Ray Johnson at Matthew Marks Gallery

Matthew Marks is pleased to announce Ray Johnson, the next exhibition in his gallery at 523 West 24th Street. Included are over thirty collages spanning nearly three decades.

Johnson is one of the more eccentric figures in contemporary art. Born in Detroit in 1929, he attended the legendary Black Mountain College, where he met and befriended many of the leading avant-garde figures of the day. He moved to New York in 1949 and began exhibiting abstract paintings. Within a few years, however, he had rejected painting in favor of collage. That medium’s combinatory principles became central to his art, which grew to encompass performance, conceptual art, and sculpture. By the late 1950s his practice of mailing collages to friends and acquaintances had become a primary artistic focus, directly giving rise to the Mail Art movement.

Opening: Thursday, May 4, 6 – 8 PM