Artists Space

Artists Performance Series

November 5 – November 27, 1977

A black and white photograph of a performance. Three figures stand in a cleared portion of a room, each one balancing on their right foot. A crowd looks on.
Jill Kroesen, Previews of Lou and Walter. Performance documentation, November 12, 1977, Artists Space. [A black and white photograph of a performance. Three figures stand in a cleared portion of a room, each one balancing on their right foot. A crowd looks on.]

Artists Space is holding its 1977 series of Artists Performances in November. The series will be accompanied by an exhibition of video tape and photographic documentation of the performances that will be added to as documentation of each performance becomes available.

The nine performances by these younger artists represents new work in this increasingly important area of current art. The series reflects the growing interest of artists in drawing from various traditional art forms to approach their ideas through live performance: situations that can include the use of language, movement, objects, sound, video, film and slide projections.

Artists Performance that cannot be clearly categorized as theatre, dance or music has an abundant precedent throughout the history of 20th Century art but until recently has not been viewed as serious mainstream art. Increasingly, galleries, museums and the public alike are acknowledging that artists working in this area merit as much attention as those working in more clearly defined traditional media.

A black and white photograph of a gallery space. On the left, a window casts soft light onto a table and two chairs. On the right, a television monitor is positioned on a low bench.
Artists Performance Series. Installation view, Artists Space, 1977. [A black and white photograph of a gallery space. On the left, a window casts soft light onto a table and two chairs. On the right, a television monitor is positioned on a low bench.]
A black and white photograph of a gallery space. A television monitor is placed on a bench on the left, and two figures look on from a couch directly across from the screen. Hanging on the wall to their right are four framed works.
Artists Performance Series. Installation view, Artists Space, 1977. [A black and white photograph of a gallery space. A television monitor is placed on a bench on the left, and two figures look on from a couch directly across from the screen. Hanging on the wall to their right are four framed works.]
A black and white photograph of a gallery space. A chouch with two figures is visible in the lower left corner. On the walls, several framed works are hung, each with a grid of smaller black and white images.
Artists Performance Series. Installation view, Artists Space, 1977. [A black and white photograph of a gallery space. A chouch with two figures is visible in the lower left corner. On the walls, several framed works are hung, each with a grid of smaller black and white images.]
A black and white photograph of a gallery space. On the wall, seven framed works are hung, each featuring a grid of small black and white images.
Artists Performance Series. Installation view, Artists Space, 1977. [A black and white photograph of a gallery space. On the wall, seven framed works are hung, each featuring a grid of small black and white images.]
A bends at the waist, resting their head on the side of a television monitor. The monitor
Artists Performance Series. Installation view, Artists Space, 1977. [A bends at the waist, resting their head on the side of a television monitor. The monitor's screen shows two figures, facing away from the camera.]
A black and white photograph of a figure sitting on a table. They hold a microphone in their right hand, and extend their left hand down behind a dark object on the surface of the table.
Jill Kroesen, Previews of Lou and Walter. Performance documentation, November 12, 1977, Artists Space. [A black and white photograph of a figure sitting on a table. They hold a microphone in their right hand, and extend their left hand down behind a dark object on the surface of the table.]

Artists Performance Series Press Release

Eric Mitchell, Artists Performance Series Postcard

Anne Wooster, Artists Performance Series Postcard

Anne-Sargent Wooster, Meditations on the Alphabet Program Notes

Wooster, Ann-Sargent. "Cross Collaborations." The Soho Weekly News. November 24, 1977. Print.

Wooster, Ann-Sargent. "In Quest of..." The Soho Weekly News. December 8, 1977. Print.

"Performance Listings." The Village Voice. November 14, 1977. Print.

Johnson, Tom. "Jill Kroesen Experiments...Really." The Village Voice. November 28, 1977. Print, 69-70.

Johnson, Tom. "A Look at Performances" The Village Voice. December 12, 1977. Print, 79, 82-3.

    Three figures lie on the floor in a room painted with white walls. A figure dressed in all black watched on in the background. The image is repeated in a dyptich.
    Eric Mitchell, Mass Homocide. Performance documentation, November 19, 1977, Artists Space. [Three figures lie on the floor in a room painted with white walls. A figure dressed in all black watched on in the background. The image is repeated in a dyptich.]