A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ABAD PROJECT
“A Book About Death,” (ABAD) is an
on-going, unbound, unpaginated book produced by artists worldwide. It was
inspired by American artist Ray Johnson (1927–1995) and initiated by Matthew Rose as an international collective art project in September 2009.
A Book about
Death began with Ray Johnson, an American artist living on Long Island known
primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist. He was a seminal figure in
the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art and was described as "New York's
most famous unknown artist."
Conceptual artist and inventor of
“Correspondence Art,” Ray Johnson mailed his original unbound book to friends
and to his New York Correspondence School “students” in the 1960’s. The pages,
in his idiosyncratic style, were funny, sad and ironic one page visual
meditations on death and life.
In January 1995,
Ray Johnson jumped from the Sag Harbor Bridge into the icy waters
below and drowned — an apparent suicide. For an artist who spent his life
communicating seemingly non-stop, his death left a mysterious and silent wake.
New York artist and writer Mark Bloch, a friend of Ray Johnson's, wrote:
First and foremost, the American artist Ray Johnson (1927-1995) the
founder of the New York Correspondence School deserves all the credit
for creating the concept of A Book About Death because he was really
onto something when he came up with the concept in 1963.
Between March of that year and February 1965, he sent out 13 pages or so of something he called A Book About Death. In framing one piece of a paper as one page of a conceptual book, he anticipated many literary developments of the four decades that have followed.
Between March of that year and February 1965, he sent out 13 pages or so of something he called A Book About Death. In framing one piece of a paper as one page of a conceptual book, he anticipated many literary developments of the four decades that have followed.
The A Book About Death Project was launched as an underground, global art project in September
2009 at the Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery in New York City. 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 Ray Johnson, Rose
paid homage to the founder of mail art and at the same time offered international artists the
opportunity to explore the theme of death through postcard sized works in
editions of 500; thus creating a “book.” Nearly five hundred artists submitted
five hundred copies of their artwork to the exhibition.
On the opening night, visitors to the exhibition were encouraged to collect the free artwork and create their own unbound book about death. Many attending artists went on to exhibit their collections at other galleries around the world. The project grew into an international phenomena with artists curating their own exhibitions and calling for new artworks to be created for each new show.
On the opening night, visitors to the exhibition were encouraged to collect the free artwork and create their own unbound book about death. Many attending artists went on to exhibit their collections at other galleries around the world. The project grew into an international phenomena with artists curating their own exhibitions and calling for new artworks to be created for each new show.
ABAD has grown into an international
art movement that continues to travel across the world. To date, ABAD has
spawned more than two dozen collaborative exhibitions on four continents,
captivating visitors in Australia, Brazil, Belgium, the UK, Croatia, Italy,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Mexico.
The complete set of 486 cards is now in
the Permanent Collections of the MoMA, NY, the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, CA, the Willo North Gallery, AZ, and the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library at C. W. Post/LIU, Brookville, NY. It includes work from artists as well known as Yoko
Ono and as obscure as Dame Mailarta. The cards, of every design imaginable,
approached this universal subject from every point of view–personal,
metaphysical, conceptual and abstract.
A BOOK ABOUT DEATH EXHIBITIONS TO DATE
28 exhibitions / 13 US states / 9 countries / 4 continents
2014
The Royal Cambrian Academy, Crown Lane, Conwy Wales, UK
2013 Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, Australia / ABAD Oz Link
2012 The Ontological Museum, Pagosa Springs, CO
2011 Quetzalcoatl Gallery, Seattle, WA / ABAD Seattle Link
2011 Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery, Bay Shore, NY / ABAD 23 Link
2011 Willo North Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
2011 Chiesa S. Antonio Piazza La Rotonda Badoere di Morgano, Treviso, Italy
2011 Elizabeth Stone Harper Gallery, Presbyterian College, SC
2010 SAL Gallery, CW Post Campus of LIU, Brookville, NY / CW Post RJ Link
2013 Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, Australia / ABAD Oz Link
2012 The Ontological Museum, Pagosa Springs, CO
2011 Quetzalcoatl Gallery, Seattle, WA / ABAD Seattle Link
2011 Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery, Bay Shore, NY / ABAD 23 Link
2011 Willo North Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
2011 Chiesa S. Antonio Piazza La Rotonda Badoere di Morgano, Treviso, Italy
2011 Elizabeth Stone Harper Gallery, Presbyterian College, SC
2010 SAL Gallery, CW Post Campus of LIU, Brookville, NY / CW Post RJ Link
2010 Belknap Mill Gallery, Laconia, NH
2010 The Fluxmuseum, Fort Worth, TX
2010 Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Florida Atlantic University, FL
2010 The RNG Gallery, Omaha, NE
2010 Villa Torri & Biblioteca Comunale, Vimodrone, Italy
2010 Exit 11 Contemporary Art, Grand-Leez, Belgium
2010 Museum of Modern Art, Wales, UK
2010 ASA Art Gallery, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2010 Vladimir Nazor Library, Zagreb, Croatia
2010 Prostor, Zagreb, Croatia
2010 Steppling Art Gallery, San Diego State University, CA
2010 Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, Brazil
2009 La Sexta Literary Arts Festival, Tijuana, Mexico
2009 Queens Museum of Art, NY
2009 River Mill Art Gallery, NJ
2009 Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Ripe Art Gallery, Greenlawn, NY
2009 Mobius, Boston, MA / Mobius Show Link
2009 Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery, Soho, NY / ABAD 2009 Show Link
2010 The Fluxmuseum, Fort Worth, TX
2010 Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Florida Atlantic University, FL
2010 The RNG Gallery, Omaha, NE
2010 Villa Torri & Biblioteca Comunale, Vimodrone, Italy
2010 Exit 11 Contemporary Art, Grand-Leez, Belgium
2010 Museum of Modern Art, Wales, UK
2010 ASA Art Gallery, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2010 Vladimir Nazor Library, Zagreb, Croatia
2010 Prostor, Zagreb, Croatia
2010 Steppling Art Gallery, San Diego State University, CA
2010 Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, Brazil
2009 La Sexta Literary Arts Festival, Tijuana, Mexico
2009 Queens Museum of Art, NY
2009 River Mill Art Gallery, NJ
2009 Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
2009 Ripe Art Gallery, Greenlawn, NY
2009 Mobius, Boston, MA / Mobius Show Link
2009 Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery, Soho, NY / ABAD 2009 Show Link
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
Willo North Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library at C. W. Post/LIU, Brookville, NY
See also:
