Artists Space

Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams)

May 29 – July 17, 1982

A brick on the bround with black text on it that reads, "No heat." Above this brick in black lettering on the wall is text that reads from left to right, "born brick burn."
Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams). Artists Space, 1982. [A brick on the bround with black text on it that reads, "No heat." Above this brick in black lettering on the wall is text that reads from left to right, "born brick burn."]

For its first exhibition at Artists Space in 1982, the artists collective Group Material filled Gallery 207 with an installation of furniture, flags, banners, posters, and paintings – objects that landed at various points on the spectrum from recognizable art objects to disposable media and political paraphernalia. Included in the exhibition were works by James Brown, Sharon Hunt, Conrad Atkinson, Dorothy Kohn, the FSLN of Nicaragua, Futura 2000, and Tim Rollins, and six children from the South Bronx. The participating artists created individual responses to a list of 31 words that where then displayed on the exhibition postcard.

The exhibition title’s reference to the British academic Raymond Williams calls to mind that author’s seminal work, Keywords (1978), in which he approaches the etymology of particular words - “art,” “bureaucracy,” “culture,” and “work,” for example – from a cultural perspective, revealing the ways in which culture influences and complicates semantic meaning. The title of the exhibition, Primer, played with the idea of ambiguous etymology with a double meaning of its own, as a simultaneous reference to both a preparatory coat of paint as well as a textbook for learning to read. The installation worked as a primer in both senses: as a presentation of objects just on the edge of being artworks, and also as a semi-controlled experiment in understanding how subjective interpretation obfuscates the most basic components of language.

From its inception in 1979, Group Material had operated out of a storefront space on East 13th St., New York, and this exhibition at Artists Space marked the start of an experimental transition towards collaborating with more institutional venues. In a statement on his involvement with Artists Space as part its 25th anniversary publication, 5000 Artists Return to Artists Space: 25 Years, Group Material founding member Tim Rollins recalled, “We tried to create an alternative artists’ space within the context of Artists Space.”

Exhibitions organized by Group Material have examined such subjects as: alienation, consumerism, gender, fashion and politics.

Among the artists who will include work in the show are James Brown, the singer, Sharon Hunt, an activist welfare mother, Conrad Atkinson, a British artist, Dorothy Kohn, a 72 year old graffiti artists, the F.S.L.N of Nicaragua, Futura 2000, the well-known graffiti artist, as well as Tim Rollins who will work with 6 children from the South Bronx.

A view of a bedroom with various poster images on the walls and a dotted line cloth on a matress lying on the floor.
Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams). Artists Space, 1982. Photos: Kenji Fujita. [A view of a bedroom with various poster images on the walls and a dotted line cloth on a matress lying on the floor.]
A large taxidermied eagle hangs upside down from the ceiling holding line tape that repeats "A GOVERNMENT FOR THE RICH BY THE RICH". Posters and drawings on the wall are visible around the eagle.
Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams). Artists Space, 1982. [A large taxidermied eagle hangs upside down from the ceiling holding line tape that repeats "A GOVERNMENT FOR THE RICH BY THE RICH". Posters and drawings on the wall are visible around the eagle.]
A somewhat indistinguishable image is on a wall above black letter that reads "teach" which is above an electrical outlet on a wall.
Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams). Artists Space, 1982. [A somewhat indistinguishable image is on a wall above black letter that reads "teach" which is above an electrical outlet on a wall.]
Sculptural white lettering appears on a shelf starting with
Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams). Artists Space, 1982. [Sculptural white lettering appears on a shelf starting with 'b', but then a figure's torso appears and then the letters "n" and "t". Next to this shelf is a photograph on a wall of a figure touching another person's back. There is an indistinguishable object under the shelf.]

Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams Artist Statement)

Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams Exhibition Card)

Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams Press Release)

Silverthorne, Jeanne. "Primer (for Raymond Williams." Artforum. November 1982. Print, 75.)

Artists Space regular exhibition program is sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the Samuel Rubin Foundation, and the Walter Foundation. Corporate sponsors are American Can Company, the Art Dealers Association, AT&T Corporate sponsors are American Can Company, the Art Dealers Association, AT&T Long Lines, Con Edison, Exxon, I.M. Pei & Partners, Philip Morris and Warner Comm.

    A view of a bedroom with various imagery on the walls along with a line and clothespins and a dotted line cloth on a matress lying on the floor.
    Group Material: Primer (for Raymond Williams). Artists Space, 1982. [A view of a bedroom with various imagery on the walls along with a line and clothespins and a dotted line cloth on a matress lying on the floor.]