Artists Space

Selections from the Artists File

October 1 – October 31, 1987

Organized by Kellie Jones

A large sculptural abstract black object standing upright on the gallery floor behind a white wall.
Selections from the Artists File. Installation View, Artists Space, October 1, 1987 - October 31, 1987. [A large sculptural abstract black object standing upright on the gallery floor behind a white wall.]

For the 7th year, Artists Space presents Selections from the Artists File an exhibition of painting, sculpture, photography and installations. Out of the over 2,500 New York state artists on file, Guest Curator Kellie Jones, Visual Arts Director of the Jamaica (Queens) Arts Center, chose eleven whose diversity of talent and media suggests the range of contemporary art making. Included in this year's exhibition are Lillian Ball, Marina Cappellerto, David Gesualdi, Cynthia Hawkins, Lisa Mann, Stefani Mar, Hunter Reynolds, Cari Rosmarin, Carol Sun, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Fred Wilson. Selections from the Artists File is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with an essay by Kellie Jones.

Founded in 1974, the Artists File, a computerized slide registry, is available free of charge to users and artists. The Artists File has grown tremendously, not only in terms of the number of artists registered, but also in the quality of service it offers to both artists and users. Locating the work of many talented artists who do not show regularly in commercial galleries can be a challenge, and the Artists File is a unique tool for curators and art professionals alike. The Artists File offers a new and exciting potential through computerization. For the first time, artists whose work is registered in the File can be sorted demographically, as well as by style, medium or scale. This new and improved access to the work int eh File has been made possible through the generous grants from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Kellie Jones' expertise and wide knowledge of New York's diverse and ever expanding art community makers her an ideal Guest Curator for this season's Selections show. In addition to her position at the Jamaica Arts Center, Broida Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, Jones' curatorial experience extends to a variety of exhibitions she has guest curated at Cinque Gallery, Henry Street Settlement, Soho 20, Small Walls, among others. She has also been a panelist and consultant for the New York State Council on the Arts, been a panelist and consultant for the New York State Council on the Arts, as well as a Visiting Curator and/or Lecturer at Maryland Art Place, Harlem School of the Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Columbia University

Dark drawing with white curved shapes in lines visible in the center with a perspectival depth.
Carol Sun. Prospect Park Series - Ornithos, 1987. [Dark drawing with white curved shapes in lines visible in the center with a perspectival depth.]
Dark drawing with branch-like figures appear from a twirling white line surrounded by black, fuzzy lines.
Carol Sun. Prospect Park Series - Winter, 1987. [Dark drawing with branch-like figures appear from a twirling white line surrounded by black, fuzzy lines.]
Abstract white paintings with black smudges dispersed throughout.
Cynthia Hawkins. Untitled, 1987. [Abstract white paintings with black smudges dispersed throughout.]
Black background with a white outline of an amorphous white figure.
David Gesualdi. Placeredii, 1987. [Black background with a white outline of an amorphous white figure.]
House-like form with three egg-shaped objects surrounding it with some shadowing visible.
Marina Cappelletto. Still Life with Three Eggs, 1987. [House-like form with three egg-shaped objects surrounding it with some shadowing visible.]
A painting collage with three separate figures represented hanging in a white-walled gallery space with a clock above it right where a finger in painting is pointing.
Selections from the Artists File. Installation View, Artists Space, October 1, 1987 - October 31, 1987. [A painting collage with three separate figures represented hanging in a white-walled gallery space with a clock above it right where a finger in painting is pointing.]

Selections from the Artists File Catalogue, Front

Selections From Artists File Press Release

Artists Space's activities are made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts; a Federal Agency; New York State Council on the Arts; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Art Matters, Inc., Cowles Family Charitable Trust, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc., Jerome Foundation, W. Alton Jones Foundation, Charlottesville, VA, Leonhardt Foundation, Betty Parsons Foundation, The Reed Foundation, Inc., Mark Rothko Foundation, the American Express Company, Consolidated Edison, Equitable Real Estate Group, Inc., General Atlantic Corporation, R.H. Macy Company, Mobil Foundation, Inc., Morgan Guaranty Trust of New York and Philip Morris, as well as numerous Friends.

    White sculptural form hanging on white gallery wall with stark lighting contrast.
    Selections from the Artists File. Installation View, Artists Space, October 1, 1987 - October 31, 1987. [White sculptural form hanging on white gallery wall with stark lighting contrast.]