Allan Kaprow, Posters (2014)

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Allan Kaprow (1927–2006) was an American artist who is perhaps best known for his work 18 Happenings in 6 Parts that took place at the Reuben Gallery in New York in 1959. In 1958 he wrote an essay, “The Legacy of Jackson Pollock,” that became an essential text for understanding the development of his work and indeed the entire Sixties performance art scene: “Pollock, as I see him, left us at the point where we must become preoccupied with and even dazzled by the space and objects of our everyday life, either our bodies, clothes, rooms, or, if need be, the vastness of Forty-second Street. Not satisfied with the suggestion through paint of our other senses, we shall utilize the specific substances of sight, sound, movements, people, odors, touch.” With a wide selection of images, this publication, designed by Coline Sunier and Charles Mazé, documents Kaprow’s posters, a lesser-known side of his work, produced between 1953 for his first show at the Hansa Gallery, New York and 1996 at Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal. Most of these posters were designed by Allan Kaprow and are characterized by their aesthetic quality, the earliest ones in particular a combination of hand-lettered text and drawings and the later ones of photographs and typographic text in a minimalist style. More than merely advertising Happenings or Activities, these posters act as scores/tools for the participants to the Happenings and as everyday objects that blur the boundaries between art and life.

Photographs : © Rebecca Fanuele