Art-Rite

Edited and published by Joshua Cohn, Edit DeAk, and Walter Robinson between 1973 and 1978 (Cohn would leave after issue 7), Art-Rite moved easily through the expansive community of post-conceptual, post-minimalist, performance, and video artists that made up New York’s vibrant downtown arts scene. With a sharp editorial vision, fanzine ethos, and proto-punk aesthetic, the magazine presented up-close coverage of the art world that was at once critical, humorous, and deeply knowledgeable, avoiding the formal tone and self-seriousness that characterized other art publications of the time. Over its five year run, Art-Rite would publish hundreds of interviews, exhibition and performance reviews, statements, and projects “by, with, and about” a generation of artists who felt accessible in these pages, even as many of them were, or would soon become, the defining voices of the era.

Ambitious thematic issues focused on video (No. 7), painting (No. 9), performance (No. 10), and artists’ books (No. 14). The legendary artists’ books issue featured an idea poll gathering statements on the difficulties and ‘best potentials’ of the medium from 50 artists and art professionals—including Kathy Acker, Ulises Carrión, Agnes Denes, Sol LeWitt, and others. Meanwhile, artist-focused issues gave over the entire space to the work of individuals or collectives such as Demi, Image Bank, Kim MacConnel, Rosemary Mayer, Judy Rifka, Alan Vega (of the band Suicide), and the Vancouver-based group Western Front. [1]

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  Art-Rite 14: "Artists' Books", 1977.

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  Idea Poll: Statements on Artists’ Books by Fifty Artists and Art Professionals Connected with the Medium, Art-Rite, 1977, detail.

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  Idea Poll, 1977, detail.

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  Hand-annotated manuscript of Lucy Lippard's statement for the “Idea Poll”.

Issues (selection)

• Art-Rite 7: "Video", ed. Anna Canepa, New York: Art-Rite, Autumn 1974, 32 pp.
• Art-Rite 10: "Performance", ed. John Howell, New York: Art-Rite, Fall 1975, [44] pp. [2] (English)
• Art-Rite 14: "Artists' Books", eds. Walter Robinson and Edit deAk, New York: Art-Rite, Winter 1976/1977, 77 pp.
• Art-Rite, facs. ed., New York: Printed Matter, and Primary Information, 2019, 678 pp. Publisher. [3]