A Book about Ray

The first full-career survey of the idiosyncratic life and work of Ray Johnson, a collagist, performance artist, and pioneer of mail art. Ray Johnson (1927-1995), a.k.a. “New York’s most famous unknown artist,” was notorious for the elaborate games he played with the institutions of the art world, soliciting their attention even as he rejected their invitations. In Suitable for readers both new to Ray Johnson and those already familiar with his work,

List of contents

Table of Contents
Key to abbreviated references in notes
Notes on image credits
Prelude
1 The Other Ray Johnson
Presenting Ray Johnson. What’s in a name?
2 What Is a Moticos?
1945-1965. Homeless forms: from Black Mountain to A BOOK ABOUT DEATH.
3 ICE
1964-1967. Crystallizations: correspondence art and mosaic collage.
4 Fan Club
1963-1968. Fame as a form of art, fame as a form of death.
5 Ray Johnson’s History of
1969-1973. The art world viewed from outer space.
6 Silhouette University
1973-1980. Shadow institutions and throwaway gestures.
7 The Curtain Opens
1980-1995. “I do not exits”: Ray Johnson’s memory theater.
Coda
Acknowledgements
A selective bibliography of writings on and by Ray Johnson
Additional works cited
Index

About the author

Ellen Levy is the author of Criminal Ingenuity: Moore, Cornell, Ashbery, and the Struggle Between the Arts as well as essays on poetry, visual art, theater, and film. Currently a Visiting Associate Professor at Pratt Institute, she has also taught at Vanderbilt University and the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Product details

• Authors: Ellen Levy
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 06.08.2024
• EAN: 9780262048743
• ISBN: 978-0-262-04874-3
• No. of pages: 394
• Weight: 1201 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Art history; Social sciences, law, business; The arts: general issues, ART / History / Contemporary (1945-), ART / American / General, History of Art, ART / LGBTQ+ Artists