Richard Hertz: Jack Goldstein and the CalArts Mafia (2003)

Jack Goldstein and the CalArts Mafia is the compelling story of Jack Goldstein and some of his classmates at CalArts, who in the early 70s went to New York and led the transition from conceptualism to Pictures art, utilizing images from television and movies with which they had grown up. At the same time, they discovered an artworld increasingly consumed by the desire for fame, fortune and the perks of success.

The book is anchored by Jack’s narratives of the early days of CalArts and the last days of Chouinard; the New York art world of the 70s and 80s; the trials and tribulations of finding and maintaining success; his interpersonal relationships; and his disappearance from the art scene. They are complemented by the first person narratives of Jack’s friends, including John Baldessari, Troy Brauntuch, Rosetta Brooks, Jean Fisher, Robert Longo, Matt Mullican and James Welling. There are provocative portraits of many well known artworld personalities of the 80s, including Mary Boone, David Salle, and Helene Winer, all working in a time when “the competitive spirit was strong and often brutal, caring little about anything but oneself and making lots of money.” Has anything changed?

Publisher Minneola Press, 2003
ISBN 0964016540, 9780964016545
223 pages

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