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11/15/13 Art Workers Coalition : Primary Information
www.primaryinformation.org/index.php?/projects/art-workers-coalition/ 1/7
Art Workers' Coalition
Dow nload Art Workers' Coalition's Open Hearing here
Dow nload Art Workers' Coalition's Documents 1 here
Background
The Art Worker’s Coalition (AWC) w as a loose group of artists, w riters, and
members of the creative community formed in January 1969 after the artist Takis
protested the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) by removing his sculpture from their
exhibition, “The Museum as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age.” In the case
w ith Takis, the artist w as concerned w ith his ability to control the exhibition of his
w ork after it had been sold (the Museum had exhibited his w ork against his
w ishes because they ow ned it and felt that their right of ow nership superseded
his rights as an artist to control its exhibition).
This initial protest w as a spark that ignited the coalition—w hich gathered members
and concerns exponentially throughout the early months of 1969. At the time, the
Art Workers' Coalition w as concerned w ith the responsibility of museums to artists
and aimed their efforts at building a dialogue betw een themselves and MoMA.
Another early issue w as better representation of Black and Puerto Rican artists in
MoMA as w ell as the other local museums.
As the coalition grew in membership, so did its concerns, w hich the Art Workers'
Coalition sought to publicly discuss at MoMA. When these efforts proved
unsuccessful, the coalition held an Open Hearing at the School of the Visual Arts
on April 10, 1969, in w hich hundreds of people attended. Written statements w ere
collected (some of w hich w ere read and some of w hich w ere not) and the
proceedings w ere later transcribed. The statements w ere published in book form
by the AWC under the name Open Hearing. At the same time, the AWC also
published Documents 1 a collection of letters, press, and ephemera documenting
the formation of the Coalition and its dialogue w ith MoMA. Both Open Hearing and
Documents 1 can be dow nloaded below .
Follow ing the Open Hearing, AWC’s emphasis broadened to address the political
and social events and concerns of its time: racism, sexism, abortion rights,
Vietnam, and Kent State, among others. With so many issues, AWC eventually
splintered, w ith groups like Women Artists in Revolution, Guerilla Art Action Group,
and Art Strike addressing specif ic concerns w hile remaining aff iliated w ith AWC.
Art Workers Coalition remained active through Spring of 1971, w ith its last protest
at the Guggenheim, w hich had cancelled a solo exhibition by Hans Haacke, on May
1, 1971. Many of its splinter groups continued throughout the 70s and 80s and
w ere fundamental to addressing the unequal representation of the minority and
w omen artists in the art w orld—a battle that is still being fought today.
Primary Information’s exhibition at PS1 w ill trace the history of the AWC through
archival documents and photographs obtained through private as w ell institutional
sources (including MoMA).
PS1
22-25 Jackson Avenue at 46th Avenue
Long Island City, NY
June 22 - September 22 2008
For more information on the Art Workers’ Coalition, please see:
Ault, Julie. Alternative Art New York, 1965 – 1985 (The Draw ing Center/University
of Minnesota), 2002.
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11/15/13 Art Workers Coalition : Primary Information
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11/15/13 Art Workers Coalition : Primary Information
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© Jan van Raay
Art Workers' Coalition at PS1
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Art Workers' Coalition at PS1
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Art Workers' Coalition at PS1
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Art Workers' Coalition at PS1
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Art Workers' Coalition at PS1
