ART CALL: ABAD RCA WALES: [230]

The Royal Cambrian Academy                                         

Academi Frenhinol Gymreig Open Call: A Book About Death

An International Art Project exhibiting at the RCA
Organised by Sonja Benskin Mesher RCA UA
A Book About Death Wales Website (online catalog)


A BOOK ABOUT DEATH was launched as an underground, global art project in September 2009 at the Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery in New York City, New York. It was conceived and curated by American artist Matthew Rose as an open, unbound book on the subject of death. Taking the name, A Book About Death from the artist Ray Johnson, Rose paid homage to the founder of mail art and at the same time offered artists to explore the theme of death through post card sized works in an edition of 500; thus the “book.” The NYC exhibition was extremely well attended and set off a series of exhibitions around the world – ABAD – numbering thus far, 27, the most recent taking place in Australia. With an archival set of the New York ABAD show (487 works) new exhibitions touch upon particular, local themes but draw from a growing and global well of artists. All exhibitions invite artists to mail in their works, usually in post card format.

How to Enter:
Open call for art work from visual artists and writers etc to create a postcard size artwork 4 x 6 inches based on the theme of Death.

All work will be exhibited and archived and the artwork will not be returned but become part of the project.

Please post your artwork to address below by 30th September 2014

Work in the first instance to be sent to:
Sonja Benskin Mesher, Y Stiwdio, Tynllan, Llanelltyd, Dolgellau, Gwynedd, LL40 2SU
sonja@sonja-benskin-mesher.com

Please, send your works well-packed and write NO COMMERCIAL VALUE on the envelope. The organisers are not responsible for any damage during the transportation.
There is no participation fee and the work may be exhibited in the future.

An online “live” archive will record the work and other details of the exhibition as the works come in.

Exhibition dates: October 18th to November 15th 2014
The Royal Cambrian Academy ABAD show in Wales will be the 28th ‘A Book about Death’ exhibition. Included will be the work from the initial New York exhibition, as well as works from from ABAD Wales, at MOMA Machynlleth.

PLEASE USE THE BUTTONS BELOW TO SHARE THIS ARTIST CALL VIA TWITTER / FB / AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA.... Thank You! 

Ray Johnson by Stephen Lack : January 13, 1995 [229]

Ray Johnson by Stephen Lack.  The artist produced a small, 9 x 9 inch painting about Ray Johnson's suicide drowning in Sag Harbor, New York in 1995 based upon a photograph in a newspaper.  Ray Johnson died on January 13, 1995.   The photograph was probably taken on Saturday January 14, 1995 after Ray's body had been recovered from the water in Sag Harbor.

More Stephen Lack art work here: http://www.stephenlackart.com/

ABAD AUSTRALIA OPENS [225]

See photographs of the installation and listen to an interview with Heather Matthew, co-curator with Julie Barratt, of the ABAD OZ show.  http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2013/10/17/3870941.htm

Installation views of ABAD OZ: http://abadaustralia.blogspot.fr/2013/10/are-you-ready-we-are.html

ABAD'S TIES THAT BIND : NEW YORK BOUND: INTERNATIONAL BOOK ART BIENNIAL [219]

A Book About Death: The Ties That Bind, curated by LuAnn Palazzo, will take part in New York Bound: International Book Art Biennial, September 22 - December 29, 2013 at the Islip Art Museum.

Curated By Dorothea Fleiss (Museum of Art Satu- Mare Romania), the Book Biennial will feature a selection of artist-made books from around the world. This exhibition promotes and encourages artists' unconventional ideas about books. The Islip Art Museum is one of the leading exhibition spaces for contemporary art on Long Island.

Reception: October 6 from 1 - 4pm. For all information: Islip Art Museum

ABAD OZ at TWEED RIVER ART GALLERY OCT 2013 [217]

Read more here and find out how to contribute to the exhibition.  Please repost, tweet and blog this post.  

http://abadaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/friends-of-tweed-river-art-gallery.html

Mara Thompson & Ray Johnson: One Degree of Separation [216]

Above:  Mara Thompson and Ray Johnson: Mara Thompson's Audrey Johnson, collage on paper, made from copies of Marie Tavroges Stillkind's Ray Johnson letters. Circa 2010.

In 1951 my mother and father married.  Mom was and is great friends with Marie Tavroges Stilkind, and they have kept in touch. 

My mother moved to Canada during WWII, and went to art school.  My father, John Falk, was a student and beatnik at the time, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology and practicing as a research scientist and teacher (and published poet).

I grew up with a strong interest in the arts, often skipping high school classes to go to the Los Angeles Museum of Art and the local library.  After graduation I found my way to ten years of “living on the land” working a farm in the Ozarks. I returned to Southern California in 1982 and began a twenty year career with the phone company.  At the end, I was a Systems Engineer.  After leaving them, I went to work for Otis College of Art and Design and began my second career as artist. 

It was at Otis that I met the best art instructor of my life, Franklyn Liegel. It was he who introduced me to the collages and the life of Ray Johnson.  Immediately I was thoroughly taken with Ray’s practice.  I still watch the movie, “How to Draw a Bunny” at least once a year.  I dream about him.  I dream about Franklyn.. (see my posthumous collaboration on page fifty in the book, there is a full preview available to review on line).

LEFT: Collage by Mara Thompson, 2010.

In conversation, my mother mentioned that Marie was the first Secretary of The New York Correspondance School!  Thus began my friendship and pen pal relationship with Marie.

Over the years Marie has told me many stories, shared clippings and gossip, books and paraphernalia.  She has been a constant source of inspiration, and I very much value her history in the arts of the time.  I began to explore the world of mail art.

I’ve enclosed a smattering of my postcards for your pleasure.  I’ve been involved with a Ray Johnson inspired series of exhibitions, the first, A Book About Death, curated by Matthew Rose at the Emily Harvey Foundation in 2009.

After that exhibition I insinuated my way into curation of a similar event in the Fine Arts building at Otis.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments – Mara Thompson.

Seatle's ABAD : The Book [212]

ABOVE, ARTIST WILLIAM EVERTSON SHOWS OFF HIS COPY OF SEATTLE ABAD. EVERTSON HAS PARTICIPATED IN 20 OF THE 27 ABAD EXHBITIONS SINCE 2009.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the Seattle ABAD project, you can purchase one here: SEATTLE A BOOK ABOUT DEATH.  Printed book is $60 and a digital copy is only $5.  Get both for $60.  The monies earned help to defray the costs of production and benefit QUETZALCOATL GALLERY which went to great expense to launch the exhibition in 2012.

Buy the book, click here: QUETZALCOATL GALLERYThe publication is 230 pages and perfect bound.  A Book About Death Seattle, exhibited at the Quetzalcoatl Gallery, Seattle WA. Nov 11-Dec 10, 2011, is being documented in a book that will archived in the Cornish College of the Arts library. http://www.cornish.edu/about/history/   ABAD Seattle, curated by Kathleen McHugh and Almandra Sandoval included an international exhibition of art and an interactive work by Matthew Rose. The wall of images created a rich cultural space for literary, social and music events by The Tangletown String Band, Choroloco, Jacque Larrainzar, Sin Fronteras, and readings by published authors. ABAD Seattle book are posted on the blog: http://abadseattle.blogspot.com   

RAY JOHNSON'S A BAD ARCHIVE AT CW POST [211]

CW Post College is archiving the ABAD collection along with two boxes of New York City catalogs, invitation and announcement cards from the 1980s donated to the college by Matthew Rose.

CW Post is located on Long Island in New York.

The Post librarians and specialists who have archived and stored the collections are : Top, Jarron Jewell, Senior library assistant; middle, Erin de Marco Library School Graduate student, Queens College and bottom, Bonnie Gallagher, Library School Graduate student, LIU Post.

Joan Harrison who helped with the entire effort of getting the works into the collections at CW Post, curated wide ranging exhibition documenting Ray Johnson & A Book About Death.  She writes: "Don't you love the signage?  A BAD Archive.  Ray would have loved that and would have had to make a 'Good' archive."

Joan Harrison: Sea & Sky [204]

The artist, curator and writer Joan Harrison opens June with art and literature.  Joan Harrison curated the Ray Johnson and ABAD exhibition at CW Post College on Long Island in 2011. 

Joan’s pastels of the sea and the sky will be on view at the Glen Cove Yacht Clulb starting Saturday June 9.  Her book, Locust Valley, will also be available for sale.  See Joan’s web site here: http://joanharrison.com/

ABAD ON HUFFINGTON POST [195]

Article by Paris-based writer Pamela Poole on Huffington Post about A Book About Death: THE POSTCARD AS LIT MAG AND UNBOUND BOOK .

ABAD CW POST WITH VIV MAUDLIN [174]

ABAD 23: THE TIES THAT BIND – THE MUSIC [164]

Some images of the opening reception of The Ties That Bind, curated by LuAnn Palazzo, at the Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery in Bayshore, New York.  Top image: AnnMarie Tornabene's Live Portrait performance.

Click here to see a number of the videos of the New Orleans Jazz Band playing some very hot tunes as the line marches to the gallery.

ABAD: THE TIES THAT BIND OPENS [162]

LuAnn Palazzo has just installed and opened the ABAD exhibition: The Ties That Bind. The exhibition is located at The Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery in Bay Shore, New York on the East end of Long Island.

Steven McElroy of The New York Times reported on the exhibition and the total A Book About Death project. The opening for the exhibition, replete with a New Orleans Jazz Band, takes place on Saturday August 13, 2011, beginning at 6 PM.

Directions/info on the venue:  The Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery is open Saturdays from 12-4 PM. Website for the gallery: http://www.secondavenuefirehouse.com/gallery.html 

See more installation photos here: http://abad-23.blogspot.com/

ABAD IN THE NEW YORK TIMES [160]

The New York Times' Steven McElroy wrote about A Book About Death: The Ties That Bind, curated by LuAnn Palazzo in the July 31, 2011 edition.

The featured image is by Joan Harrison, the artist who curated Ray Johnson & A Book About Death at CW Post.

The Ties That Bind opened and welcomes artists to a New Orleans Jazz concert on August 13, 2011.

You can click on the image to read only a part of the article. To read the complete article, click: Visual Meditations on Death.

Ray & Bob Box [154]

Robert Warner a long time correspondent and dear friend of Ray Johnson has opened the boxes of correspondence - and some others - in this unusual and thrilling exhibition at the Esopus Foundation space in New York. 

The exhibition (June 2 – 30, 2011) entitled “RAY AND BOB BOX” includes a series of events. Their correspondence is explored in the Foundation magazine, Esopus 16. 

Among the performances at the Esopus Space will be Robert Warner archiving the contents of 13 boxes given to him by Johnson in the early 1990s.  Click here to see the events schedule. 

Esopus is also a twice-yearly magazine that features content from all creative disciplines. The latest publication is devoted to the contents of these boxes, and is presented at their space, 64 West Third Street, New York, NY, Suite #210.

Esopus web site:  http://www.esopusmag.com/gallery.php?Id=3776

The Ties That Bind [151]

New poster for the Ties That Bind. If you like, you can Download the poster.

RAY JOHNSON VIDEOS [147]

See videos of Ray Johnson by Nick Maravel: Ray Johnson Videos.

ABAD The Ties That Bind : Open Call [145]

LuAnn Palazzo has launched an open call for the 23rd installment of A Book About Death.  The show is called The Ties That Bind. This exhibition, which calls for two 5.5 inch x 8.5 inch works on paper (not postcards), will take place in August 2011 at The Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery, 17 Second Avenue, Bay Shore, New York 11706. USA.

For all information please see the web site set up for the exhibition: http://abad-23.blogspot.com/

Tom J. Byrne: ABAD ITALIA [143]

Paris-based, Irish artist, Tom J. Byrne, created this copper-covered book for ABAD Italia, Ommagio A Ray Johnson.

Seeking Kali Ray Johnson Flip Book for ABAD Italia [138]

Kali Ray Flip Book from William Evertson on Vimeo.