Calle, Sophie. La Fille Du Docteur. New York: Thea Westreich, 1991

Calle, Sophie. La Fille Du Docteur. New York: Thea
Westreich, 1991.
4to.; 18 b+w photo-reproductions, 16 of these printed on
transparent paper; plain white wrappers with a trace of
lightly handling.
A production proof, made in advance the finished edition
of 230 limited copies (+3 APs) and 20 deluxe copies (+ 6
APs). Widely regarded as one of the best artists’ books of
the 90s, La Fille Du Docteur consists of a sequence of
photos showing Calle performing a striptease on the
stage of a tawdry carnival sideshow, placed side-by-side
with a sequence of texts, notes offering congratulations
and best wishes that were sent to Calle’s parent son the
occasion of her birth. The photos are printed as
transparencies so that image and text merge,
accentuating the disjunction between between text and
image. This is an unsigned and unnumbered production
copy; it lacks the decorative faux leopard boards, purple
endpapers and tipped in calling cards of the finished
boo. The absence of adornment does not diminish the
work’s impact.
$750
--
Ray Johnson
A Buddhist University Meeting
11 x 8.5 inches
Offset on paper, folded as issued
1974
Flyer with an image of Johnson's left hand wearing the
silver coiling snake rings he wore in an iconic photo used
for Johnson’s 1968 Feigen Gallery exhibition
announcement.
$150
--
Ray Johnson
Send Slips to Lucy Lippard
11 x 8.5 inches
offset on paper, folded as issued
1969
A brief riff on Lippard's name that likely relates to
Recorded Activities, a show curated by Lippard and one
of the earliest exhibitions of conceptual art held in the
United States. In the show’s catalog, Lippard, rather than
write a traditional foreword, simply transcribed ideas she
had written in her notebook while in process of
formulating the show, including this, which is surely
Johnson inspired: “one sentence made up of puns on
each name?”
$250
--
Steve Kaltenbach.
[exhibition flyer].
11 x 8 inches
Offset litho on glossy cardstock
San Francisco: Reese Palley, 1972
This small poster accompanied Kaltenbach’s second solo
gallery exhibition. He had only two gallery shows (both at
Palley) prior to removing himself, more or less
permanently, from the art world.
$125
--
Nam June Paik
Robot Opera. Kill Pop Art!!
11 x 8.5 inches
xerox on paper, printed recto/verso, folded as issued; in
rubberstamped envelope
1964
Robot Opera appeared first at the Judson Church, then
on the streets of New York, a mechanical creature with
flashing lights and spinning breasts which played
recorded speeches by John F. Kennedy and excreted
beans,. Its movements were sudden and unpredictable.
Paik made adjustments continuously throughout every
performance to keep it from breaking down—his frantic
efforts were part of the happening.
$750
--
Robert Rauschenberg
Untitled [Blanket Samples]
28 x 20 inches
offset lithograph on paper; folded as issued
New York: Castelli Gallery, 1963.
This is Rauschenberg's third poster design and his first
printed in full color. It announced an exhibition of color
silkscreen paintings which opened at Castelli Gallery on
October 26, 1963. That same month, while traveling with
Merce Cunningham through the American southwest,
Rauschenberg wrote "Note on Painting" which begins:
I find it nearly impossible free ice to write about
Jeep axle my work. The concept I planetarium
struggle to deal with ketchup is opposed to the
logical continuity lift tab inherent in language
horses and communication. My fascination with
images open 24 hrs. is based on the complex
interlocking of disparate visual facts heated pool
that have no respect for grammar...
$750
--
Robert Rauschenberg.
White Paintings, 1951.
23 x 23 inches
Offset lithograph on paper; folded as issued
New York: Castelli Gallery, 1968.
In 1951, during his second stint at Black Mountain
College, Rauschenberg created White Paintings, a series
of five works, each composed of one or more panels
painted completely white. They are a conceptual
precursor to several better known works, including his
own Erased De Kooning, which he created in 1953, and
perhaps most notably, John Cage’s 4’33”, composed in
1952. Cage himself acknowledged their direct influence,
later writing an article about Rauschenberg, "To Whom It
May Concern: The white paintings came first; my silent
piece came later." This poster announces an exhibition at
Castelli Gallery in 1968 where, for the first time, the full
series was shown together publicly.
[https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/98.308.A-C]
$750
--
Ed Ruscha
America Whistles
34 7/8 x 24 inches
five-color screenprint on heavy paper. Pinholes at corners
1975
This is the poster version of America Whistles published
simultaneously with an editioned print of the same title
that Ruscha contributed to America: The Third Century, a
print portfolio issued in 1975 in celebration of the
American Bicentennial. To accomodate a border and
sponsor’s text the poster was printed on larger format
paper than the print. The image itself, however, is
identical. [Engberg. Ruscha Editions 1959-1999. No. 84]
$400
--
Bonnie Ora Sherk
The Farm. (Three announcement posters).
17.5 x 22.5 inches
Offset lithograph on paper; folded as issued, a bit of
wear at edges and light toning
1974.
A trio of posters announcing events at The Farm (aka
Crossroads Community) the “life-scale environmental and
social artwork” that was founded in 1974 by San
Francisco-based performance artist Bonnie Ora Sherk.
The project evolved out of Sherk's earlier performance
and installation practice, which delved into the
relationship between humans, and the natural
environment. The Farm was Sherk’s primary artistic
activity from 1974-1980. During this period seven acres of
paved industrial landscape underneath a tangled freeway
interchange were transformed into a radical utopian
community
center/alternative
art
space,
an
accomplishment Lucy Lippard that called it “the most
ambitious and successful work of ecological art in this
country.” These posters are some of the first documents
of the project that were produced. The same image
appears as an under layer on each of them, each printed
a different color. Text announcing each month's events
spot-printed above. Two of the three posters signed and
inscribed by Sherk.
$750
--
Andy Warhol
Brillo
29.5 x 26 inches
Four-color screenprint on wove paper.
[Framed dimension 32 x 28.5 inches]
Pasadena Art Museum, 1970
Warhol's 1970 retrospective was curated by John
Coplans and travelled to six museums altogether,
however it is significant that the opening venue was the
Pasadena Art Museum. Warhol was first introduced to
Duchamp at the Pasadena Art Museum, during the
opening of the retrospective seven years earlier that had
revived interest in Duchamp’s work and laid the aesthetic
groundwork for the emergence of Pop Art, which had
since become global phenomenon. In natural hardwood
frame with UV resistant plexiglass.
$1,750
--
Warhol - Basquiat: Paintings.
17 x 11 inches
Offset lithograph on paper; folded as issued
1985
A perfectly preserved copy of the boxing-themed
Warhol/Basquiat poster produced in conjunction with an
exhibition of collaborative works held at Tony Shafrazi
Gallery. It is one of two boxing themed designs created
for the show using photos by Michael Halsband. The first
poster advertising the exhibition shows Warhol and
Basquiat in a pre-fight pose with gloves up. This design,
the invitation for exclusive reception at the Palladium
nightclub that followed; it shows Warhol landing a punch
to Basquiat's jaw, as if in the latter rounds of the bout.
The Palladium poster is far scarcer than the Shafrazi
version. It was distributed to an exclusive list and so fewer
copies were printed. And, because it also served as the
invitation to the Palladium (NYC's hottest nightclub at the
time) many copies that might otherwise have been saved,
were handed over at the door instead. This is an original
printing, not a reproduction.
$2,500
--
Christopher Williams
For Example: Die Welt Ist Schön. (First Draft).
23.5 x 33 inches
Offset lithograph on paper
Munich: Kunstverein Munchen, 1993.
From the MoMA press release for its 2014 exhibition of
Williams' work:
For Example: Die Welt ist schön (The World Is Beautiful).
From 1993 until 2001, Williams worked on a single
photographic series known as For Example: Die Welt ist
schön (The World Is Beautiful), which he describes as an
“essay on modernity and modernization.” One inspiration for
the series is Albert Renger-Patzsch’s 1928 book Die Welt ist
schön, which contains 100 pictures of natural and human
creations. Similarly, Williams’s series brings together various
subjects in the world—Japanese models who have
undergone Western- style hair and makeup changes; a
tropical beach in Cuba, carefully maintained for foreigners; a
travel poster with International Style buildings constructed in
Africa; an overturned Renault recalling the student unrest in
Paris—to address the aftereffects of decolonization, histories
of avant-garde art, and the radicalism of May 1968. Like
Renger-Patzsch, Williams attempts to create an atlas of the
world while enacting a critique of photography’s role in the
history of the Cold War that defined much of the second half
of 20th century.
[http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2014/10/christopherwilliams-at-moma/]
$400
--
Christopher Wool: Works on Paper. New York: Luhring
Augustine, 1990.
8vo.; illustrated throughout; blue wrappers; staplebound. Fine.
First edition. Signed, "CHRISTOPHER WOOL" on the
title page. Scarce early catalogue of Wool's work.
$150
--
Christopher Wool
If You...
39.5 x 26.5 inches
Offset lithograph on paper
2005
The Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art (Dakis
Joannou's collection) published this poster in 2005,
based on a painting from 1992. The painting speaks for
itself:
IFYOU
CANTTAKE
AJOKEYOU
CANGET
THEFUCK
OUTOFMY
HOUSE
$3,000