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Signs of Life
Exhibition Dates
June 15 - August 12, 1990
This exhibition and publication have been made possible in part
by grants from Marilyn Steinbright, the Dietrich Foundation, the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the City of Philadelphia.
This publication was prepared on the occasion of the exhibition
"Signs of Life: Process and Materials, 1960-1990: organized by
the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania.
© 1990 Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsyl
vania, 34th & Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro
duced without written permission from the publishers.
ISBN 0-088454-049-9
Library of Congress catalogue card no. 90-82005
Design: Marc Zaref Design
Typography: Trufont Typographers. Inc.
Printing: Eastern Press
Cover: Richard Long, Mississippi Waterline Walking Line. 1988
silver print; 33%" x 44%" framed
Signs of Life
Process and Materials, 1960 - 1990
Mellssa E. Feldman
Institute of Contemporary Art
University of Pennsylvania
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Lenders to the Exhibition
Ewa and Armand Bartos, Jr., New York
Peter Brams, New York
Wendy and Robert Brandow, Los Angeles
Eli Broad Family Foundation, Santa Monica, California
Helen Herrick and Milton Brutten, Philadelphia
Castelli Graphics, New York
Sandra Gering, New York
Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Richard Green Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Helen Mayer and Newton Harrison, Del Mar, California
Hirschi & Adler Modern, New York
Antonio Homem, New York
Estate of Yves Klein, courtesy Gagosian Gallery, New York
Carlo Lamagna Gallery, New York
Liz Larner, Los Angeles
Curt Marcus Gallery, New York
Burnett Miller Gallery, Los Angeles
Museum of Modern Art, New York
David Nolan Gallery, New York
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Mathias Rastorfer, New York
Scott Richter, New York
Katherine and Keith Sachs, Rydal, Pennsylvania
Estate of Robert Smithson, courtesy John Weber Gallery, New York
Sonnabend Gallery, New York
Estate of Ted Spagna, Boston
Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York
John Weber Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Beverly Hills, California
Private Collection, London
Private Collection, New York
Contents
For••_...
8
by Patrick T. Murphy
P,atace •IHI Acknowl•dg••nts 9
by Judith Tannenbaum
TIN Werld As a Lallorat•r, 10
by Melissa E. Feldman
30-55
Catalog- of tlle llxhlLlll•n 56
A. ll■ts' BlllllographlN 58
ICA Staff aad Alhit■ory ■-nl 63
Foreword
With the growing atmosphere of formalism in the late The lnstitute's staff has once again excelled in the
fifties, artists sought various strategies to renew and ar preparation and organization and of such an event. I
ticulate areas of content. One device was the introduc would like to thank Melissa Feldman, who having con
tion of the prosaic "pop" image, which formed a critique ceived "Signs of Life," synthesized with great clarity and
of the established dogma. Others abandoned the confin insight an approach by artists of different generational
ing art object altogether and opted for the more Du and cultural backgrounds. To Judith Tannenbaum, our
champian solution of conceptualism. "Signs of Life: Pro assistant director and senior curator, we offer our grati
cess and Materials, 1960 - 1990" attempts to provide an tude for the care she has taken guiding every aspect of
initial exploration of an aspect of conceptualism- the the exhibition's production. Lastly, I wish to thank all of
adoption by certain artists of an empirical approach to the artists, collectors, and galleries who were ever helpful
subjects of concern. Within this exhibition we span the to us during the selection stages.
sciences of biology, chemistry, and physics as well as the
Patrick T. Murphy
more recent disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Director
There is also the appearance of the pre-rationalist meth
ods of alchemy and shamanism-early attempts to un
derstand and affect the natural world. These artists avoid
the arrogance of results, only taking the stylistic meta
phor as far as forming their information into an hypoth
esis. The experimentation necessary to prove or disprove
their theories is left with the viewer.
The Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Penn
sylvania, would like to express its appreciation to a number
of individuals and institutions for their continuing support
and encouragement. I especially wish to acknowledge the
heartening enthusiasm of our advisory board, in particular;
Daniel W. Dietrich 11, chairman of our exhibitions commit
tee, whose commitment and support made the project
possible. Marilyn Steinbright responded with customary
interest and eagerly assisted in its realization. We are also
grateful to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the
City of Philadelphia for their enlightened support of this
specific exhibition and our mission in general.
8
