Phyllis Bilick Marina Cappelleto Leslie Bohnenkamp Betty Ann Felderman James Holl Frances Hynes Martin Johnson Edward Mayer Karen Shaw Jerilea Zempel

The decade of the pluralist seventies spurned a nationwide network of artist-run galleries and nonprofit arts institutions known as alternative spaces. The alternative space provides a means for many artists to exhibit their work outside of established galleries and museums. Such places offer the flexibility of space, materials, and other resources that traditional art networks cannot. Unlike the patron-funded gallery/museum system, funding for alternative organizations usually comes from government and private sector grants, monies from the local communities, and from the artists themselves. Staying afloat is harder that way, but those involved tend to agree that the benefits are worth the risks. Just as the concept behind alternative spaces was untraditional, the sites chosen for them have been equally unusual, especially when measured up against the pristine white walls and socially neutered overtones of conventional exhibition spaces. Artists have gathered to challenge the so-called “acceptable” viewing environment, showing their work in lofts, factories, houses, on the streets, in train stations, and almost any other place you can think of. The Institute for Art and Urban Resources in Manhattan was founded by Alanna Heiss in 1971 to make dormant municipal space available to artists for low-cost work space and exhibitions. The Institute subsidizes the maintenance of several spaces, including The Clocktower, a top floor of a municipal court building in Lower Manhattan, and Project Studios One (P.S.1), an abandoned school building in Long Island City, Queens. The building, an imposing Romanesque Revival structure built in Victorian times, had deteriorated sadly and was finally vacated by the Board of Education in 1963. Saved from demolition by the Institute, P.S.1 opened its doors in 1976 with an inaugural show called Rooms. Artists took advantage of the unusual physical characteristics of the decayed building, making site-specific works in places such as bathrooms, closets, stairwells, the rooftop, the playground, the gym, and even the coal cellar. Special projects, changing every few weeks, invited artists to work in classrooms located in another wing of the three-story building. In another wing, artists selected for the studio program rent classrooms for a nominal fee, good for a one- to two-year period. High ceilings, large sunny windows, and generous expanses of chalkboard typical of most studio-classrooms make the studios of P.S.1 very desirable. So does the commute: P.S.1 is located just two subway stops from the Museum of Modern Art. Long Island City boasts an atmosphere of peace and calm not found in the bustle of Manhattan just across the river. Many artists have bought lofts and houses in the community itself, establishing the kind of serious working environment that Soho used to have. Easy access to and from Manhattan also makes possible an influx of visitors, artists, critics, curators, dealers, and collectors who wander through P.S.1 on Thursdays through Sundays, when it is open to the public. The favorable conditions at P.S.1 allow artists to concentrate with greater intensity on their work, relieving for a time the tremendous pressure they are under in today’s inflationary society. Many of these artists have developed in ways that would have been impossible without the time they spent in these subsidized studios. The ten artists selected for this exhibition have all participated in the Institute for Art and Urban Resources’ studio program. While in residence there were no stylistic demands made upon them, no set schedule, no quota of work to be produced, nor any other test of their dedication. The privacy of each person’s studio and the feedback encouraged by simply opening the studio door to random visitors provided as optimum a working environment as any artist could hope for. Edward Mayer’s architectural constructions consist of lengths of wood lath, layered and stacked to create life-sized enclosures reminiscent of primitive village buildings. Light streaking through the cracks provides visual excitement and a feeling of inner tranquility. Karen Shaw reveals unexpected truths and treasures in a poetic cross between free association and mathematical order. A mechanical and arbitrarily conceived system of words and numbers is imbued with a sense of inevitability as pervasive as language. Phyllis Bilick’s color photographs record a sensitive, observant response to architectural detail and changing light. Her insistent eye has poured over the ghostly corridors of P.S.1 and peered across the river at the Manhattan skyline. Leslie Bohnenkamp also has incorporated some of the physical aspects of the P.S.1 environment into his work. Two of his handmade paper sculptures have been carefully encrusted with tiny paint chips swept from the peeling walls. These simple and endearing shells spiral contrary to nature and are often grouped in herds which spark a peculiar humor and a touch of menace. The big, brightly painted plywood sculptures of Jerilea Zempel likewise manifest a predilection for the biomorphic. After some scrutiny, the creepy-crawly whimsy divulges a confident manipulation of space and form. Martin Johnson fashions obsessive, labyrinthine constructions of found objects (especially wire racks and frames) with scraps of coated, painted canvas. The work is richly detailed with unmistakably manic, psychedelic, and philosophical overtones. Both Marina Cappelleto and Frances Hynes seduce the viewer with dreamy, candy-colored, thickly brushed paintings. Cappelleto opens up horizons to admit sneaky shadows, slinky reptiles, puny potted plants, water, and walls. Hers is a surreal world beset with yearning and distress. It is also strongly Italian, a mixture of modern metaphysics and classical landscape. The paintings of Frances Hynes emanate serenity and weightlessness. Her subjects include barns, churches, factories, and houses. They are devoid of shadow and description, yet they are precious and self-sufficient. Betty Ann Felderman exhibits canvasses of rooftops, signs, and sky painted in series. Progressive color changes, reminiscent of impressionist studies, are employed toward personal depictions that are evocative and moody. To view the painting Lady Rose is to be transported to a deserted, windswept shopping plaza on a crystal-cold Sunday morning. James Holl has recently turned from construction to painting. His new work reflects his characteristically witty and rational approach to art-making. Stylistic conventions are subtly nuanced to prod the social conscience. Since leaving P.S.1 each artist has found his or her solution to the problem of locating and maintaining a workspace. Bilick, Felderman, Hynes, and Shaw share a large industrial floor with other artists, calling their project Independent Studios One (I.S.1). It is also located in Queens; the artists commute from their homes in Long Island and New York City. Holl and Johnson live in Manhattan and commute to their rented workspaces in Brooklyn. Cappelleto has bought and renovated a small three-story factory building with another artist, also in Brooklyn, where they live and work. Bohnenkamp shares a tiny apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side with another artist. Space limits their possessions to a bare minimum: every possible corner has been designed for making and storing artwork. Zempel was fortunate enough to have bought a loft in Soho before prices skyrocketed. She is angered by the neighborhood’s increasing commercialization and is contemplating a move. Mayer’s work is represented by a New York gallery. However, he lives and works in Athens, Ohio, where he teaches at Ohio State University. The problem of finding a decent and affordable studio is not unique to artists in New York City. It seems that every area of major cities in which artists stake out space eventually brings commercial galleries, restaurants, and the rest of a very profitable support industry, forcing rents upward and the relocation of artists elsewhere to begin the cycle again. The same seems to hold true for alternative spaces: success can bring with it both the reward of recognition and the threat of rising maintenance costs, coupled with dwindling resources for support. Such is now the case at P.S.1, where European artists, who are awarded stipends by their governments, have been accepted into the studio program. Clearly, more support must be forthcoming if the purpose of the alternative space is not to be lost. Artists in Richmond created 1708 out of raw space in the city’s old market and tobacco district almost four years ago. 1708 was organized as a cooperatively run, nonprofit gallery. It has provided exhibition and performance space for many artists from the community and elsewhere in the nation. The membership, consisting of approximately twenty artists, pays dues, exhibits their work, and meets on a regular basis. Committees are organized to meet the specific needs of running the gallery. During the time that I served on the Exhibition Committee, other members of the committee expressed their interest in a show about P.S.1. Their curiosity was sparked by the knowledge that I had spent a year participating in the studio program there immediately prior to my coming to Richmond. In some cases the works of the exhibiting artists were personally familiar to me. Others were sought through recommendations made by other artists, dealers, critics, and through slide files. As Richmond’s first and largest alternative space, 1708 is the most appropriate place for an exhibition about artists coming out of a successful alternative program in New York. P.S.…P.S.1 aims to reaffirm the validity and necessity of the alternative space concept within our community. Stefany Blyn, Curator

400 WORDS FOR P.S. 1 FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR P.S.1. IS HAZARDOUS IF CONSIDERED IMPORTANT FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR SUCCESS ACQUISITION FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR P.S.1. IS EXPOSURE FOR PUBLIC P.S.1. IS A CHALLENGE FOR SIGNIFICANT ART ACTIVITY ACCESS FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR ACHIEVEMENT/COGNITION FOR RECOGNITION FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR P.S.1. IS INTER- FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR. NATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR VARIOUS ART ATTITUDES + PERSPECTIVES CONJUNCTION FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR UNIS FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR SELECTED BIOGRAPHY FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR P.S.1. IS CONTEXT FOR COMMUNICATION FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR SOLO EXHIBITIONS FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR P.S.1 IS LARGE STUDIOS FOR NOMINAL FEES FOR FOR FOR GROUP EXHIBITIONS FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR 1979 FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR IS FORCE FOR US FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR M.J., Brooklyn, New York 1982 --- Selected Works ERECTHEADSHUN, 1981. Wire, mixed media. 93" × 32" × 15". OF UNIS OR FOR OR UNIS OF, 1982. Mixed media. 62" × 29" × 42". Collection of the artist. Courtesy Phyllis Kind Gallery. --- Selected Biography Born in Elmer, New Jersey, 1951. B.A. Architecture, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1974. M.F.A., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1977. Lives in Manhattan, works in Brooklyn, New York. --- Solo Exhibitions 1978: Appalachian Center for Contemporary Art, Charleston, WV. 1980–81: Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, NY. 1980–81: Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL. Florence Wilcox Gallery, Swarthmore College, PA. Group Exhibitions 1979: The Intimate Gesture, Visual Arts Gallery, School of Visual Arts, NY. 1981: Ikon/Logos: The Word as Image, The Alternative Museum, NY. 1982: New New York, Fine Arts Gallery, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.

The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, P.S.1 46-01 21st Street, Long Island City, Queens, N.Y. 11101 P.S.…P.S.1 is an exhibition that features selected artists from the Institute for Art and Urban Resources’ studio workspace program at P.S.1, organized by an artist who participated in our program. Although these artists originally had studios at P.S.1, the works were chosen by another curator, and I feel that rather than writing about their work, I should give a brief history of the program that inspired this exhibition. It gives me great pleasure to contribute a few words. The Institute for Art and Urban Resources was initially involved in salvaging abandoned buildings for artists’ workspaces and exhibitions, providing an important showcase for emerging talent in the United States. The studio workspace program has been a fundamental part of the Institute’s philosophy and programming since it was founded in 1971. Between 1971 and 1975, the Institute managed assorted studios in the Bowery and Coney Island, housing artists such as Philip Glass, the Mabou Mines, Nancy Graves, and others who have since become very well known. With the opening of P.S.1 in 1976, the studio workspace program was given a permanent home in Long Island City, Queens. Although the rules have changed since 1971, the practical arrangements for the program have remained basically the same. After a highly competitive application process, professional artists are invited to participate in the program for one year on the basis of the quality of their work, potential for development, and financial need. The selecting jury is made up of critics, curators, museum professionals, and artists. Because of small but important subsidies from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and private contributions, the Institute is able to offer low-cost studio space ranging from $50–100 a month. In addition to one scheduled open studio exhibition each year coinciding with our regularly scheduled exhibitions, informal studio exhibitions are frequent, and the numbers of people who see the artists’ work is tremendous. The basic objective of the studio workspace program is to provide a creative, receptive environment for the production of artworks and to expose both the professional art world and the general audience to diverse artistic activities. With this exhibition as one very vivid example, we are pleased to be part of a growing nationwide exchange of creative accomplishments. Alanna Heiss Executive Director The Institute for Art and Urban Resources January 1982

I would like to thank Jackie Bailey, Coordinator at 1708, for her endless patience, Susanne Arnold for helping her, Martha Ciannelli for typing the grant proposal, Jerry and Marina for their assistance in hanging the show, and all the artists for graciously opening their studios to me. I would also like to thank Lawrence Alloway and Kathryn Markel for their suggestions. Appreciation is extended to Beth at Zabriskie’s, to Carol at Phyllis Kind’s, and to Chi Chi at Frank Marino’s for their courtesy. Alanna Heiss provided me with information about P.S.1. Artists Space allowed me to use their slide files. I am deeply grateful to Marilyn Zeitlin and Ken Campbell for reading the initial drafts of my essay. And most especially, I would like to thank Janet Heit, the editor of my introductory essay, for her admirable contribution and good-natured performance under what must have been trying conditions. Stefany Blyn, Curator January 1982 --- Catalog Production Credits Design and Production: James Lloyd, Holyoke–Troidl Writing Company, 269 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211 Photography: Stefany Blyn (cover); Susan Wides (pp. 2, 3, 16) Photoprinting: John Aquino Proofreaders: Megan Backus, Susan Pensak Composition: First Gallery Typography, 430 West 14th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011 Printing: Barry Kaplan, Howard Printing, 116 West 32nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10001 Paper: Richard Schielke, Bulkley Dunton Linde Lathrop, 295 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016