Lucy R. Lippard: Notes from the Radical Whirlwind
Lucy R. Lippard—writer, activist, art critic and curator—has been a revolutionary force in the international art world for over sixty years. As a young college graduate, Lippard began working at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as a librarian, and eventually as a burgeoning curator, assisting with research and writing for major exhibitions, and curating exhibitions of her own. It was at MoMA that Lippard met her future husband, Robert Ryman, and long-term collaborator, Sol LeWitt, amongst other young artists who would have significant careers and a significant impact on her work.
Fundamental to her broader practice, Lippard’s collaborative relationships with artists would lead to impassioned conversations in art studios, at gallery openings, and around dinner tables. Born out of these exchanges, vital activist groups and cultural organizations including Printed Matter, the Heresies Collective, Political Art Documentation/Distribution, the Art Workers’ Coalition, and the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Artists would impact the ways in which culture workers were seen as agents of change. On the front lines of protests and sit-ins, demanding equal representation of artists of color and women throughout the art world, Lippard recognized that art alone could not change the world but, with the right allies, it could be a strong participant. Her activism prompted art critic Hilton Kramer to exclaim that she was on track to becoming a good art historian, until she fell prey to the radical whirlwind.
A resident of New Mexico since 1993, Lippard’s focus on the local has prompted exhibitions, panels, letters to the editor, and books exploring the histories and archeological landscapes of the state. In 1999, following a national traveling exhibition titled Sniper’s Nest: Art That Has Lived with Lucy Lippard curated by Neery Melkonian, the New Mexico Museum of Art was the beneficiary of over 500 artworks, artist’s books, posters, political buttons, and activist ephemera. These objects, which chart Lippard’s considerable activities and consequential personal relationships, have been gifted to her over the years by friends, partners, collaborators, and hopeful artists. This exhibition Lucy R. Lippard: Notes from the Radical Whirlwind features a selection of objects from the collection, spanning two galleries at the Vladem Contemporary, and traces Lippard’s prolific career, honoring her contribution to the art world.