HALLWALLS AT ARTISTS SPACE

Artists Space gallery in New York City presents an exhibition of works by Hallwalls-affiliated artists: Diane Bertolo, Charles Clough, Nancy Dwyer, Robert Longo, Cindy Sherman, and Michael Zwack, selected by Helene Winer, then executive director of Artists Space and future co-founder (with Janelle Reiring) of Metro Pictures gallery in 1980.


ARCHIVAL NOTE, 9/4/2024: In the original master 3-ring binder of the first 10 years of Hallwalls exhibitions and events (1974–1984), compiled by beloved friend, author, and visual artist Norma Kassirer (1924–2013), then volunteering as Hallwalls librarian, and which was the basis of the first 10 years of this on-line Timeline, this exhibition is listed erroneously as occuring in 1977.

It was brought to my attention for the first time today [9/4/24] by Charlie Clough that it actually took place a year earlier, November 6–27, 1976. This is confirmed by Artists Space's own records, and it means that our analog (typewritten) 3-ring binder has been wrong for 40 years (since I first laid eyes on it as Fiction Diction programmer), an error made possible by (and which I blame on) the omission of the year from the exhibition poster (the bane of all archivists). It also means in turn that this on-line Timeline has been wrong (off by a whole year) since its inception in the 21st century as regards the year of this important exhibition.

This is no trivial matter, but of critical importance to the art historical record of the last quarter of the 20th century, for it means that the exhibition that introduced the work of these six Hallwalls artists to the NYC artworld, before most of them had moved from Buffalo to New York City, preceded Douglas Crimp's watershed Pictures exhibition at Artists Space by 11 months! For one thing, whereas Winer's show (this one) was 50/50 female and male artists, Crimp only included one woman (Sherrie Levine) along with four men: Hallwalls co-founder (with Clough) Robert Longo (the only artist in both shows), Troy Brauntuch, Jack Goldstein, and Philip Smith. It also means that Crimp could easily have included Cindy Sherman, as Winer's 1976 show had almost a year earlier, but just didn't!

Meanwhile back in Buffalo, the important (albeit 100% male) Artists Space Exchange Show, organized in Buffalo by Robert Longo, included visual art and performances by Troy Brauntuch, Matt Mullican, Paul McMahon, Jack Goldstein, and David Salle. This show, curated by one of the five future Pictures artists (Longo) and featuring two others (Brauntuch & Goldstein), pre-dated Crimp's show later the same year by seven months.

~ Edmund Cardoni, Executive Director, Hallwalls, 9/4/24