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Primary Information Art Workers' Coalition

Art Workers Coalition : Primary Information

Dow nload Art Workers' Coalition's Open Hearing here Dow nload Art Workers' Coalition's Docum ents 1 here Background The Art Workers Coalition (AWC) w as a loose group of artists, w riters, and members of the creative community formed in January 1969 after the artist Takis protested the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) by removing his sculpture from their exhibition, The Museum as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age. In the case w ith Takis, the artist w as concerned w ith his ability to control the exhibition of his w ork after it had been sold (the Museum had exhibited his w ork against his w ishes because they ow ned it and felt that their right of ow nership superseded his rights as an artist to control its exhibition). This initial protest w as a spark that ignited the coalitionw hich gathered members and concerns exponentially throughout the early months of 1969. At the time, the Art Workers' Coalition w as concerned w ith the responsibility of museums to artists and aimed their efforts at building a dialogue betw een themselves and MoMA. Another early issue w as better representation of Black and Puerto Rican artists in MoMA as w ell as the other local museums. As the coalition grew in membership, so did its concerns, w hich the Art Workers' Coalition sought to publicly discuss at MoMA. When these efforts proved unsuccessful, the coalition held an Open Hearing at the School of the Visual Arts on April 10, 1969, in w hich hundreds of people attended. Written statements w ere collected (some of w hich w ere read and some of w hich w ere not) and the proceedings w ere later transcribed. The statements w ere published in book form by the AWC under the name Open Hearing. At the same time, the AWC also published Documents 1 a collection of letters, press, and ephemera documenting the formation of the Coalition and its dialogue w ith MoMA. Both Open Hearing and Documents 1 can be dow nloaded below . Follow ing the Open Hearing, AWCs emphasis broadened to address the political and social events and concerns of its time: racism, sexism, abortion rights, Vietnam, and Kent State, among others. With so many issues, AWC eventually splintered, w ith groups like Women Artists in Revolution, Guerilla Art Action Group, and Art Strike addressing specific concerns w hile remaining affiliated w ith AWC. Art Workers Coalition remained active through Spring of 1971, w ith its last protest at the Guggenheim, w hich had cancelled a solo exhibition by Hans Haacke, on May 1, 1971. Many of its splinter groups continued throughout the 70s and 80s and w ere fundamental to addressing the unequal representation of the minority and w omen artists in the art w orlda battle that is still being fought today. Primary Informations exhibition at PS1 w ill trace the history of the AWC through archival documents and photographs obtained through private as w ell institutional sources (including MoMA). PS1 22-25 Jackson Avenue at 46th Avenue Long Island City, NY June 22 - September 22 2008 For more information on the Art Workers Coalition, please see:

Upcoming Projects Aram Saroyan George Kuchar Matthew Papich JEQU C Spencer Yeh Carl Andre Anthology of Concrete Poetry Projects Guerilla Art Action Group Genesis P-Orridge Florian Hecker Sarah Crow ner Elad Lassry Lutz Bacher Rhys Chatham Destroy All Monsters MIRROR | ME Avalanche Lee Lozano XXX Macarena Dan Graham DISBAND Allan Kaprow Art Workers Coalition Aram Saroyan Great Bear Pamphlets Series REAL LIFE Magazine Fundraising Editions Aram Saroyan Tote Bag Alex Hubbard Sarah Crow ner Avalanche Online Resources Online Resources Links Seth Siegelaub Online Archive Anti-Catalog Seth Siegelaub/Artist's Rights Information About Press Annual Subscriptions

Mailing List

Ault, Julie. Alternative Art New York, 1965 1985 (The Draw ing Center/University of Minnesota), 2002.

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Jan van Raay

Art Workers' Coalition at PS1

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Art Workers' Coalition at PS1

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Art Workers' Coalition at PS1

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Art Workers' Coalition at PS1

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