29/9/2001
Joe Brainard
MoMA PS1, New York
A Retrospective of American artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994), featuring more than 150 collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings and book covers made in the 1960 and 1970s. While Brainard?s early appropriation of commercial language and symbols placed him alongside artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Brainard?s prodigious stylistic diversity separated his work from that of other Pop artists.
P.S.1 presents the first museum retrospective of American artist
and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994), featuring more than 150
collages, assemblages, paintings, drawings and book covers
made in the 1960 and 1970s. Known for his humor and use of
exuberant color, Brainard?s collages involve everything from
comic strip characters to flowers cut from magazines.
Assemblages made from costume jewelry, shampoo bottles and
match books draw attention to the formal qualities of these
mass-produced objects while celebrating their popular appeal.
Joe Brainard: A Retrospective reveals the creative genius of
this important late-twentieth-century American artist, and is
curated by Constance Lewallen, Senior Curator at The University
of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive,
where it debuted.
Brainard was born in Arkansas in 1942, and grew up in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, where throughout his school years, he produced
innumerable posters, theater sets, and costumes, and drew
fashion illustrations for a local department store. Brainard won a
scholarship to Daytona Art Institute at the end of his senior year
in high school, but after a summer visit to New York City, he
withdrew his enrollment and moved to New York. There, he met
and collaborated with poets such as Frank O?Hara, John
Ashbery, Kenneth Koch and Kenward Elmslie, and became
involved in the contemporary art scene. Brainard found early
success in his debut solo exhibition in 1965 with assemblages
made of logos and sequins, and garish altarpieces made of
dolls, boxes, and price tags. A decade later, Brainard?s series of
works featuring Nancy, Ernier Bushmiller?s comic character,
elevated an otherwise bland image to the level of icon with works
such as If Nancy Was a da Vinci Sketch (1972) and If Nancy
Was the Santa Niño de Praga (1972).
While Brainard?s early appropriation of commercial language and
symbols placed him alongside artists such as Andy Warhol and
Roy Lichtenstein, Brainard?s prodigious stylistic diversity
separated his work from that of other Pop artists. He painted
brushy landscapes, nudes and detailed portraits, and even
commented that, "My work?s never become ?a Brainard.?"
Brainard ceased making art for public exhibition around 1979,
and died of AIDS in 1994. On the occasion of this exhibition, a
marathon reading of Brainard?s legendary memoir I Remember
will be held, featuring readings by eminent New York poets.
This exhibition was organized by the University of California
Berkeley Art Museums and is supported by an anonymous
donor, The Judith Rothschild Foundation, and the National
Endowment for the Arts.
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center is located at 22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Ave in Long Island City, 11101.
Hours and Admission
P.S.1 is open from Noon to 6:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
Admission is a $4.00 suggested donation $2.00 for students and seniors members free.
For additional information, please contact P.S.1 by phone 718.784.2084 or e-mail