Dealing With Some Texts Images And Thoughts Related To American Fine Arts Co

The New York gallery American Fine Arts, Co.—whose name today is largely synonymous with that of its gallerist, Colin de Land (1955–2003)—represents a gallery practice in which a decided deviation from conventional models overlaps with successful activities within the framework of the art market. Today, American Fine Arts, Co. and de Land figure as uncontested projection screens for the desire for independence from or bohemian resistance against the dictate of the market. Particularly in retrospect, a consistent image of the gallery is not discernible. Faced with the obvious risk of romanticization, it appears all the more important to pursue an understanding of how American Fine Arts, Co. functioned as a gallery. This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition “Dealing with—Some Books, Visuals, and Works Related to American Fine Arts, Co.” at Halle für Kunst Lüneburg and Kunstraum of Leuphana University of Lüneburg (May 28–July 7, 2011), which was developed by Valérie Knoll, Hannes Loichinger, Julia Moritz, and Magnus Schäfer. Contributors Andrea Fraser, Manfred Hermes, Karl Holmqvist and Tobias Kaspar, Isla Leaver-Yap, Jackie McAllister, James Meyer and Christian Philipp Müller, Magnus Schäfer, Axel John Wieder, Phillip Zach; a conversation between Colin de Land, Josef Strau, and Stephan Dillemuth; and an introduction by Hannes Loichinger and Magnus Schäfer

The New York gallery American Fine Arts, Co.—whose name today is largely synonymous with that of its gallerist, Colin de Land (1955–2003)—represents a gallery practice in which a decided deviation from conventional models overlaps with successful activities within the framework of the art market. Today, American Fine Arts, Co. and de Land figure as uncontested projection screens for the desire for independence from or bohemian resistance against the dictate of the market. Particularly in retrospect, a consistent image of the gallery is not discernible. Faced with the obvious risk of romanticization, it appears all the more important to pursue an understanding of how American Fine Arts, Co. functioned as a gallery. This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition “Dealing with—Some Books, Visuals, and Works Related to American Fine Arts, Co.” at Halle für Kunst Lüneburg and Kunstraum of Leuphana University of Lüneburg (May 28–July 7, 2011), which was developed by Valérie Knoll, Hannes Loichinger, Julia Moritz, and Magnus Schäfer. Contributors Andrea Fraser, Manfred Hermes, Karl Holmqvist and Tobias Kaspar, Isla Leaver-Yap, Jackie McAllister, James Meyer and Christian Philipp Müller, Magnus Schäfer, Axel John Wieder, Phillip Zach; a conversation between Colin de Land, Josef Strau, and Stephan Dillemuth; and an introduction by Hannes Loichinger and Magnus Schäfer

Digitization is the animating force of everyday life. Rather than defining it as a technology or a medium, Contemporary Art and the Digitization of Everyday Life argues that digitization is a socio-historical process that is contributing to the erosion of democracy and an increase in political inequality, specifically along racial, ethnic, and gender lines. Taking a historical approach, Janet Kraynak finds that the seeds of these developments are paradoxically related to the ideology of digital utopianism that emerged in the late 1960s with the rise of a social model of computing, a set of beliefs furthered by the neo-liberal tech ideology in the 1990s, and the popularization of networked computing. The result of this ongoing cultural worldview, which dovetails with the principles of progressive artistic strategies of the past, is a critical blindness in art historical discourse that ultimately compromises art’s historically important role in furthering radical democratic aims.

Published on the occasion of an exhibition celebrating the Wagners' promised gift of more than 850 works of art to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Musaee national d'art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, November 20, 2015-March 6, 2016, and at the Centre Pompidou, June 16, 2016-January 2017.

The Conditions of Being Art is the first book to examine the activities of groundbreaking contemporary art galleries Pat Hearn Gallery and American Fine Arts, Co. (1983-2004), and the transnational milieu of artists, dealers and critics that surrounded them. Drawing on the archives of dealers Pat Hearn and Colin de Land--both, independently, legendary players on the New York art scene of the 1980s and '90s, and one of the great love stories of the art world--this publication illustrates their distinctive artistic practices, significant exhibitions and events, and daily business. Hearn and de Land championed art that challenged the business of running an art gallery; artists like Renée Green and Susan Hiller, Andrea Fraser and Cady Noland, who employed conceptualism and installation, social and institutional critique. Contributing to the history of exhibitions, institutions and curating, The Conditions of Being Art addresses a significant gap in this literature around experimental commercial spaces in recent art history. This publication is the first book-length critical account of the alternative commercial gallery practices of the 1990s, a moment and a scene that is extremely influential to many of today's art dealers, curators and artists. Hearn and de Land's gallery practices explored new experimental and ethical possibilities within the selling of art, testing the relationship of contemporary art to its markets. In this volume, full-color images, in-depth scholarly investigations and detailed gallery histories vibrantly document how Hearn and de Land tested new notions of what an art gallery could be.

This book is the result of four years of collaborative work that focused on topics of affect, the return of history, ecology, and art and its markets in today's power law-based economies. These themes triggered not only the development of new artworks but also gave rise to reflexive discourses and discussions surrounding art theory, philosophy, sociology, and economics. The book contains a visual documentation of a number of group shows - which also included the works of winners of the Daniel Frese Prize - at Agathenburg Castle, Halle für Kunst Lüneburg, Kunstraum of Leuphana University of Lüneburg, and Kunstverein Springhornhof. The contributions by critics, curators, theoreticians, and scientists include essays and in-depth conversations.

Within the international art world, American Fine Arts, Co., Colin de Land Fine Art was a gallery known equally for its anti-commercial, risk-taking practices and for its charismatic owner, who championed a perennially marginalized discourse that critiqued the status quo of gallery practice. Culled from de Land's extensive archive, Colin de Land, American Fine Arts provides an incomparable look at the activities and personalities that frequented the gallery during its heyday. The photographs and snapshots are accompanied by remembrances from more than 50 international artists and writers associated with the gallery. Part personal history, part expose, Colin de Land, American Fine Arts takes us back to the essence of south SoHo during the late 1980s and 90s, serving as a testament to de Land and his loving wife, gallerist Pat Hearn, both of whom died of cancer but left a legacy of personal style in their respective gallery practices, which have since been sorely missed.

Essay by Wendy Weitman.