NoHo, New York
Ted Joans
Lady Liberty (1962-1964)
Zürcher GalleryZürcher Gallery is thrilled to present this second solo-exhibition of Ted Joans in New York, “Lady Liberty 1962-1964,” which takes place long after “The Liberty Show” at Neo Persona Gallery, 51 Hudson St, New York (Summer 1986) features a Ted Joans, Gotta right, 1962 Wax crayon and collage on paper 14.5 x 10.5 inches / 37 cm x 27 cm selection of 16 collage-frottage drawings made in 1962-63, shown as a series for the very first time, as well as a group of 20 small frottages made in Athens in January 1964, drawn from a sketchbook “Not only from Bunk to Monk but from old Buddy Bolden to the young Ornette Coleman …” In “Mary had a little lamp,” Ted draws the erected arm of the Lady, the torch, and the flame in a fragmented way and yields to pure poetry. These early works by Ted Joans embody his revolt and cry for life and dream. Ted Joans would have enjoyed meeting the French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), who in 1886, gave form to Lady Liberty, one of the most powerful symbols of freedom. Bartholdi wanted the Statue of Liberty to be a potent signal of progress and emancipation and a monument to “light up the world.” Bartholdi’s passion for monumentalism and his conception of the Statue of Liberty had its origins in his travels in Egypt, where he saw the pyramids and the vestiges of the pharaohs. In 1855, he sailed from Marseille to Alexandria, traveled on the Nile, ventured on foot and on camelback, and filled notebooks with drawings. Ted Joans, a tireless world-traveler, also went to Egypt several times, and in 1976 he wrote to Wifredo Lam about his fascination with the “Sphinx et les autres chose surréaliste d’Egypte." The stars were aligned …. Ted Joans was deeply concerned with freedom - both its practice and its symbolic representations. While he entered the world on July 20th, 1928, he elected to celebrate his birthday on July 4th, Independence Day, which is written “July 4, 1776” on the tablet held in the Lady’s left hand of the Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty inspired many artists, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Chase-Riboud, to name just a few, in quest of freedom and emancipation. As a monumental dream, there may not be another artifact which could appeal to Ted Joans more than the Statue of Liberty. As part of this exhibition, Zürcher Gallery is also presenting Ted Joans' silent poem, "Taking Liberty As If" (16:49), accompanied by tracks from Oliver Lake's album, "Heavy Spirits" 1975: "While Pushing Down Turn" and "Owsheet."