Experiments in Electrostatics:
Photocopy Art from the Whitney’s
Collection, 1966–1986
Nov 17, 2017–Mar 25, 2018
Lesley Schiff (b. 1951), Flower in Hand, 1981, from the series Seasons, 1980-81. Color photocopy, 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (26.7 x 21.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Judith Goldman 2004.3.9
Experiments in Electrostatics: Photocopy Art from the Whitney’s Collection, 1966–1986 explores the use of the photocopier as a creative tool, from its public emergence in the 1960s to the dawn of the digital era in the 1980s. Despite the machine’s intended function to reproduce office documents, artists inventively utilized it as a camera and printing press to create original fine art prints. They placed objects on the flatbed, distorted imagery in the process of scanning, and manipulated the exposure, density, and saturation settings to achieve imaginative, often unexpected results. Far from “copies,” these still lifes, portraits, abstractions, and collages reflected the ingenuity of their makers. Focusing on three artists and one collective—Edward Meneeley, Lesley Schiff, Barbara T. Smith, and the International Society of Copier Artists—this exhibition investigates how artists found self-expression through a machine designed for replication.
Experiments in Electrostatics is organized by Michelle Donnelly, curatorial fellow.
Edward Meneeley
2
Edward Meneeley (b. 1927, Wilkes-Barre, PA) first encountered the copier in the early 1960s, while visiting a friend who worked at IBM. An experienced photographer, he was intrigued by how the machine combined a camera lens with a light-scanning bar but did not capture objects as they appeared to the eye; rather, it recorded their shadows through the accumulation of high-contrast particles. Eager to investigate this unexplored medium, he assembled materials salvaged from IBM’s waste bins—such as typewriter ribbons, adhesive tape, and punch cards—into abstract patterns on the copier’s glass surface and then printed the imagery on colorful coated papers. Meneeley recognized that, like fine art prints, the compositions and surface qualities of the works would be impossible to duplicate beyond the initial print run.
Edward Meneeley (1927–2012), Untitled, 1966, from the portfolio IBM Drawings
Edward Meneeley (1927-2012), Untitled, 1966, from the portfolio IBM Drawings. Photocopy on coated colored paper, 14 × 8 9/16 in. (35.6 × 21.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 69.75.7
Artists
Installation Photography
Barbara T. Smith (b. 1931), God’s Breath, 1966 (installation view, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York). Photocopies, 23 3/4 x 75 15/16 in. (60.3 x 192.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Print Committee T.2017.512. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Experiments in Electrostatics: Photocopy Art from the Whitney’s Collection, 1966–1986 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 17, 2017–March 25, 2018). Six untitled works from the portfolio IBM Drawings, 1966, by Edward Meneeley. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Experiments in Electrostatics: Photocopy Art from the Whitney’s Collection, 1966–1986 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 17, 2017–March 25, 2018). From left to right: Six untitled works from the portfolio IBM Drawings, 1966, by Edward Meneeley; thirteen works from the series Seasons, 1980-81, by Lesley Schiff. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Experiments in Electrostatics: Photocopy Art from the Whitney’s Collection, 1966–1986 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 17, 2017–March 25, 2018). From the series Seasons, 1980-81, by Lesley Schiff, left to right: Beachball, Clock, Woman, Sony Radio, Flower in Hand, Man in Profile, Baby Doll, Fishbowl, Rocket Ship and Soldier, Globe, Bird, T.V. Gyroscope, Fruits, Sea Fan, Leopards, Toy Snake, Jewels, Column, Star, Flowers. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Experiments in Electrostatics: Photocopy Art from the Whitney’s Collection, 1966–1986 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 17, 2017–March 25, 2018). From left to right: Barbara T. Smith, God’s Breath, 1966; twenty works from the series Seasons, 1980-81, by Lesley Schiff. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Robert Whitman, No title, 1974 (installation view, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York). Series of color photocopies, each 10 13/16 x 8 1/2 in. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from the Print Committee 2016.121.1-20. Photograph by Ron Amstutz