David Novros, 4.24, 1965
Acrylic paint and metallic
powder on canvas, four parts
Overall: 92 ½ x 100 ½ in. (234.9 x 255.3 cm)
Collection of Blanton Museum of Art
September 28, 2008 – January 18, 2009
The Blanton Museum of Art presents a groundbreaking exhibition of work by artists associated with the Park Place Gallery, a prominent artists’ cooperative space in 1960s New York. With their specific aesthetics, the group was often at odds with the predominant style of many artists of the era, and as a result, their work has largely been ignored in chronicles of 1960s art. Organized by the Blanton in collaboration with the University’s College of Fine Arts, the exhibition features approximately 40 works and examines the impact of this little known but influential cadre of artists. Ann Wilson, interim director of the Blanton Museum states, “This exhibition is a model of what a University museum can accomplish. We are fortunate to be able to draw on the expertise of guest curator Linda Dalrymple Henderson—a University of Texas professor and expert in this field—and combine her scholarship with that of the Blanton curators. Reimagining Space is testament to the richness and productivity of the Blanton–UT College of Fine Arts collaboration.”
Initially located on the top floor of a five–story loft building at 79 Park Place in downtown Manhattan, the gallery began in 1962 as an informal gathering place for artists who shared similar aesthetic and social concerns and a passion for jazz. The group later developed into a more formal organization, opening in 1965 as a cooperative gallery in Greenwich Village. Five sculptors (Mark di Suvero, Peter Forakis, Robert Grosvenor, Anthony Magar, and Forrest Myers) and five painters (Dean Fleming, Tamara Melcher, David Novros, Edwin Ruda, and Leo Valledor) comprised the group, and Paula Cooper served as the gallery’s director for most of its existence.