinbach, Tim Rollins, Lyle Ashton Harris, Ashley Bickerton, Peter Halley, Lari Pittman, Group Material, Stuart Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Laurie Simmons, Anthony McCall, Fred Wilson, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mike Kelly, Judith Barry, Michael Smith, Robert Longo, and Jenny Holzer. For a full list of the exhibition history of the gallery, please see: http://artistsspace.org/archive

Source: Fales Library and Special Collections. "Guide to the Artists Space Archive." http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/artistsspace/bioghist.html (retrieved September 7, 2018).

Arrangement

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

Scope and Contents

Materials in the Artists Space Collection of Artists Files Collection document the participants of this art organization from the early 1980s through the early 2000s. This collection consists of materials submitted by artists documenting their work, including curriculum vitae, catalogues, photographic elements, correspondence, applications to Artists Space, drafts of published works, gallery floor plans and maps, grant applications, and promotional matter in the form of brochures, postcard announcements, newsletters, posters, and press releases. Artists Space events and exhibition programming are also documented through visual materials in this collection, including slides and prints, drawings, paintings and collages, and digital images, audio, and video recordings stored on floppy disks, zip disks, CD-Rs. The artists represented are international, with a heavy concentration of artists living in the United States.

Many artists submitted slides for the database, and later submitted CD-Rs with two images of their work to be displayed in the database. Artist statements were also submitted to the database describing the physical aspects of an artist's works, their influences, and what they were trying to convey in their art. Topics covered in this collection include family, feminism, materialism, nature, and sociopolitical issues such as the AIDS crisis and society in the aftermath of 9/11. Many artists in this collection explore the ways in which culture, race, gender, and sexuality define their interactions with the world. The collection also helps document Artists' Space's function as an early pre-internet artist repository and database, and a cultural history of downtown New York City in the 1980s through the early 2000s.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

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.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date; Artists Space Collection of Artists Files Collection; MSS 506; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred by Jennifer Tobias of the Museum of Modern Art Library in April 2018; the accession number associated with this transfer is 2018.055. An accretion was transferred in August 2022; the accession number associated with this transfer is 2023.008.

Custodial History

Artists Space originally donated this collection to the Museum of Modern Art Library in 2006; it was transferred to the Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University in 2018.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact fales.library@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Related Materials

Artists Space Archive (MSS 291)

Collection processed by

Alex Gomer, Marcelo Yáñez, and Abby Wilson

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:02:30 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

At the time of accessioning, materials were housed in archival boxes, retaining original folders except in circumstances where rehousing was necessary. Labels on folders were corrected if needed. A corpus of individual MARC records created by the MoMA Library was used to generate the container list for this collection. Audiovisual and born-digital items in this collection were physically removed from their original locations with separation sheets, rehoused as necessary, labelled with a unique identifier, and inventoried. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.

Revisions to this Guide

February 2023: Record updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2023 accretion

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