Betty Esperanza's Gypsy Kali [126]

ABAD GYPSY KALI - A Random Buskerfilm by Betty Esperanza © 2010 from Betty Esperanza on Vimeo.

A Book About Death GYPSY - KALI is an interpretive film depicting death, love lost, gypsy and Kali ceremonial rituals by multi-media artist Betty Esperanza.

This performance art film aired at the Night of the Living Fluxus opening for Ray Johnson & A Book About Death, at the SAL Gallery, C.W.Post Campus of Long Island University, NY on November 3, 2010.

Esperanza travelled from Montreal, Quebec to perform an "Ofrenda to the DEAD" ritual as well as exhibit her piece "Gypsies Never Die Or Lie" amongst artists from all over the world. Esperanza was also in the original ABAD Exhibit in Soho, NY in 2009 at The Emily Harvey Foundation.

See Betty Esperanza's web site for more: benudemedia.blogspot.com

Ray Johnson & A Book About Death Opening Night SAL Gallery CW Post [124]

The opening night of Ray Johnson & A Book About Death at CW Post was a sensational coming together of more than 1000 artist works and crowds that came, saw and performed. 

Curated by Joan Harrison, LuAnn Palazzo (photo, above), and Constance Sloggatt Wolf, the exhibition focused on Ray Johnson's original A Book About Death, and featured a dozen or so original photographs of Ray Johnson by Joan Harrison.

The NYC works, first exhibited at the Emily Harvey Foundation more than a year ago in September 2009, were shown along with almost 500 works mailed in from all over the world.  New posters were produced, as well as a full slate of performances.  (Photo below left; see full the program, here).

Artists dressed up, or in some cases, took off their clothes. A tableaux vivant of a mother and child (actually, a large adolescent) performed quietly within the exhibition space.  Outside, artist Honey Millmann protested ("Nothing!  I'm protesting nothing!" she said), and then switched to proposing something different with a sign that said "ABAD IDEA."  A man showed up with a used coffin (for sale: "Only used once."), while most came dressed like the living dead, the exhibition opening just days after Halloween.  "It's the Night Of The Living Fluxus," someone explained.  

Other artists wore photocopies of Ray Johnson works, like Mark Bloch (below right), while William Evertson produced a 15 minute shadow theater piece entitled "Seeking Kali." (See the video of the performance here).

There are many more photos of the exhibition on the dedicated site for the show, as well as a full catalog of the exhibition works and several press articles.  Click here to view.

Joan Harrison, Constance Sloggatt Wolf and LuAnn Palazzo, curators, offer this statement about the exhibition: 

Ray Johnson was all about creative connection. Today, 15 years after his death, the bonds of his creative legacy and the bonds of friendship here at C. W. Post are still strong and defined by a sense of shared creative history and purpose. The evidence is plain to see through this exhibition.

Many of the artists taking part in this exhibition knew Ray Johnson personally or were correspondents of his, while others are alumni, faculty and students of the university. Even more are part of a creative global network who have been inspired by Ray’s work and moved by the universal theme to answer the call to communicate.

We would like to thank Matthew Rose, the father of the original ABAD Project in 2009, and all those at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University who helped make this exhibition possible. Our special thanks go to Dean Benjamin Moore of the School of Visual and Performing Arts, who, when approached with the idea said simply, “Do it!” 

Most of all, we feel deeply grateful to our international roster of contributing artists for sharing their vision, their thoughts, their humor and their remembrances of loved ones lost. The outpouring of love and dedication to this project, and to this show in particular, has been quite literally overwhelming.

Art is a celebration of life lived to its fullest and to quote poet W. H Auden, “Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.”

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Viv Maudlin Visits Ray Johnson And A Book About Death At CW Post [123]

The spectacular Viv Maudlin gives a video tour of the Ray Johnson And A Book About Death exhibition at CW Post.

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Ray Johnson & A Book About Death : Installation Preview [118]

Some photos of the installation for the Ray Johnson And A Book About Death exhibition due to open November 3, 2010 at CW Post, Long Island, New York.

Top photo: Ray Johnson's 1963 piece, A Book About Death, the work that inspired the name of the project.

Middle photo: A small sample of the more than 500 original works mailed in to the RJ&ABAD exhibition.

Bottom photo: The view of the SAL Gallery, CW Post, Long Island University, taken Sunday October 31, 2010. The original posters from the ABAD exhibition in NYC, September 10, 2009 are in the window.

Ray Johnson & ABAD Newsday: Article [117]

Click the article to enlarge and read.

Ray Johnson & A Book About Death : Angela Ferrara Poster [100]

Angela Ferrara produced this beautiful poster for the Ray Johnson And A Book About Death exhibition at CW Post, Long Island University. Works are now being accepted.  Please see: RJAABAD.

Download the poster free here: Angela Ferrara Poster.

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