CCS Bard Archives Phone: 845.758.7567 Center for Curatorial Studies Fax: 845.758.2442 Bard College Email: [email protected] Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504 Guide to the Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives MSS.008 Finding aid prepared by Ryan Evans; Collection processed by Ryan Evans. This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit March 31, 2017 Describing Archives: A Content Standard Guide to the Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives Table of Contents Summary Information..................................................................................................................................3 Biographical/Historical note.........................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents note........................................................................................................................... 5 Arrangement note....................................................................................................................................... 7 Administrative Information...........................................................................................................................8 Related Materials........................................................................................................................................ 8 Controlled Access Headings.......................................................................................................................8 Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................13 Series I: Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co............................................................................... 13 Series II: Pat Hearn Gallery..............................................................................................................103 Series IV: Colin de Land Files..........................................................................................................129 Series V: Media.................................................................................................................................136 Oversize Series I...............................................................................................................................169 Oversize Series II..............................................................................................................................169 - Page 2 - Guide to the Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives Summary Information Repository Center for Curatorial Studies Library & Archives Creator American Fine Arts, Co. Creator De Land, Colin, 1955-2003 Creator Hearn, Pat, 1955-2000 Creator Pat Hearn Gallery Title Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives Date [bulk] Bulk, 1987-2003 Date [inclusive] 1979-2006 Extent 103.0 Linear feet in 75 boxes and 95 binders Language English Preferred Citation Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives; MSS.008; [box number]; [folder number], Center for Curatorial Studies Library and Archives, Bard College. - Page 3 - Guide to the Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives Biographical/Historical note Colin de Land (1955-2003), New York art dealer and gallery owner who fostered wide ranging experimentation in the arts, established American Fine Arts, Co. in 1986 and ran the gallery until he died in 2003 at the age of 47. De Land grew up in Union City, NJ and studied philosophy and linguistics at NYU before establishing his first gallery in March 1982, originally named American Fine Arts, Co. In 1984 the gallery’s name changed to Vox Populi, operating out of a space on Clinton Street, and then on East 6th Street in the East Village. In February 1986 Colin de Land reverted to the original name American Fine Arts, Co. In 1988 the gallery moved to 40 Wooster Street in Soho, and again in 1993 the gallery moved to 22 Wooster Street. American Fine Arts, Co. was unique in that it operated as an anti-conventional commercial gallery where de Land presented a broad range of artists whose practices spanned from large-scale installation to institutional critique, video, and abstract painting. Recurring artists in the A.F.A. program included Cady Noland, Mark Dion, Peter Fend, Andrea Fraser, John Waters, Jessica Stockholder, Christian Philipp Müller, Tom Burr, John Knight, and Silvia Kolbowski, among others. Beyond solo and group exhibitions A.F.A. also welcomed renowned guest curators to organize thematic exhibitions, such as Collins & Milazzo (“Modern Sleep,” 1986) , Ralph Rugoff (“Just Pathetic,” 1992), James Meyer ("What Happened to the Institutional Critique?", 1993 and “Election”, 2004), as well as thematic shows organized by gallery artists like Peter Fend (“Mapping, a Response to MoMA”, 1995) and Jason Simon (“The Mayfair Show,” 1994). The unique creative and social environment de Land fostered at A.F.A. is evidenced by the insertion of his own artistic endeavors in the programming, including the artists John Dogg (said to be a collaboration between Richard Prince and de Land) and J. St. Bernard (de Land’s solo pseudonym). In 1992 de Land began having creative meetings with a group of Cooper Union art students including Daniel McDonald, Patterson Beckwith, and Craig Wadlin. Both Beckwith and Wadlin worked at A.F.A. at the time. The result was the birth of the collaborative Art Club 2000 following their first exhibition “Commingle” at the gallery in the summer of 1993. Pat Hearn (1955-2000), a widely respected art dealer and gallery owner of the 1980s and 1990s, was known for being open to new art, exceptionally receptive to artists and their needs, generous, and willing to share ideas and artists with other art dealers. Hearn was born in Providence, RI and studied painting and video at the Museum School in Boston. While on a semester abroad in Paris, Hearn worked briefly at an artist-run alternative art space in the Belleville district called L’Usine Pali-Kao. At Pali-Kao (where the programming focused on live performance as it converged with the visual arts as well as music), Hearn created video and performance work and notably began programming the work of other artists. Hearn returned to the States in February 1982 and referenced the Paris space in the naming of her new performance space called Poly Cow that she operated out of the ground floor of her apartment building in Boston. In November of 1983 Hearn opened her first gallery on Avenue B in the East Village of New York City, and in 1988 moved to the southwest corner of Soho at 33 Wooster Street. In 1995, the Pat Hearn Gallery was one of the first commercial galleries to move to Chelsea. Her program featured a multigenerational roster of artists showing a combination of painting, performance, photography, conceptual art, and video, in addition to posthumous shows by pioneering female artists Ana Mendieta and Eva Hesse. Pat Hearn Gallery artists included Philip Taffee, Milan Kunc, Peter Schuyff, Jimmy de Sana, Jutta Koether, Monique Prieto, Julia Scher, Susan Hiller, Renee Green, Simon Leung, George Condo, Jack Pierson and Mark Morrisroe, Joan Jonas, and Lutz Bacher, and others. - Page 4 - Guide to the Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives Together, Pat Hearn and Colin de Land, along with dealers Matthew Marks and Paul Morris, helped to establish the Gramercy International Art Fair in 1994 at the Gramercy Hotel. In 1999 the fair was renamed The Armory Show. Colin de Land and Pat Hearn married in 1999. Hearn passed away in August 2000 following a battle with liver cancer. For a period of around two years following the death of Hearn de Land operated two galleries consecutively, one at 22 Wooster Street and the other in Hearn’s former space in Chelsea. In 2002 American Fine Arts, Co. gave up the Wooster Street location and operated solely out of Chelsea. In March 2003 Colin de Land passed away after his own battle with cancer. The gallery remained open until November 2004 for the final group exhibition, “Election,” organized by James Meyers, in part, as an homage to Colin de Land. Scope and Contents note The Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co., and Pat Hearn Gallery Archives is comprised of the gallery records of both American Fine Arts, Co. and Pat Hearn Gallery in addition to the personal files of Colin de Land. Series I: Colin de Land, American Fine Arts, Co. contains the working gallery records which is largely comprised of artist files, in addition to exhibition files, administrative and financial documents, correspondence, and press. The Binders subseries supplement the artist files and exhibition files, but contain mostly visual materials (slides, photographs, transparencies, etc.) I.A The A.F.A. Artist Files subseries is comprised of the working records of the gallery and includes correspondence, exhibition files for AFA shows and other institutions, financial records, artist writings, and other types of documentation. There are also small amounts of visual records (slides, photographs, negatives, etc.) found throughout the artist files. I.B The A.F.A. Exhibition Files subseries is comprised of general correspondence regarding the planning of AFA exhibitions, invitations, checklists,