Marcel Duchamp Club Invitation
Dublin Core
Title
Marcel Duchamp Club Invitation
Subject
Mail Art
Description
Marcel Duchamp Club Invitation is a work of correspondence between Ray Johnson and artist Joseph Cornell, posted in 1970. The piece, a photocopied drawing, depicts a topless woman laying face down on a box, straddled by Mickey Mouse. A text bubble emerges from Mickey's mouth saying “You are invited to the first meeting of the Marcel Duchamp club on April 23rd at seven pm at the church of the Holy Trinity, 341 east 67 street, New York City.” From the woman's mouth: “The role of Teeny Duchamp will be played by Ultra Violet”. At the bottom of the invitation is the text ‘The Marcel Duchamp Club’.
Cornell was an assemblage artist in New York City and one of Johnson's many regular correspondants. Assemblage and mail art both deal with conceptual ideas and practices, the purposeful reuse of found objects, and the rejection of formalized mediums. One of the first artists to stray from traditional and accepted modes of artistic production was Marcel Duchamp whose popular “readymades” took the art world by storm at the beginning of the twentieth century. In these works, Duchamp wanted to emphasize the conceptual value of the pieces, rather than any reliance on technical or aesthetic appeal. Inspired by Duchamp, both Johnson and Cornell's art practices grow out of the same conceptual background: their art relies on the idea of the art, not the physical work itself.
The Marcel Duchamp Fan Club Invitation is not the only time Johnson makes reference to “fan clubs” and was interested in the role of the fan, the reader, and the audience in the reading of art. Both Duchamp and Johnson were heavily invested in the reactions of their audiences to work, as it was the most integral part of the conceptual work they created. Marcel Duchamp Fan Club Invitation draws together the work of all three artists- Johnson, Cornell, and Duchamp- and aligns them in the same reactionary and conceptual space.
Cornell was an assemblage artist in New York City and one of Johnson's many regular correspondants. Assemblage and mail art both deal with conceptual ideas and practices, the purposeful reuse of found objects, and the rejection of formalized mediums. One of the first artists to stray from traditional and accepted modes of artistic production was Marcel Duchamp whose popular “readymades” took the art world by storm at the beginning of the twentieth century. In these works, Duchamp wanted to emphasize the conceptual value of the pieces, rather than any reliance on technical or aesthetic appeal. Inspired by Duchamp, both Johnson and Cornell's art practices grow out of the same conceptual background: their art relies on the idea of the art, not the physical work itself.
The Marcel Duchamp Fan Club Invitation is not the only time Johnson makes reference to “fan clubs” and was interested in the role of the fan, the reader, and the audience in the reading of art. Both Duchamp and Johnson were heavily invested in the reactions of their audiences to work, as it was the most integral part of the conceptual work they created. Marcel Duchamp Fan Club Invitation draws together the work of all three artists- Johnson, Cornell, and Duchamp- and aligns them in the same reactionary and conceptual space.
Creator
Ray Johnson
Source
https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/ray-johnson-invitation-to-joseph-cornell-14204
Publisher
Archives of American Art, Joseph Cornell Papers
Date
1970
Contributor
Whitney Hill
Rights
Ray Johnson Estate, New York.
Relation
[no text]
Format
Paper, photocopy
Language
English
Type
Correspondence art, mail art
Identifier
[no text]
Coverage
[no text]
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
drawing
Physical Dimensions
28 x 22 cm
Files
Collection
Citation
Ray Johnson, “Marcel Duchamp Club Invitation,” Collaborative Correspondence: Mail Art from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, accessed May 10, 2024, https://collaborativecorrespondence.omeka.net/items/show/29.