Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York

The Blanton Museum of Art
Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York

September 28, 2008 – January 18, 2009

(from blantonmuseum.org)

This fall 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....

...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....

...Between 1963 and 1967, the Park Place Gallery group was at the center of contemporary artistic activity in New York and several members were included in exhibitions that would later be defined as “Minimalist.” As Reimagining Space argues, however, the group eluded categorization into the dominant movements of the 1960s, specifically Minimalism and the reigning focus on flat painting. As Fleming stated, "It was impossible to identify what we were. That was our freedom."...

Artist Panel in conjunction with Reimagining Space
Friday, September 26, 3:30 PM
In conjunction with the opening of Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York, Mark di Suvero, Dean Fleming, Tamara Melcher, and Forrest Myers, four of the founders of the Park Place Gallery, will talk informally about their pioneering venture in New York in the 1960s. The panel will be moderated by guest curator and UT Art History professor Linda Dalrymple Henderson. Location: ACES Building, Avaya Audtorium (rm. 2.302), 24th and Speedway on the UT campus.
Funding for this program is provided by the Carolyn Harris-Hynson Centennial Visiting Professorship in Fine Arts.

Director's Circle Preview Party
Friday, September 26, 6 – 8 PM
Celebrate the Blanton's new fall exhibitions Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York and The New York Graphic Workshop, 1964 – 1970.
For Director's Circle members only

Members-Only Preview Day
Saturday, September 27, 1 – 5 PM
Preview the Blanton's new fall exhibitions before they open to the public: Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York and The New York Graphic Workshop, 1964 – 1970.
Open to all Blanton members.

Curator's Tour: The New York Graphic Workshop: 1964 - 1970
Thursday, October 2, 12:30 PM
Gina McDaniel Tarver, curatorial associate in the Blanton's Latin American department, leads a gallery talk titled “Juan Trepadori or How to Succeed as a Latin American Artist in New York.”

B scene: Art from the Underground
Friday, October 3, 6 – 11 PM
New York, New York
Celebrate the opening of the Blanton's fall exhibitions at the museum's monthly art party. Go beneath the surface and experience the wild side of art from New York in the 1960s.
$5 members/$10 non-members

Expert Perspective: Reimagining Space
Thursday, October 9, 12:30 PM
John Clarke, Annie Laurie Howard Regents Professor in Fine Arts at UT, puts the Park Place Gallery into the context of the art world of the 1960s.

Expert Perspective:
Thursday, October 16, 12:30 PM
Craig Wheeler, Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor in Astronomy and Distinguished Teaching Professor, discusses the Space Age and cosmology at the Park Place Gallery.
Funding for this program is provided by the Carolyn Harris-Hynson Centennial Visiting Professorship in Fine Arts.

Curator's Tour: Reimagining Space
Thursday, October 23, 12:30 PM
Linda Henderson, David Bruton, Jr. Centennial Professor in Art History and Distinguished Teaching Professor at UT and guest curator for Reimagining Space, explores the Park Place Gallery Group's interest in the fourth dimension.