MOMA benefit/Artaud etc

[JEFHER]

  I hocked this odf of the MOMA web page.  It seems complete, tho it doesn't
mention that nex t year theywill be showing a selection of works by other artists
who were influenced by Antonin.  Sorry for the messy typing.
jeffrey

For Immediate Release
   The Museum of Modern Art


       FIRST U.S. EXHIBITION OF THE DRAWINGS OF ANTONIN ARTAUD AT THE MUSEU
     M OF MODERN ART

       Antonin Artaud: Works on Paper

       October 3, 1996-January 7, 1997



       The first American exhibition of the drawings of Antonin Artaud (189
     6-1948) opens at The Museum of Modern Art on October 3, 1996.   One of
     this century's most influential and compelling literary figures, Artaud 
     is best known for his "Theater of Cruelty," a project based on his
     vision of cruelty as truth and as a transforming experience.  Antonin
     Artaud: Works on Paper reveals that Artaud was also an accomplished art-
     ist whose drawings record the harrowing images that populated his trou-
     bled mind.  The exhibition provides the first opportunity in this coun-
     try to examine the full extent of Artaud's art, which has had a strong
     effect on the works of such artists as Georg Baselitz, Jean Dubuffet,
     Kiki Smith, and Nancy Spero.


       "Few graphic expressions in the twentieth century show the power and
      authentic inner necessity seen in Artaud's drawings," said Margit Row
     ell, Chief Curator, Department of Drawings, who organized the exhibiti-
     on. "These works have come to public attention in France only within 
     the last decade. As they are a distinctive phenomenon of our time, it
     appeared urgent to show them to an American audience before this century
     comes to a close."

       This exhibition was realized with the support of the collections of
     the Musie National d'Art Moderne-Centre de Criation Industrielle/Centre
     Georges Pompidou, Paris.

       Exhibition Content

       Antonin Artaud: Works on Paper comprises approximately 70 works dat-
     ing from 1937 to 1948. They include his "spells," or letters to friends
     scarred with hieroglyphs, burns, and rips; a series of fractured and
     obsessional drawings, created during Artaud's confinement in a psychia-
     tric clinic in the South of France; and a series of portraits and self
     -portraits executed after his transfer to Ivry near Paris and his return
     to the Parisian intellectual world. A small selection of photographs
     first editions, and letters providing context for the drawings are
     also on view.

       Artaud's Life


       Born in Marseilles in 1896, Artaud suffered early childhood illnesses
     which induced a life-long drug addiction. In 1920 he moved to Paris
     where his collaborations with Andri Breton, Balthus, and Andri Masson,
     and his experiences as a film actor, stage director, writer, critic,
     and poet, shaped his artistic vision. Pilgrimages to Mexico and Ireland
     in the 1930s were marked by periods of creative output as well as 
     psychological instability and fragmentation. Confinements in psychiatric
     clinics in France marked his final eleven years, yet this was the most
     productive phase of his life, during which he drew and became a prolific
     writer.

       Publication

       The fully illustrated catalogue accompanying the exhibition is the 
     first comprehensive study of Artaud's drawings to be published in English
     with essays by Margit Rowell, Ronald Hayman, Agnhs de la Beaumelle
     and Marthe Robert. Each drawing on exhibit is reproduced in the plate
     section of the catalogue. Interviews with Kiki Smith, Patti Smith, and
     Nancy Spero highlight Artaud's influence within contemporary culture.
      A chronology of Artaud's life, a bibliography, and a list of exhibi
     tions complete the catalogue. Published by The Museum of Modern Art, N
     ew York, it contains 161 illustrations, 38 in color. Distributed in th
     e United States and Canada by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, it is a
     vailable in The MoMA Book Store.

       MoMA Special Events

       October 10: Lecture by Jacques Derrida, co-author (with Paule Thiven
     in) of Antonin Artaud (catalogue raisonni of the drawings). 6:00 p.m,
     The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1. Tickets are available at the Museum
     's lobby information desk beginning on October 1.

       November 7: Benefit performance by Patti Smith. 8:00 p.m., The Roy and
     Niuta Titus Theater 1. For tickets and information, please call 212
     /708.9680.

       Artaud-related Programs Around New York City

      October and November: An extensive program of readings, talks, perfo
     rmances, and other events have been organized by The Drawing Center in
     collaboration with MoMA. For schedule and information, please call The
     Drawing Center, 212/219-2166.

       October 24-27: Film series at Anthology Film Archives. For informati
     on, please call 212/505-5181.

       October 18: Panel discussion organized by the Anthropology Department
     New York University, at La Maison Frangaise. For information, please
     call, 212/998-8750.

       For further information or photographic materials, contact Alexandra
      Partow, Assistant Director of Communications, 212/708-9756.

      1996 The Museum of Modern Art, New York