New Horizons in American Art : 1985 Exxon National Exhibition
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NEW H O R I IN AMERICA 1985 EXXON NATIONAL EXHIB Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Library NEW HORIZONS IN AMERICAN ART 1985 EXXON NATIONAL EXHIBITION by Lisa Dennison This exhibition is sponsored by Exxon Corporation Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dennison, Lisa. New horizons in American art. Sponsored by Exxon Corporation and held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Includes bibliographies. 1. Art, American— Exhibitions. 2. Art, Modern— 20th century— United States— Exhibitions. 3. Exxon Corporation— Art patronage— Exhibitions. I. Exxon Corporation. II. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. III. Title. N6512.D38 1985 709'.73'07401471 85-14376 ISBN 0-89207-050-1 Published by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, 1985 © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, 1985 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation HONORARY TRUSTEES IN PERPETUITY Solomon R, Guggenheim, Justin K. Thannhauser, Peggy Guggenheim PRESIDENT Peter Lawson-Johnston VICE PRESIDENT The Right Honorable Earl Castle Stewart Elaine Dannheisser. Michel David-Weill, Carlo De Benedetti, Joseph W Donner, Robin Chandler Duke, Robert M. Gardiner, John S Hilson, Harold W. McGraw, Jr , Wendy L-J McNeil, Thomas M, Messer, Bonnie Ward Simon, Seymour Slive, Stephen C, Swid. Michael F Wettach. William T. Ylvlsaker ADVISORY BOARD Donald M Blinken. Barrie M. Damson, Donald M. Feuerstein, Linda LeRoy Janklow, Seymour M, Klein, Denise Saul, Hannelore Schulhot secretary-treasurer Theodore G Dunker STAFF Aili Pontynen, Assistant Secretary; Joy N. Fearon, Assistant Treasurer DIRECTOR Thomas M Messer Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum deputy director Diane Waldman ADMINISTRATOR William M Jackson STAFF Vivian Endicott Barnett, Curator; Lisa Dennison, Susan B, Hirschfeld, Assistant Curators; Carol Fuerstein, Editor; Sonja Bay, Librarian; Ward Jackson, Archivist; Diana Murphy, Editorial Coordinator; Susan Hapgood, Nancy Spector, Curatorial Assistants Louise Averill Svendsen, Curator Emeritus Cherie A Summers. Registrar; Jane Rubin, Associate Registrar; Kathleen M, Hill, Assistant Registrar; Stephanie Stitt, Registrar's Coordinator; Saul Fuerstein, Preparator; William Smith, David M Veater, Ani Gonzalez Rivera, Prep- aration Assistants; Hubbard Toombs, Technical Services Coordinator; Leni Potoff, Associate Conservator; Gillian McMillan, Assistant Conservator; Elizabeth Estabrook, Conservation Coordinator; Scott A Wixon, Operations Man- ager; Tony Moore, Assistant Operations Manager; Takayuki Amano, Head Carpenter; David M. Heald, Photographer; Myles Aronowitz. Assistant Photographer Mimi Poser, Officer for Development and Public Affairs; Carolyn Porcelli, Development Associate; Richard Pierce, Public Affairs Associate; Elizabeth K. Lawson, Membership Associate; Shannon Wilkinson, Public Affairs Coordina- tor; Linda Gering, Special Events Coordinator, Ann D. Garrison, Development Coordinator; Amy Sephora Pater, Public Affairs Assistant Agnes R- Connolly, Auditor; Judy A Ornstein, Accounting Assistant; Stefanie Levinson, Sales Manager, Robert Turner, Manager, Cafe and Catering; Maria Masciotti, Assistant Cafe Manager; Fred Lee, Assistant Cafe Manager- Kitchen Preparation; Robert S. Flotz, Chief of Security; Elbio Almiron, Mane Bradley, Carlos Rosado, Assistant Secu- rity Supervisors Ann Kraft, Executive Coordinator; Jill Snyder, Administrative Assistant; Faith R Schornick, Assistant to the Administrator LIFE MEMBERS Jean K. Benjamin, Mr and Mrs. B. Gerald Cantor, Eleanor, Countess Castle Stewart, Mr. and Mrs. Barrie M. Damson, Mr. and Mrs Werner Dannheisser, William C. Edwards, Jr , Donald M Feuerstein and Jacqueline Dryfoos, Mr. and Mrs Andrew P. Fuller, Agnes Gund, Susan Morse Hilles, Mr. and Mrs. Morton L Janklow. Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Jonas, Mr and Mrs Peter Lawson-Johnston, Mr and Mrs Alexander Liberman, Mr and Mrs Irving Moskovitz, Mr. and Mrs Robert E. Mnuchin, Elizabeth Hastings Peterfreund. Mrs. Samuel I Rosenman, Clifford Ross, Mr. and Mrs Andrew M. Saul, Mr and Mrs. Rudolph B Schulhof. Mrs Evelyn Sharp, Mrs Leo Simon, Mr and Mrs Stephen A. Simon, Sidney Singer, Jr, Mr and Mrs. Stephen C. Swid, Mrs. Hilde Thannhauser, Mr. and Mrs Stephen S. Weisglass, Mr and Mrs. Philip Zierler INSTITUTIONAL PATRONS Alcoa Foundation, Atlantic Richfield Foundation, Exxon Corporation. Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust, Knoll International, The Kresge Foundation, Robert Lehman Foundation. The Andrew Mellon Foundation, Mobil Corpora- tion, Philip Morris Incorporated, United Technologies Corporation Institute of Museum Services, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, New York State Council on the Arts LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITION Phoebe Adams Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Caroline and Stephen Adler, New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Adler-Frasca, New York The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Robert Arneson and Sandra Shannonhouse Roswell Museum and Art Center, New Mexico Mrs. Joseph Ascher, New York Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Chase Manhattan Bank, New York Bank, York Chemical New Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York Douglas S. Cramer, Los Angeles CDS Gallery, New York Cronson, York Mary Sharp New Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, Philadelphia Linda F. Daitz, York and Ronald New Lawrence Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia Dannheisser Foundation PPO-W, New York Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert M. Davidson, Clifton, New Jersey Rena Bransten Quay Gallery, San Francisco David Deutsch, New York Ruth Siegel Ltd., New York Betsy and Mike Dingman Althea Viafora Gallery, New York Alan Dinsfriend, Boston Richard Ekstract, New York M. Etcheverry, San Francisco Robert A. Hauslohner Sari and Jerry Joseph Tobi Kahn Mark Kloth Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Konigsberg, Los Angeles Rex Lau Christian McGeachy, New York Mr. and Mrs. Raymond D. Nasher Manuel and Kate Neri, Benicia, California Meg Perlman and Doug Garr, New York Irene Pijoan David P. Robinson Margarete Schultz, New York Jack and Connie Tilton, New York Laila and Thurston Twigg-Smith Stephen and Anne Walrod TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgements Thomas M. Messer Acknowledgements Lisa Dennison New Horizons in American Art Lisa Dennison 30 Phoebe Adams 40 Anthony-Peter Gorny 48 Mark Innerst 58 Tobi Kahn 68 Mark Kloth 78 Rex Lau 88 Joan Nelson 98 Jim Peters 108 Irene Pijoan 119 Photographic Credits PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Young talent shows, on both national and international levels, have been sporadically re- curring components of the Guggenheim's exhibition schedule ever since the 1950s. But not until Exxon assured their financial basis in 1978 did they become annual events. New Horizons in American Art: 1985 Exxon National Exhibition thus follows within an established sequence of periodic assessments in which special attention, alternately focused on the American and foreign cultural theaters, is given to the work of artists young in years or at least in reputation. Current production is thereby presented to museum visitors and, by way of the accompanying catalogues, to a still wider public interested in extending the radius of their awareness of contemporary painting and sculpture. Young American Artists (1978), 79 Artists: Emergent Americans (1981) and New Perspectives in American Art (1983), punctuated during alternate years by selections of current British, Italian and Australian art, constitute the broad view of new talent that the Exxon contributions have opened up for the Guggenheim and its audience during the better part of the past decade. Every one of the four American exhibitions, including New Horizons in American Art, has displayed its own distinct character, if only because each was entrusted to a different curator in order to encourage changing viewpoints within an existing institutional continuity. None- theless, certain attributes were common to all four shows. Invariably, the search that even- tually resulted in a highly condensed selection required a concentrated curatorial effort: the sifting of hundreds of slides provided the basis for repeated visits to scores of studios, after which the final decisions could at last be made. Invariably also, the search itself, which necessarily yielded many more rejections than acceptances, encouraged the artists whether or not they were ultimately included, and simultaneously provided the Museum and its curatorial staff with firsthand information not otherwise obtainable. With respect to the final result, the media more often than not have found much to argue with, frequently seeking in these personal choices a representation of the Museum's ideological position that was not in the organizers' minds. It has been important to us, on the other hand, to assure for the Museum's permanent collection a number of annual purchases that would in time take their place among the valued holdings in the area of contemporary art. The Exxon grants, supplemented by help from other Guggenheim benefactors, have made such acquisitions possible, and we here express our sincere thanks for this aid. And this year there is again much to be grateful for to Exxon for its renewed support of this particular aspect of the Museum's activity. Lisa Dennison, who selected the nine artists represented in New Horizons in American Art, is following in the footsteps of others who, whether as members of the Guggenheim's curatorial staff or as guest curators with temporary missions, have previously carried out analogous tasks. It is a pleasure to acknowledge her efforts herewith and to thank those various staff