Art Institute Chicago, Ray Johnson and the Last Dance of the Taoist Collages

 

Ray Johnson and the Last Dance of the Taoist Collages

 

A Look into the Art Institute of Chicago's Ray Johnson Collection by Jenny Harris & Jessica Smith

 

After Chicago-area choreographer Sybil Shearer died in 2005, a box with unexpected contents  was discovered tucked away in her attic. It was filled with artworks—what the artist Ray Johnson called his Taoist Collages —that he had mailed to her 50 years earlier. These collages were not simply a  stand-alone mailing between two friends, but rather the precursors to Johnson’s  mail art practice. They marked a pivotal moment in the artist’s career when he  was using the postal system to disperse his early collages, works he called “moticos.”  Researching these rediscovered works offered a new perspective onto Johnson’s  ties to the world of dance while also shedding new light on the Art Institute’s  own holdings of Johnson’s work...

 

sample of taoist collages

 

One of 171 3-ring binders spanning the years of Johnson’s and Wilson’s respective lifetimes

 

Ray Johnson Collections  at the Art Institute of Chicago

We are thrilled to announce that the Ray Johnson Collections database at the Art Institute  of Chicago is now available to the public both online and in person. This digital collection  includes not only the database but also video tutorials, a usage guide, collection finding  aids, selected images from the collections, and more.    Untitled (Taoist Collage), 1955 Ray Johnson

 

CURRENT & UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS Queer Networks: Ray Johnson's Correspondence by Miriam Kienle, University of Minnesota Press,  November 2023   A Book About Ray by Ellen Levy, MIT Press, October 15, 2024 RECENT PRESS Ray Johnson’s Elusive Dream: ‘I Want to Dance’ by Jenny Harris for the New York Times The Unknown Ray Johnson Takes the Spotlight by Roberta Smith for the New York Times Ray Johnson by Hilton Als for the New Yorker THE RAY JOHNSON ESTATE 34 East 69th Street, New York, NY 10021 +1 (212) 628-0470 | info@rayjohnsonestate.com www.rayjohnsonestate.com          Visit

 https//www.artic.edu/articles/1154/ray-johnson-and-the-last-dance-of-the-taoist-collages 
 https://www.artic.edu/articles/1154/ray-johnson-and-the-last-dance-of-the-taoist-collages

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