↳ Exhibitions

Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983 at MoMA

November 7, 2017

Artists: Daniel Abraham, John Ahearn, Jeorgia Anderson, Glenn Andreiev, ART the band, Dan Asher, Dale Ashmun, Patti Astor, Donald Baechler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lisa Baumgardner, Beth B, Ellen Berkenblit, Lina Bertucci, Anney Bonney, Fred Brathwaite, Jef Bretschneider, Edward Brezinski, Paul Bridgewater, Kitty Brophy, Steve Brown, Jean Caffeine, Robert Carrithers, Stefano Castronovo, Tseng Kwong Chi, Tessie Chua, Russell Clower, Rich Colicchio, Arch Connelly, Scott Covert, Dimitri Devyatkin, Bill Doherty, Paul Dougherty, Parker Dulany, Katherine Dumas, Steve Durland, Daniel Durning, Stacey Elkin, John Evans, Henny Garfunkel, Anders Grafstrom, Peter Grass, George Haas, Michael Halsband, Richard Hambleton, Duncan Hannah, Keith Haring, Chris Harkin, Bill Harris, Robert Hawkins, Frank Holliday, John Holmstrom, Peter Hristoff, Alexa Hunter, Christian Joiris, M. Henry Jones, KENE, Brant Kingman, Raghubir (Nancy) Kintisch, Julius Klein, Peter Kwaloff, Bill Landis, Margaret Lanzetta, Marcus Leatherdale, Joe Lewis, Jennifer T. Ley, Gerard Little, Ann Magnuson, Eric Marciano, Barry Masterson, Natalya Maystrenko, Samantha McEwen, Richard McGuire, Shawn McQuate, Melanie Monios, Frank Moore, John A. Mozzer, Jimmy Murray, Ellie Nagler, Kestutis Nakas, Klaus Nomi, Michael Oblowitz, April Palmieri, Clayton Patterson, Carlo Pittore, Rudi Protrudi, Jonathan Quinn, Andy Rees, Esther Regelson, Walter Robinson, Robert Romagnoli, Trix Rosen, John Rosis, Tom Rubnitz, Adolfo Sanchez, Oliver Sanchez, Robin Schanzenbach, Kenny Scharf, David Schmidlapp, Bruno Testore Schmidt, Vicki Schrott, Anthony Scibelli, Jim Self, John Sex, Barry Shils, Jim Short, Robert Starkoff, Stanley Strychacki, Nelson Sullivan, Rick Sullivan, Sur Rodney (Sur), Joseph Szkodzinski, Stephen Tashjian, Nick Tobier, Debora von Mosler, Harvey Wang, Marlene Weisman, Michael Weldon, Ande Whyland, Jonathan Williams, Animal X, Christina Yuin, Peter Zaremba, Nick Zedd

Exhibition title: Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983

Organized by: Ron Magliozzi, Curator, and Sophie Cavoulacos, Assistant Curator, Department of Film; with Ann Magnuson, guest curator.

Venue: MoMA, New York, US

Date: October 31, 2017 – April 1, 2018

Photography: ©MoMA , all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and MoMA, New York

Note: Press release can be found here

The East Village of the 1970s and 1980s continues to thrive in the public’s imagination around the world. Located in the basement of a Polish Church at 57 St. Marks Place, Club 57 (1978–83) began as a no-budget venue for music and film exhibitions, and quickly took pride of place in a constellation of countercultural venues in downtown New York fueled by low rents, the Reagan presidency, and the desire to experiment with new modes of art, performance, fashion, music, and exhibition. A center of creative activity in the East Village, Club 57 is said to have influenced virtually every club that came in its wake.

Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983 is the first major exhibition examining the scene-changing, interdisciplinary life of downtown New York’s seminal alternative space in full. The exhibition will tap into the legacy of Club 57’s founding curatorial staff—film programmers Susan Hannaford and Tom Scully, exhibition organizer Keith Haring, and performance curator Ann Magnuson—to examine how the convergence of film, video, performance, art, and curatorship in the club environment of New York in the 1970s and 1980s became a model for a new spirit of interdisciplinary endeavor. Responding to the broad range of programming at Club 57, the exhibition will present their accomplishments across a range of disciplines—from film, video, performance, and theater to photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, zines, fashion design, and curating. Building on extensive research and oral history, the exhibition features many works that have not been exhibited publicly since the 1980s.

Club 57 is accompanied by three film series: You Are Now One Of Us: Film at Club 57, co-organized with guest curator and defining Club 57 artist John “Lypsinka” Epperson (October 29, 2017–February 2018); New York Film and Video: No Wave–Transgressive (December 1, 2017–April 2018), and This Is Now: Film and Video After Punk 1978–1985, presented in spring 2018 in partnership with LUX and British Film Institute.

Organized by Ron Magliozzi, Curator, and Sophie Cavoulacos, Assistant Curator, Department of Film; with Ann Magnuson, guest curator.

Major support for the exhibition is provided by the Keith Haring Foundation.

Generous funding is provided by mediaThe foundation inc.

Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund.

Club 57 bar, 1981. Pictured: Ira Abramowitz. Photograph by and courtesy Lina Bertucci

Xerox art exhibition at Club 57, c. 1980. Photograph by and courtesy Harvey Wang

Lady Wrestling at Club 57. Pictured: Tom Scully, Tish and Snooky Bellomo. 1980. Photograph by and courtesy Harvey Wang

Acts of Live Art at Club 57. Pictured: Larry Ashton. 1980. Photograph by and courtesy Joseph Szkodzinski

Elvis Presley Memorial Party at Club 57. Pictured: Kristine Dreuille (center), Drew Straub (right). 1980. Photograph by and courtesy Joseph Szkodzinski

Monster Movie Club at Club 57. 1979. Photograph by and courtesy Christina Yuin

Club 57 logo, designed by Stanley Strychacki. Photograph by John Harris

Stacey Elkin in her Amazon School of Modeling fashions, 1980. Photograph by and courtesy Blair Rainey

The Rule of Mr. Klaus #19, 1980. Photograph by Anthony Scibelli, from a series for a photo-roman written by Peter Nolan Smith (pictured). Collection Peter Nolan Smith, courtesy the artist

Valentine’s Day Repose, 1982. Photograph by April Palmieri. Pictured: Katy K and John Sex in the window of Fiorucci. Courtesy the artist

Keith Haring, Acts of Live Art at Club 57. 1980. Photograph by Joseph Szkodzinski. Courtesy the artist

Youth against Death. 1980. Photograph by Katherine Dumas. From left: Nancy Ulrich, Scott Covert, Frank Holliday, and Natalya Maystrenko. Courtesy the Estate of Katherine Dumas

Gerard Little. 1980. Photograph by Robert Carrithers. Courtesy the artist

Adolfo Sanchez (American, born Cuba 1957–1990). Self-portrait montage, c. 1981. Enamel and marker on printed copy paper, 28 × 43″ (71.1 × 106.7 cm). Courtesy Min and Oliver Sanchez

Anney Bonney (American, born 1949). Process art from Shattered (Male Bondage: Carl Apfelschnitt), 1978–79. Xerox collage. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Bruno Testore Schmidt (Italian, born Brazil, 1954). Allan, 1981. Watercolor and ink. Courtesy the artist

Tom Scully, 1978. Photograph by Christina Yuin

Flyer for Color Xerox Show at Club 57, 1982. Design by Jean Caffeine. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Dan Asher (American, 1947–2010). Untitled, c. 1983. Oil stick on paper. Courtesy the Estate of Dan Asher/Martos Gallery, New York

Flyer for David Schmidlapp’s slideshow performance at Club 57, 1980. Design by Schmidlapp. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Jackie Curtis and Dennis Dyke in a still from Doris and Inez Speak the Truth, 1984. Directed by Jimmy Murray

Fred Brathwaite, aka Fab 5 Freddy (American, born 1959). FIVE. 1980–81. Spray enamel and marker on steel. Courtesy the artist and Patrick Fox

Joey Arias in the Fiorucci window, 1980. Photograph by Matthew Olszak

Flyer for International Rap Night at Club 57, 1981. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Jennifer T. Ley (American, born 1953). She Doesn’t Cry Over Faded Bouquets Anymore, 1979. Pastel and pencil on color Xerox. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

John Sex (American, 1956–1990). Acts of Live Art, 1980. Silkscreen. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

John Sex (American, 1956–1990). Amazon Temptation, 1980. Silkscreen. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

John Sex (American, 1956–1990). Truckers Ball, 1981. Silkscreen. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Julius Klein outside Club 57, 1983. Photograph by Raken Leaves

Keith Haring (American, 1958–1990). Untitled (Cabinet Door for Joey Arias). c. 1980. Acrylic on cabinet door, double-sided. Courtesy Joey Arias, © Keith Haring Foundation

Kenny Scharf (American, born 1958). Having Fun. 1979. Acrylic on canvas. Collection Bruno Testore Schmidt, courtesy the artist and Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles

Kenny Scharf (American, born 1958). Untitled #6 (Speed), 1979. Mixed media on board. Courtesy the artist and Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles

German postcard for Kestutis Nakas’s Manhattan Cable show Your Program of Programs, c. 1983. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Henry Jones (American, born 1957). Soul City Animation Art (The Fleshtones), 1977–79. Hand-colored photo-cutout sequence. Courtesy the artist

Ann Magnuson in video stills from Tom Rubnitz’s Made for TV, 1984. Video (color, sound), 15 min. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase funds provided by The Contemporary Arts Council. Courtesy the artist and Video Data Bank

Matchbook art by Melanie Monios, exhibited at Club 57 in 1983. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Skin Deep from Outer Space, directed by Merrill Aldighieri, 1982. Video (color, sound), 5 min. The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Flyer for a Monster Movie Club screening of The Horror of Party Beach at Club 57, 1979. Design by Peter Kwaloff. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Natalya Maystrenko (American, born 1957). Girl Gang, c. 1979. Collage and pencil on board. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Peter Hristoff (Bulgarian, born Turkey, 1958). Untitled newspaper piece (Chinese), 1979. Silkscreen on newsprint. Courtesy the artist

Flyer for Gerard Little’s Soft Sculpture exhibition at Club 57, 1980. Design by Little. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Tabboo! (Stephen Tashjian) (American, born 1959). Self-Portrait, 1982. Acrylic on found advertising paper. Courtesy the artist and Gordon Robichaux, New York

Flyer for a performance by Tom Murrin and Richard Bone at Club 57, 1982. Design by Murrin. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Flyer for the Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman production Trojan Women at Club 57, 1981. Design by Vicki Schrott. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

57 Boys, Xerox by Raulin Ogle Rogers from Club 57 Invitational Xeroxes, May 1980, curated by Keith Haring. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections

Happy Birthday John, Xerox by Coco Ugaz from Club 57 Invitational Xeroxes, May 1980, curated by Keith Haring. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Department of Film Special Collections