ART-RITE
A new facsimile from Primary Information and Printed Matter, Inc.
October 16, 2019
Primary Information and Printed Matter, Inc. are pleased to announce the release of a new facsimile edition of the trailblazing periodical Art-Rite. The edition collects the full run of the underground arts magazine, compiling all twenty issues in a single volume spanning 678 pages.
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.
Other contributors to Art-Rite across the lifespan of the magazine included Vito Acconci, Bas Jan Ader, Mel Bochner, Marcel Broodthaers, Trisha Brown, Chris Burden, Hanne Darboven, Philip Glass, Nancy Holt, Ray Johnson, Joan Jonas, Les Levine, Lucy Lippard, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Gordon Matta-Clark, Annette Messager, Alice Neel, Nam June Paik, Yvonne Rainer, Judy Rifka, Robert Ryman, Jack Smith, Hannah Wilke, Robert Wilson, and many others.
Art-Rite is 678 pages, printed in black & white and color, and measures 8.5 x 10.75 inches.
Retail $40.00 — Available for purchase here