EHF Collection: Fluxus, Concept Art, Mail Art

Olga Adorno, Eric Andersen, Ay-O, George Brecht, John Cage, Henning Christiansen, Philip Corner, Charles Doria, Marcel Duchamp, Jean Dupuy, Albert Fine, Robert Filliou, Henry Flynt, Simone Forti, Ken Friedman, John Giorno, Jacques Halbert, Al Hansen, Geoffrey Hendricks, Dick Higgins, Ray Johnson, Citizen Kafka, Allan Kaprow, Milan Knizak, Alison Knowles, George Maciunas, Jackson Mac Low, Larry Miller, Charlotte Moorman, Evelyne Noviant, Margaret Leng Tan, Serge III Oldenbourg, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Ben Patterson, Jeffrey Perkins, Takako Saito, Carolee Schneemann, Paul Sharits, Berty Skuber, Daniel Spoerri, William Stone, Peter Van Riper, Ben Vautier, Yoshi Wada, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, Christian Xatrec, La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela

Curators: Alice Centamore, Danielle Johnson, Agustin Schang, and Christian Xatrec

The second-floor loft at 537 Broadway, the charged site of Fluxus founder George Maciunas’s last New York workspace, and the Grommet Studio, where Jean Dupuy launched a pivotal phase of downtown performance art, became the Emily Harvey Gallery in 1984. Keeping the door open, and the stage lit, at the outset of a new and complex decade, Harvey ensured the continuation of these rare—and rarely profitable—activities in the heart of SoHo. At a time when conventional modes of art (such as expressive painting) returned with a vengeance, and radical practices were especially under threat, the Emily Harvey Gallery became a haven for presenting work, sharing dinners, and the occasional wedding. Harvey encouraged experimental initiatives in poetry, music, dance, performance, and the visual arts. In a short time, several artist diasporas made the gallery a new gravitational center.

As a record of its founder’s involvements, the Emily Harvey Foundation Collection features key examples of Fluxus, Concept Art, and Mail Art, extending through the 1970s and 80s. Grounded in pieces she bought from shows held at her Gallery, as so many gestures of support, Emily Harvey steadily built this collection between 1984 and 2004.

This exhibition offers a rare glimpse into that two-decade commitment, recounting the story of the gallery, and the impulses of the artists who became an integral part of it. Though her support for these artists is widely acknowledged, Harvey’s collecting efforts are a lesser-known aspect of this history. Still less appreciated is the extent and comprehensiveness of her collection. These works, many of which have not been shown since their first appearances in exhibitions at the gallery, present a unique opportunity to revisit a key historical moment in the downtown art scene and to re-examine the practices of the artists who converged on this space.

Before her premature death in 2004, Emily Harvey took the time to set up the Emily Harvey Foundation, to ensure that the vital activities at 537 Broadway would continue. Her priority was the artists, and those who work in the field to represent their efforts, and this is palpable in the mandate of the EHF: a residency program in Venice, and an art program in both its New York and Venice Galleries.

PROGRAM

March 9, 7pm

The Crying Place - Eric Andersen Installation

March 11, 7pm

George - New York preview of Jeff Perkins film on George Maciunas

March 12, 2pm & 4pm

EHF Archive Tour

(RSVP: mailing.ehf@gmail.com)

March 16, 7pm

Solo Electric Boogie 1979/1982/2017 - Henry Flynt - Concert / Dance Video