Allan Kaprow (19272006) described himself as an un-artist, one who refused to participate in the traditional forms of the art world. Instead, he championed a practice that blurred the boundaries between art and life, moving art outside the gallery and museum and insisting on active participation rather than passive spectatorship. This richly illustrated volume documents Kaprows life and work through an extensive chronology that visually portrays his evolution from painter to environmental artist to inventor of the Happening and the Activity. Six essays contextualize this history and offer close readings of individual pieces, focusing on topics including Kaprows early work, his writings, and the difficulty of exhibiting his oeuvre while remaining true to his artistic ethos.

Reviews

Fascinating, dynamic, and edgy best describe this captivating work about the life and career of multidimensional artist Allan Kaprow, who pioneered the concept of performance and installation art. A collaboration between independent curator Meyer-Hermann, Andrew Perchuk (dept. of contemporary programming, Getty Research Inst.), and Stephanie Rosenthal (curator, Haus der Kunst, Munich), it accompanies a retrospective exhibition of the artist's work showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, through June 30, 2008. The first half consists of six essays divided equally among the sections "Early Work and Writing," "From the Archive," and "The Making of a Retrospective." The second half is a richly illustrated chronology with a yearly account of Kaprow's life, career, and works from 1958 until his death in 2006. The format features an open layout, a tiny typeface, and illustrative examples of the artist's yellow pad notes, newspaper clippings, drawings, diagrams, scores for his performances, and photographs. The volume itself is a collage of Kaprow's uniqueness and intense oeuvre. All kinds of libraries would benefit from this phenomenal documentary of Kaprow's life and work. Highly recommended.--Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Libs., Johnson City Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

In 1958, Allan Kaprow (1927-2006) created the first Happening, a one-time, scripted event that could take place in either a gallery or a public space. Although the term "happening" entered the vernacular, the essayists in this catalogue that accompanies a retrospective at L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art refer several times to their subject as the "best-known unknown artist" of his generation. Before Happenings put him center stage in the art world, Kaprow worked his way through a period of action painting into assemblage and room-sized environments, an artistic path that speaks to his attempts to use the lessons of John Cage to get past the legacy of Jackson Pollock. One essayist describes the Happenings as outgrowths of the assemblages. The thread that runs throughout Kaprow's work is a search for those moments when art and life are indistinguishable. This desire led to increasingly private performances for only one or two people. Archival material in the Getty Research Institute collection and recent images bring the career and the current exhibition to life. 231 color and 291 b&w illus. (Apr. 21) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.