Don Celender: Surveyed
Saturday 20 April - Sunday 28 April 2013
Surveyed is the first European solo exhibition of the American conceptual artist Don Celender (1931-2005). Celender was a master of asking questions, his work takes the form of mass mailed out surveys to specific groups of people or professions (chefs, prison guards, art critics or dentists, for example) asking them what they think about life, their jobs, art and often, ultimately, death. Without an immediate purpose, the questionnaires are interested in a conceptual collection
of data and systems of order, but at the same time subvert these systems through radical openness and the artists’ participatory and playful methodology.
Starting his career making sculptures, Celender was much influenced by the emerging conceptual working practices of the late 1960's and early 70's. Like other artists at the time, Celender was interested in an informational quality of art and new communication technologies such as Xerox or fax machines. Celender began using the headed paper used by the educational institution he worked at as a professor, Macalaster College, to send simple questions, proposals or surveys. These, often humorous provocations invited a response which ranged from serious considerations of Celender's questioning to indignation from the respondent.
Lucy Lippard was an early champion of his work and several of Celender’s early projects were included in Lippard's seminal "number shows" (such as 2,972,453, Buenos Aires 1970). Gallerist and dealer, Ivan Karp, also showed Celender's work almost every year in his New York gallery OK Harris from 1970 until Celender's death in 2005. The artist would often bind the survey responses he received into artists’ books which were circulated world-wide, however the majority of his work was never published and only shown in its rawest form – with survey responses simply carpet tacked to the walls of the gallery space. Besides 15 published bookworks, Celender realized 35 unpublished survey projects. Surveyed is a rare opportunity to see a selection of these unpublished survey projects. The exhibition will present amongst others the Censorship Survey, Ignored or Neglected Artists Survey, Famous Chefs Art Preference Survey, Military Officers Art Preference Survey, Last Words Survey, and What the Critics said, Art Dealers Selection of Arti
sts Survey.
Surveyed is a rare opportunity to see a selection of these unpublished survey projects. The exhibition will present amongst others the Censorship Survey, Ignored or Neglected Artists Survey, Famous Chefs Art Preference Survey, Military Officers Art Preference Survey, Last Words Survey, and What the Critics said, Art Dealers Selection of Artists Survey.
Don Celender: Surveyed is a collaboration between Arnolfini and Crate, Margate, with the support of OK Harris, New York. The exhibition is curated by Sacha Waldron. A second part of the exhibition will take place Crate Project Space, Margate, 15 June - 15 July 2013 (www.cratespace.co.uk)
The exhibition coincides with the Bristol Artists Book Event (BABE) at Arnolfini and includes rare works from the Arnolfini artists' books collection.
Editor’s Notes
Don Celender (1931-2004) was born in Pittsburgh, USA. He completed his BA in Fine Art in 1956 from Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD in art history from the University of Pittsburgh in 1963. Celender worked as a professor of art at Macalaster College, St Pauls, Minnesota for over forty years and would often use Macalaster stationary and resources (even his students) to complete his surveys and postal research projects.
Celender’s work was included in many group exhibitions of conceptual art, mail and correspondence art and artists book exhibitions and collections over the co
urse of his career. It was gallerist and dealer Ivan Karp, however, that would come to represent Celender’s work. Karp mounted 29 exhibitions of Celender’s new survey projects between 1970 and Celender’s death in 2005.
Events:
Preview: Friday 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Join us for a preview of Celender’s new exhibition – the first European solo exhibition of the conceptualist’s work. All welcome.
Don Celender, Art and Artists’ Books: Saturday 20 April 2013, 4pm, free
The discussion features Clive Philpot, former Library Director of MoMA, New York,
Gustavo Grandal Montero, special collections librarian at Chelsea College of Art & Design, Julian Warren, Archivist at Bristol Record Office, and Sacha Waldron, curator of Surveyed, chaired by Axel Wieder, Arnolfini Exhibitions Curator and co-founder of Pro qm bookstore in Berlin.
For full programme information please visit www.arnolfini.org.uk
For more information and images contact:
Rob Webster, Marketing and Communications Manager
T: 0117 917 2315 E: rob.webster@arnolfini.org.uk
Sharon Tuttle, Marketing Co-ordinator (Monday, Thursday, Friday)
T: 0117 917 2316 E: sharon.tuttle@arn
olfini.org.uk
Jack Lewis, Press & PR Co-ordinator (Thursday and Friday)
T: 0776 505 6545 E: jack.lewis@arnolfini.org.uk
A selection of images is available and downloadable from Arnolfini's new press section: www.arnolfini.org.uk/about/press
Arnolfini’s programme includes film, performance, performance, music, literature, exhibitions and many other events. It is supported by Arts Council England, South West and Bristol City Council.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays, 11am - 6pm
Admission: Free
www.arnolfini.org.uk
@ArnolfiniArts / Join the conversation: #DonCelender
Don Celender: Surveyed is a collaboration with Crate Project Space
