Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995
Variant namesRay Johnson (1927-1995) was a painter from Locust Valley, N.Y.
From the description of Oral history interview with Ray Johnson, 1968 Apr. 17 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82223586
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Ray Johnson is frequently referred to as the "father of mail art." He attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina from 1945 to 1948, then moved to New York. Although he worked as an abstract painter for several years, by 1953 Johnson had turned to collage as his primary medium. By the late 1950s, he began sending images, texts and conceptual works through the mail system to artist friends and strangers; such artworks were completed by the active participation of the recipients. In 1962 Johnson founded the New York Correspondance [sic] School, which grew into an international network of mail art participants. In addition to mail art, Johnson staged performance pieces called "Nothings," paralleling Allan Kaprow's "Happenings," as well as Fluxus activities.
From the description of Ray Johnson mail art to Hal Glicksman, 1968-1970. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 664394040
Collage artist and painter; Locust Valley, New York. In 1962 Johnson founded the New York Correspondence School, a one-man art movement he has continued informally ever since.
From the description of Ray Johnson papers, 1970-1971. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122545578
Archival Resources
| Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
|---|---|---|---|
| creatorOf | Barbara A. Roux papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Ken Friedman Collection, 1964 - 1971 | University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library. | |
| creatorOf | Higgins, Dick, 1938-1998. Dick Higgins papers, ca. 1960-1994 (bulk 1972-1993). | Getty Research Institute | |
| creatorOf | Ford, Charles Henri, 1913-. Charles Henri Ford Papers, 1928-1981. | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Samuel J. Wagstaff papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995. Ephemera. | Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library | |
| creatorOf | Feitler, Bea. Bea Feitler papers, 1920-1981 (bulk 1960-1980). | New School for Social Research | |
| creatorOf | Online Archive of California. Ray Johnson mail art, ca. 1958-1994. | University of California, Santa Cruz, UCSC | |
| creatorOf | John Held papers relating to mail art | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Katharine Kuh papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Charles Henri Ford papers, 1906-1989, 1939-1989 | Getty Research Institute | |
| creatorOf | Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995. Ray Johnson mail art to Hal Glicksman, 1968-1970. | Getty Research Institute | |
| referencedIn | Jimmy De Sana Papers, Bulk, 1977-1990, 1954-1997 | Fales Library & Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | Charles Henri Ford Papers TXRC97-A13., 1928-1981 | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Lawrence Alloway papers, 1935-2003 | Getty Research Institute | |
| creatorOf | Leon Polk Smith papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Ultra Violet papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Brainard, Joe, 1942-1994. Joe Brainard letters, 1957-1994. | University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego Library; UCSD Library | |
| creatorOf | Katharine Kuh papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Betty Esman papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Carl Weissner Archive, 1965-1973 | Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections | |
| creatorOf | Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995. Artist file. | Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives | |
| referencedIn | Jimmy De Sana Papers, Bulk, 1977-1990, 1954-1997 | Fales Library & Special Collections | |
| creatorOf | Joan Kron papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Patty Mucha Papers, Bulk, 1969-1979, 1954-2011 | Fales Library & Special Collections | |
| creatorOf | Colette Roberts Papers and Interviews with Artists | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995. Franklin Furnace artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. | Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) | |
| creatorOf | Ford, Charles Henri. Charles Henri Ford papers, 1906-1989, bulk 1920-1989. | Getty Research Institute | |
| referencedIn | Wilentz, Ted. Ted and Joan Wilentz collection of Fluxus-related materials, 1963-1983. | Smithsonian Institution. Libraries | |
| creatorOf | Ellen Lanyon papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | John Held papers relating to mail art | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Lenore Seroka photographs | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Ray Johnson papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Lucy R. Lippard papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Margolies, John. Papers, 1968-1974. | Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) | |
| referencedIn | Leon Polk Smith papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Friedman, Ken. Collection, 1964-1971. | University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego Library; UCSD Library | |
| referencedIn | Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995 : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. | Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library | |
| creatorOf | Bergé, Carol, 1928-2006. Papers. | Washington University in St. Louis, . | |
| referencedIn | Joan Kron papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Marion Greenstone papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Snyder, Ellsworth. Ellsworth Snyder collection of Fluxus multiples and ephemera, 1958-1987. | New York Public Library System, NYPL | |
| creatorOf | Colette Roberts Papers and Interviews with Artists | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Wallace Berman papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Helen DeMott papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Colette Roberts Papers and Interviews with Artists | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Samuel J. Wagstaff papers | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Lucy R. Lippard papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995. [Copy art by Ray Johnson]. | Yale University Library | |
| referencedIn | Wallace Berman papers | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Higgins, Dick, 1938-1998. Dick Higgins Collection, 1958-2002 | UMBC, Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery | |
| referencedIn | Joe Brainard Letters, 1957-1994 | Mandeville Special Collections Library | |
| referencedIn | New Directions Publishing records | Houghton Library | |
| referencedIn | Gertrude Kasle Gallery records | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Carter, John Stewart. Papers, 1922-1976 | Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library, | |
| referencedIn | Dick Higgins papers, 1960-1994, 1972-1993 | Getty Research Institute |
Bibliographic and Digital Archival Resources
| Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
|---|---|---|---|
| referencedIn | Oral history interview with Manny Silverman | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Oral history interview with Richard Lippold | Archives of American Art | |
| creatorOf | Oral history interview with Ray Johnson | Archives of American Art | |
| referencedIn | Oral history interview with Alison Knowles | Archives of American Art |
Filters:
| Relation | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| associatedWith | Alloway, Lawrence, 1926- | person |
| associatedWith | Bergé, Carol, 1928-2006. | person |
| associatedWith | Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976. | person |
| associatedWith | Brainard, Joe, 1942-1994. | person |
| associatedWith | Carter, John Stewart, 1911-1965 | person |
| associatedWith | Colette Roberts | person |
| correspondedWith | Coplans, John | person |
| associatedWith | DeMott, Helen | person |
| associatedWith | DeMott, Helen, 1920-1997. | person |
| associatedWith | De Sana, Jimmy | person |
| associatedWith | Esman, Betty, 1904-1996. | person |
| associatedWith | Feitler, Bea. | person |
| associatedWith | Fesci, Sevim, | person |
| associatedWith | Ford, Charles Henri | person |
| associatedWith | Ford, Charles Henri. | person |
| associatedWith | Ford, Charles Henri, 1913- | person |
| associatedWith | Franklin Furnace Archive, | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | Friedman, Ken. | person |
| correspondedWith | Friedman, Ken, 1949- | person |
| associatedWith | Gertrude Kasle Gallery | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | Gertrude Kasle Gallery (Detroit, Mich.) | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | Gertrude Kasle Gallery (Detroit, Mich.) | corporateBody |
| correspondedWith | Glicksman, Hal | person |
| associatedWith | Greenstone, Marion. | person |
| associatedWith | Held, John | person |
| associatedWith | Held, John, 1947- | person |
| associatedWith | Higgins, Dick, 1938-1998. | person |
| associatedWith | Knowles, Alison, 1933- | person |
| associatedWith | Kron, Joan. | person |
| associatedWith | Kuh, Katharine. | person |
| associatedWith | Lanyon, Ellen. | person |
| associatedWith | Lippard, Lucy R. | person |
| associatedWith | Lippard, Lucy R. | person |
| associatedWith | Lippold, Richard, 1915- | person |
| associatedWith | Margolies, John. | person |
| associatedWith | New Directions Publishing Corp. | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | New York Correspondance School. | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | New York Correspondence School. | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | Parsons, Betty. | person |
| associatedWith | Roberts, Colette, 1910-1971. | person |
| associatedWith | Roux, Barbara A., 1946- | person |
| associatedWith | Seroka, Lenore. | person |
| associatedWith | Silverman, Manny, | person |
| associatedWith | Silverman, Manny, 1941- | person |
| associatedWith | Smith, Leon Polk, 1906- | person |
| associatedWith | Smithson, Robert | person |
| associatedWith | Snyder, Ellsworth. | person |
| associatedWith | Ultra Violet. | person |
| associatedWith | Wagstaff, Samuel J. | person |
| associatedWith | Wallace Berman | person |
| associatedWith | Weissner, Carl | person |
| associatedWith | Wilentz, Ted. | person |
| Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York (State) |
| Subject |
|---|
| Collagists |
| Mail art |
| Painters |
| Painters |
| Painting, Modern |
| Occupation |
|---|
| Artists |
| Activity |
|---|
Person
Birth 1927-10-16
Death 1995-01-13
Americans
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