Ray Johnson mail art to David Bourdon

Ray Johnson mail art to David Bourdon

Mail Art

Ray Johnson Mail art to David Bourdon is a photographed drawing of a horse, dated sometime between 1962-1965. The work depicts a black horse embellished with linear circles, a reoccurring element of Johnson’s artwork from his Black Mountain college period (1945-1948), and his period of design practices in New York (1955-1960). Across the body of the horse is the text "Send New York Correspondence to Rosalind Constable, 360 West 22 St., N.Y.C. 10011". Around the horse's body are names of artists, critics, publishers, and celebrities, labelled almost anatamonically.

The composition of the work leaves empty space for additional elements to be added to the drawing, which was typical both of Johnson’s mail art and of the general ethos of the New York Correspondence School. This work, created by Johnson, mailed to critic and Warhol collaborator David Bourdon with the directions that it be mailed back not to Johnson, but to Rosalind Constable, is typical of the triangulated modes of communication and networking set up by Johnson. 

Ray Johnson

http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/ray-johnson-mail-art-to-david-bourdon-14221

Archive of American Art, David Bourdon papers, 1941-1998

1962 (approx.)

Mariia Spirina

© The Ray Johnson Estate, New York.

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Mail art : 1 item : photocopy ; 28 x 22 cm.

English

Mail art

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