''The Times Square Show'' was an influential collaborative, self-curated, and self-generated art exhibition held by New York artists' group

Colab Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines. History Colab members came together as a collective in ...

(aka Collaborative Projects, Inc) in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

in a shuttered massage parlor at 201 W. 41st and 7th Avenue during the entire month of June in 1980. ''The Times Square Show'' was largely inspired by the more radical Colab show ''

The Real Estate Show The Real Estate Show was a squatted exhibition by New York artists' group Colab, on the subject of landlord speculation in real estate held on New Year's Day (January 1, 1980) in a vacant city-owned building at 123 Delancey Street in the Lower Ea ...

'' (that occurred in January 1980), but unlike it, was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in what was then a Times Square full of porno theaters, peep shows, and red light establishments. In addition to experimental painting and sculpture, the exhibition incorporated music, fashion, and an ambitious program of performance and video. For many artists the exhibition served as a forum for the exchange of ideas, a testing-ground for social-directed figurative work in progress, and a catalyst for exploring new political-artistic directions.

Historic significance

''The Times Square Shows historic significance was established in ''The Times Square Show Revisited'' exhibition held at The Hunter College Art Galleries that was curated by Shawna Cooper, post-war art historian and graduate of the Hunter College Master’s Program in Art History, in association with Karli Wurzelbacher, also a Hunter alumnae and a PhD candidate in twentieth-century American art at the University of Delaware, that ran from September 14th to December 8th in 2012.''The Times Square Show Revisited'' exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue and comprehensive website, which includes extensive interviews with the participants in the original exhibition. Elena Martinique writes in ''WideWalls Magazine'' that ''The Times Square Show'' was the first art exhibition to overtly transcended the trappings of class and culture by bringing together people who would not necessarily come together under any other circumstances.

Promoting The Times Square Show

The New York art world first heard of ''The Times Square Show'' in the summer of 1980 through Colab's advertising on television and on the giant Spectacolor digital board in Times Square, made possible by Colab member Jane Dickson. Colab made three thirty-second TV spots that ran on Channel 5. The eccentric performer Jack Smith was featured in one of these ads that was created by Scott B and Beth B.

Glenn O'Brien Glenn O'Brien (March 2, 1947 – April 7, 2017) was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in ''GQ'' magazine and published a book with that title. He ...

and Bomb Magazine editor Betsy Sussler also appear in a video ad created by

Coleen Fitzgibbon Coleen Fitzgibbon (born 1950) is an American experimental film artist associated with Collaborative Projects, Inc. (a.k.a. Colab). She worked under the pseudonym Colen Fitzgibbon between the years 1973-1980. Fitzgibbon currently resides on Ludlow ...

and Cara Perlman. Colab members also widely distributed street posters, placards, and flyers made by Colab artists. Also, Richard Goldstein wrote about ''The Times Square Show'' for the June 16th edition of

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

a long article entitled ''The First Radical Art Show of the '80s''. This article and Colab's

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

self-promotion drew a wide variety of audiences curious see an art show in the sordid Times Square area.

Activities at The Times Square Show

''The Times Square Show'' was an open access art show open twenty-four hours a day for thirty days. Most of the artists who participated in ''The Times Square Show'' came from

White Columns White Columns is New York City’s oldest alternative non-profit art space. White Columns is known as a showcase for up-and-coming artists, and is primarily devoted to emerging artists who are not affiliated with galleries. All work submitted is ...

Fashion Moda Fashion 时髦 Moda МОДА, whose name comes from “fashion” in English, Chinese, Spanish and Russian, colloquially referred to as Fashion Moda, started as a cultural concept guided by the idea that art can be made by anyone, anywhere. Fashion ...

or The Harlem Workshop. There were films, videos, poetry, music, and art performances and the audience would sometimes get into fights over whether it was a good performance or a bad performance. Some Colab artists would stay overnight. Tom Otterness's half-skeleton/half-man painted plaster sculpture ''Symbolic Anatomy'' (1980) was placed in the front window next to where Jean-Michel Basquiat wrote ''Free Sex'' over the doorway (later somebody else spray-painted over it). Justen Ladda created a monumental installation drawing in the basement,

and

Robin Winters Robin Winters (born 1950 in Benicia, California) is an American conceptual artist and teacher based in New York. Winters is known for creating solo exhibitions containing an interactive durational performance component to his installations, som ...

showed their collaboration ''Gun, Money, Plate'' wallpaper, Cara Perlman showed her large portrait paintings on paper,

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, ...

showed hand painted enamel on metal signs, like ''Living: Many Dogs Run Wild in the City'',

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

and

Kenny Scharf Kenny Scharf (born November 23, 1958) is an American painter known for his participation in New York City's interdisciplinary East Village art scene during the 1980s, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Scharf's do-it-yourself pract ...

showed their collaboration video ''The Sparkle End'' and

David Hammons David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of ten ...

showed a spray of broken Night Train fortified wine bottles.

John Ahearn John Ahearn (born 1951) is an American sculptor. He is best known for the public art and street art he made in South Bronx in the 1980s. Life and art Ahearn grew up in Binghamton, New York, with his twin brother Charlie Ahearn, who is a film d ...

and

Rigoberto Torres Rigoberto Torres (born 1960) is a sculptor who was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and worked in New York City, before moving to Florida where he currently lives and works. Torres began working in a factory where religious figures were cast, produc ...

did live plaster casting sculptures of people off the street and occasionally made castings on the sidewalk, Jack Smith performed in a haze of hemp smoke in his ''Exotic Landlordism of the World'' one-man performance,

Diane Torr Diane Marian Torr (10 November 1948 – 31 May 2017) was an artist, writer and educator, particularly known as a male impersonator and for her drag king, "Man for a Day" and gender-as-performance workshops. For the last years of her life, Torr l ...

(with filmmaker Ruth Peyser) did an art performance with a rubber inflatable porno doll and

sex toy A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibratin ...

s, and Sophie VDT and Mary Lemley organized fashion shows. Also, ''The Times Square Show'' had a

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

-inspired ''Gift Shop'' area, that would come to be called ''The A. More Store'', that sold low-priced multiples made by the participating Colab artists. Included were Bobby G's ''Money Talks'' pins, Becky Howland's ''Love Canal Potatoes'',

Kiki Smith Kiki Smith (born January 18, 1954) is a West German-born American artist whose work has addressed the themes of sex, birth and regeneration. Her figurative work of the late 1980s and early 1990s confronted subjects such as AIDS and gender, whil ...

’s ''Bloody-Hand Ashtrays'',

Joseph Nechvatal Joseph Nechvatal (born January 15, 1951) is an American post-conceptual digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses. Life and work Joseph Ne ...

's ''Nucular War Table Placemats'',

Charlie Ahearn Charlie Ahearn (born 1951) is an American film maker living in New York City. Although predominantly involved in film and video art production, he is also known for his work as an author, freelance writer, member of Colab, and radio host. He is m ...

’s ''Three Card Monte Times Square Advertisement'' poster, Robin Winters’s ''Plaster Colab Portraits'' and Jenny Holzer’s ''Manifesto'' posters. ''The A. More Store'' also appeared shortly after on Broome Street with the tag-line ''You won’t pay more at the A. More Store''. Following ''The Times Square Show'', other iterations of ''The A. More Store'' were presented at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Jack Tilton Gallery,

, and Printed Matter, Inc. ''The Times Square Show'' also had a collectors’ night that invited the art world cognoscenti like

Brooke Alexander Gallery The Brooke Alexander Gallery is an art gallery in New York City founded in 1968 by Brooke and Carolyn Alexander in a storefront on East 68th Street. It is a member of The Art Dealers Association of America and the International Fine Print Dealers ...

, Mary Boone and Jeffrey Deitch. The art writers Richard Goldstein, Kim Levin and

Lucy Lippard Lucy Rowland Lippard (born April 14, 1937) is an American writer, art critic, activist, and curator. Lippard was among the first writers to argue for the " dematerialization" at work in conceptual art and was an early champion of feminist art. S ...

were among those who visited. Bobby G, Mathew Geller,

Mitch Corber Mitch Corber is a New York City neo-Beat poet, an eccentric performance artist, and no wave videographer known for his rapid whimsically comical montage and collage style. He has been associated with Collaborative Projects, Inc. (aka Colab), par ...

and Julie Harrison made videotapes inside and outside the show, often interviewing spectators and Andrea Callard, Tom Warren, Francine Keery, Teri Slotkin and Lisa Kahane photographed the show and performance events. The No wave rock band The Raybeats performed live there.

Participating artists

Participating artists included: *

* Peter Angermann * Jean-Michel Basquiat * Scott B and Beth B * Andrea Callard *

*Jody Culkin * Jane Dickson *

Stefan Eins Stefan Eins is an Austrian- American artist whose artwork has been exhibited since 1970. His belief that art and scientific experimentation are one and the same significantly impacted art and society. He is most known for founding the art gallery ...

Peter Fend Peter Fend is an American artist born in 1950. In 1980, he founded Offices and the Ocean Earth Construction and Development Corporation with Colen Fitzgibbon, Jenny Holzer, Peter Nadin, Richard Prince and Robin Winters, which was a "corporation" ...

*Bobby G (aka Robert Goldman) *Matthew Geller *Mike Glier *

Ilona Granet Ilona Granet (born 1948) is a contemporary American artist. Granet is known for her works, which stem from her experience as a sign painter. As a feminist, she has collaborated with local communities and the New York City Department of Transport ...

Mimi Gross Mimi Gross (born 1940) is a New York City born American artist. Biography Early life Gross was born in New York City in 1940. She is the daughter of the sculptor Chaim Gross. She grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan among the artist commu ...

* Duncan Hannah *

*Julie Harrison * Candace Hill-Montgomery *

*Becky Howland *

Alex Katz Alex Katz (born July 24, 1927) is an American figurative artist known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints. Early life and career Alex Katz was born July 24, 1927, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, as the son of an émigré who ha ...

*Christof Kohlhofer *Justen Ladda *Mary Lemley * Joe Lewis * Aline Mare * Alan W. Moore *

* Group Normal * Tom Otterness *Cara Perlman *Virge Piersol *Uli Rimkus *

Judy Rifka Judy Rifka (born 1945) is an American artist active since the 1970s as a painter and video artist. She works heavily in New York City's Tribeca and Lower East Side and has associated with movements coming out of the area in the 1970s and 1980s s ...

* Walter Robinson * Christy Rupp *

*Jane Sherry *Teri Slotkin * Jack Smith *

* Seton Smith * Jolie Stahl *

*Sophie Vieille (aka Sophie VDT) *

References

Sources

Julie Ault Julie Ault (born 1957) is an American artist, curator, and editor who was a cofounder of Group Material, a New York-based artists' collaborative that has produced over fifty exhibitions and public projects exploring relationships between politi ...

, ''Alternative Art, New York, 1965-1985'', University of Minnesota Press, 2002. * David Little, ''Colab Takes a Piece, History Takes It Back: Collectivity and New York Alternative Spaces'', ''Art Journal'' Vol.66, No. 1, Spring 2007, College Art Association, New York, pp. 60–74 (Articl

*

Carlo McCormick Carlo McCormick is an American culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists. Pedagogic and art writing activities McCormick was Senior Edito ...

, ''The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984'',

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Press, 2006. * Alan W. Moore, ''Artists' Collectives: Focus on New York, 1975-2000'' in ''Collectivism After Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945'', Blake Stimson & Gregory Sholette, (eds) University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2007, pp. 193–221. * Alan W. Moore and Marc Miller (eds), '' ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery'', Collaborative Projects, NY, 1985. * Max Schumann (ed.), ''A Book about Colab (and Related Activities)'' Printed Matter, Inc, 2016. pp. 100–119 * Francesco Spampinato, ''The Real Estate Show and The Times Square Show Revisited'

{{DEFAULTSORT:Time Square Show Cultural history of New York City Art exhibitions in the United States 1980 in New York City 1980 in art Conceptual art Postmodern art Non-profit organizations based in New York City No wave Performance art in New York City

Historic significance

Promoting The Times Square Show

Activities at The Times Square Show

Participating artists

See also

References

Sources