Artists Space

Susan Eder, Matt Mullican

March 6 – March 28, 1976

A black and white photograph of black silhouettes on a white wall, including human figures, a car, a house, and a television set.
Matt Mullican, Wall labels, 1976. From Susan Eder, Matt Mullican, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white photograph of black silhouettes on a white wall, including human figures, a car, a house, and a television set.]

A change in the Artists Space is initiated by the March 6-March 28 show of the work of Susan Eder and Matt Mullican. Both artists were selected by a panel of artists and professionals, who reviewed all the work in the Unaffiliated Artists File maintained by the Committee for the Visual Arts at Artists Space. The Unaffiliated Artists File includes the work of more than 600 New York State artists who are not associated with a commercial or cooperative gallery.

Susan Eder, who lives in Hamilton, New York, works in small formate (2” square photographs on 10 x 15” mounts) series of comparative and relative subjects with titles such as Preciousness Scale, Photo Proportion Studies, Equivalence Studies, etc. Eder is not a photographer in the traditional sense, using a Kodak X45 Instamatic camera and more recently a Polaroid.

Matt Mullican will be showing a large group of studies, drawings and wall arrangements that are elements in a broad investigation and development of a personal mythology, related visual language and its communication through images, symbols and written statements. The series fall into a number of categories that mullican refers to as Deity series, Fictional/NonFictional Reality, Pre-natal, postmortem projections, Framing of Existence, Personality of Objects.

The panel that selected the two artists includes Jennifer Bartlett and William Wegman, both artists; Edit DeAk, a critic; and Linda Shearer, a curator; as well as the Director and Assistant Director of Artists Space. The process of determining Artists Space exhibitions continues with the same panel selecting for April and May shows, after which a new panel will be invited to again review the file. All unaffiliated artists are asked to submit slides of their work.

Black and white installation view of a gallery space with a large pole on the left. Several works hang from the walls.
Susan Eder, Matt Mullican. Installation view, Artists Space, 1976. [Black and white installation view of a gallery space with a large pole on the left. Several works hang from the walls.]
A black and white photograph of dark silhouetted shapes pasted on a wall, including a tree, a television set, a phone, a lightbulb, and a place setting.
Matt Mullican, Wall Labels, 1976. From Susan Eder, Matt Mullican, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white photograph of dark silhouetted shapes pasted on a wall, including a tree, a television set, a phone, a lightbulb, and a place setting.]
A black and white photograph of black silhouettes on a white wall, including human figures, a car, a house, and a television set.
Matt Mullican, Wall labels, 1976. From Susan Eder, Matt Mullican, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white photograph of black silhouettes on a white wall, including human figures, a car, a house, and a television set.]
A black and white photograph of black silhouetted forms on a white wall, including a heart, a peace sign, a cross, an eye, and a clock.
Matt Mullican, Wall labels, 1976. From Susan Eder, Matt Mullican, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white photograph of black silhouetted forms on a white wall, including a heart, a peace sign, a cross, an eye, and a clock.]
A black and white installation view of small photographs with wide white matting, affixed in a grid formation on a wall in a gallery.
Susan Eder. Installation view, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white installation view of small photographs with wide white matting, affixed in a grid formation on a wall in a gallery.]
A black and white installation view of several photo strips with wide white matting attached to a wall.
Susan Eder. Installation view, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white installation view of several photo strips with wide white matting attached to a wall.]
A black and white installation view of three square photographs with wide white matting attached to a wall.
Susan Eder. Installation view, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white installation view of three square photographs with wide white matting attached to a wall.]
A black and white installation view of a rectangular photographic work with wide white matting.
Susan Eder. Installation view, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white installation view of a rectangular photographic work with wide white matting.]
A black and white photograph of a small photograph against a white surface. The image pictured features the faces of two figures.
Work by Susan Eder. From Susan Eder, Matt Mullican Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white photograph of a small photograph against a white surface. The image pictured features the faces of two figures.]

Susan Eder, Matt Mullican Press Release

The Committee for the Visual Arts, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides services for New York State artists not affiliated with commercial or cooperative galleries. Current programs which include Artists Space exhibitions, the Artists Film Series and other evening events, the Unaffiliated Artists File, the Visiting Artists Program and Artist-in-Residence program, the Emergency Materials Fund, receive public and private funding with major support from the New York State Council on the Arts and assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts. Further support is required to expand the current programs and extend the series to meet other needs.

    A black and white image of two photgraphs on a white surface. The picture on the left is of a pair of swans and the one on the right is of two potted cacti.
    Susan Eder, c. 1976. From Susan Eder, Matt Mullican, Artists Space, 1976. [A black and white image of two photgraphs on a white surface. The picture on the left is of a pair of swans and the one on the right is of two potted cacti.]