Frank Shifreen has had such a colorful art
career that a whole chapter could be written about his achievements.
He is an artist-writer working in painting, sculpture, digital
photography, scenic and graphic design, a curator, and a genius
of artist-organ-ized events. The way in which he operates provides
a textbook case for understanding how to realize the myriad
possibilities of sponsoring artist-organized projects. He uses
a unique combina-tion of guerrilla tactics and sound business
practices
Over the years, he has had thirty-seven solo shows, some of
them in such prestigious New York City galleries as Scott Pfaffman,
Enigma, New Math, and Theatre for a New City
International) exhibitions of his work have been in Gallerie
Ostien, Germany; African Cultural Center, Senegal; and Gallerie
di Colliosseo, Italy. Additionally, he has exhibited in more
than two hundred group shows and has work in the collections
of museums and corporations including the Brooklyn Museum, Museum
of Modern Art, San Francisco City Museum, Dallas Museum of Fine
Arts, Vassar College, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Citibank, Reproductions
of his work have appeared in: New York Magazine, Unsound Magazine,
East Village Eye, and the New York Times, and he has been internationally
published in L'Occhio (Italy), Neu Malem, and Taz (Germany).
Shifreen found that the best way to begin an artist-organized
show was to create low-cost, black-and-white posters that could
be plastered all over the city. Shifreen first starred doing
this in 1976 for his own solo exhibitions. In 1979, he began
to have open-studio party shows at his Gowanus, Brooklyn studio.
Here many artists started to network.
Since his building was 9,500 square feet, Shifreen asked his
landlord if he could occasionally use the space as long as it
was not being rented. He and artist Michael Keene decided to
have a ìmonumental artî show, which a group of
artists then assembled. Six months before the show, Shifreen
put up a call-for-entry posters and
sent out releases. Grant applications were also written, and
after receiving a $1,500 grant from the Brooklyn Council on
the Arts, Shifreen assembled more than 150 artists to create
the Gowanus Memorial Artyard. Artists had to send in proposals,
and the organizers received over a thousand proposals and selected
150 artists. Each artist was given a 20' X 20' space to create
monumental art. Monumental art can be paintings, sculp-tures,
mixed media, or anything that is one-and-a-half times life-size.
Usually, it is oversized in overall thickness and depth, which
renders it impressive. The participants included well-established
artists such as Carl Andre and Keith Haring. The show opened
May 16, 1981, and more than four thousand people came out from
Manhattan on Saturday and Sunday. Sculptors, painters, video,
and dance performances increased attendance.
Unfortunately, Frank Shifreen had a misunderstanding with his
landlord, and as a result of the art show, he lost his living
space and was arrested for stealing his landlords electricity.
Because of this controversy and the success of the show, he
made the cover of the New York Daily News on June 15, 1981.
In addition, New York Magazine did an article called "Gowanus
Guerrillas" on June 8, 1981. They called this exhibi-tion
"the event of the season." Because Shifreen was an
organizer, they used a color photo of his art to illustrate
the story. Although there is no written rule, reviewers will
usually use the artist-orga-nizer's work to illustrate an article
since they do all the legwork and receive little credit. This
is a creative payback. After this show, Shifreen was asked to
participate in many exhibitions.
With this success under his belt, in 1982, Shifreen and Scott
Siken organized The Monument Redefined, an exhibition held at
three sites. The outdoor site covered twelve acres, and the
artwork was visible from the window as one rode the F subway
train. The space for two indoor sites was donated by the Downtown
Brooklyn Cultural Center. Some of the sponsors were the Department
of Parks and Recreation, the City of New York, Con Edison, F.
W. Woolworth Co., and the Organization of Independent Artists.
Shifreen made some interesting associations preparing for this
exhibit. He discovered a direct link between art and real estate
interests: Since art has to be hung on walls and exhibited,
management and realty companies will sometimes lend space for
various reasons. It is a good idea to make friends with real
estate people, since the space can be among the most expen-sive
aspects of an artist-organized show.
The concept of The Monument Redefined was to create true monumentsópublic
statements rising out of a collective need and based on a personal
understanding. Size was not a prerequisite; the challenge was
to communicate social responsibility. The call-for-entries consisted
of a poster and donated free ads
from Artforum, Arts, and ARTnews. Some of the jurors were Marcia
Tucker, the director of the New Museum; Henry Geldzahler, the
New York City Cultural Commissioner; and Mary Boone, the gallery
owner. Three panel discussions were held at Cooper Union, and
artists as well as art critics took part. Thousands of artists
submitted entries and the curators selected four hundred proposals.
(The selected artists had to pay a $25 fee for the catalog.)
Again, the show attracted well-known artists, including Carl
Andre, Christo, Vito Acconci, Nancy Holt, Chris Burden, Dennis
Oppenheim, Nancy Spero, and Leon Golub. The Times and many art
magazines reviewed this important exhibition.
Just as Frank Shifreen was about to organize the Brooklyn Terminal
Show, he fell ill and did not have a major hand in its organization,
although he did exhibit in it. This September 1983 Terminal
New York at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, was
one of the biggest artist-organized shows evet attempt-ed. Over
550 artists assembled in what, at one time, was the largest
building in the world.
Through his contacts with artists, critics, and museum curators,
Frank Shifreen was asked to organize legitimate shows, as well
as to exhibit in commercial galleries. But this did not stop
him from continuing to develop artist-organized shows. The Pan
Arts group in Manhattan made Frank the editor of its magazine,
which served as a catalog for their Art and Ego show in 1984.
In 6,000 square feet of space, approximately three hundred artists
exhibited in various media, such as sculpture, painting, perform-ance
art,
film, and video art. A landlord excited by the ideas and energy
of these artists donated the space.
Frank believes the East Village art movement of the 1980s came
into existence as a result of the artist-organized and not-for-profit
shows of those years. The shows created an opportunity for galleries
and dealers to take on emerging artists, along with art that
had a political or social consciousness. From 1985 to 1986,
Frank Shifreen had five one-person shows as a result of the
publicity and connections cultivated through his artist-organized
events. He became a successful grant writer, writing grants
for the performance artist Karen Finley, and a $100,000 grant
for a blind artist for the New York Commission for the Blind.
(He wrote himself into the grant as an art teacher.)
The Brooklyn Bridge Centennial Show was organized with Pratt
Institute and Creative Time, a nonprofit public outdoor sculpture
organization. Shifreen was one of the organizers that From 1986
to 1989, he was involved with the interna-tional artists' organization
called Plexus, which created multi-cul-tural art environments.
Some of these exhibitions traveled to Rome, as well as other
parts of Europe. In 1990, after a decade of significant achievements,
Frank Shifreen finally took time out to travel, write, and go
back to college. However, in 1993 he again joined with younger
artists such as Amy Shapiro to exhibit in Cat's Head , Pfaffman
Gallery, New York City on January 21, 2001, the day after Bush
was inaugurated.
The Museum of New Art (MONA) in Detroit, Michigan, was interested
in presenting Counting Coup. At that ..ïï; time, MONA
had a beginning fundraiser, and Frank donated some paintings.
The director Jef Bourgeau was appreciative and supportive, and
Counting Coup was tentatively scheduled for exhi-bition. However,
the show continued to travel to the Theater for a New City,
in New York City, and the Center for Social Change, Northampton,
Massachusetts; the show would have continued to travel except
for the tragic events of 9/11. Because of that act, President
Bush legitimized his presidency and Counting Coup ended as an
exhibition.
On September 11, 2001, Frank went to the World Trade Center
site to volunteer but was not allowed to help, due to union
rules regarding insurance liability. After the initial trag-ic
shock, Frank talked to Patricia Nicholson, a local activist
and dancer, about the CUANDO building on 9 Second Ave, New York
City. It had been unoccupied for years, yet its nonprofit status
was still active. There were plans already underway to do a
show in October 2001 called Witness; this all changed and a
new show titled From the Ashes opened October 13 through November
4, 2001.
The show produced a poster promising "Artist reflections
on the recent tragedies. ... In the midst of destruction and
chaos, art stands witness to the creative soul." The Herculean
effort to put a show together about the WTC tragedy in such
a short timeówhich included 150 visual artists, two hundred
per-forming groups, media artists, site-specific installations,
and per-formances on five floorsóis a test of sheer human
willpower. On September 25, 2001, after the Witness show was
transformed into From the Ashes, Frank asked the noted Willoughby
Sharp to assist as a curator (five curators eventually became
involved). Frank wrote an essay, catalog, and release, and he
asked Carla Cupid, an outsider artist and actress, to help with
the publicity.
As a result of emailed and faxed releases, the show received
significant press in the Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, Villager,
and other eminent publications. It was also successful in terms
of sales: 55,000-6,000 of art sales plus donations resulted
in $7,000 being donated to the Fireman's Fund and five fire-houses.
However, the show was not without turmoil, as New York City's
building inspectors tried unsuccessfully to close the build-ing.
While CUANDO had a lease for the building, New York City
rents in Brooklyn's Williamsburg and Greenpoint area have had
an upsurge of art business
Upset over the 2000 presidential election, Shifreen put out
an e- tried to condemn the building before the opening, but
lawyers for CUANDO received an injunction to keep it open.
As a mid-career artist and doctoral candidate at Teachers College
in the Arts and Education Department, which is part of Columbia
College, New York City, Frank views colleges as under-utilized
resources. Art is a research enterprise and process; it is not
necessarily a collectible for an elite buyer. When research
is car-ried out through art rather than through its sale, an
educational institution seems to be the most appropriate setting.
Besides, it has resources unlike other nonprofit institutions.
Most education-al institutions have gallery spaces, which can
be used as a teaching device, an educational outreach tool,
and the opportunity to de-velop seminal traveling exhibitions.
The subject of Shifreens doc-toral thesis is the development
of modern art and artist-organized shows. These educational
galleries become alternatives to the gallery system, the unpredictability
of nonprofit galleries, and the snail's pace of museum shows,
since these latter institutions often book exhibitions three
to four years ahead. He says, "You must create your own
cultural opportunities, as the art world only serves a certain
group of bankable artists."
The Art Against War show, which ran from June to August 2003,
started because many thought that the war in Iraq was a grave
mistake. Frank says, "I began to see signs, usually homemade,
that protestors created and that had a lot of energy and beauty
to them, opposing the war. There was a lot of energy in the
street." As usual, Frank sent out a prospectus to about
twenty-five spaces, proposing an anti-war art show. Dr. Graeme
Sullivan, his doctoral advisor at Teachers College (this show
is one of the topics in his dissertation) was very excited about
it, as was Abraham Lubelski, who has two galleries in New York
City and a gallery in Berlin.
It was then decided to do a simultaneous poster exhibi-tion
at the Macy Gallery, Teachers College, Columbia University,
and at the NY Arts Space. Since the Internet is changing how
artists connect with each other as well as art institutions,
three Web sites agreed to be part of the exhibition by creating
a ver-sion of the show on their sites. The sites are wivw.drinkink.com,
www.tkedigitahnuseum.org, and http.retiform.ath.cx,
He put out a call on the Internet and received a world-wide
response. Now that there is the technology to send high-resolution
files via the Internet, he received files from artists from
fourteen countries. Frank decided to keep the poster format
uni-form at 24" X 36", a size that creates a public
work and can be call through fifty Web sites such as www.rhizome.org,
www.nyfa.org, and www.artdeadline.com to develop an exhibit.
In addition, through e-mails and phone relay, each interested
artist contacted five other artists who did the same. Therefore,
the response to George Bush's tainted presidential victory resulted
in an exhibit called Counting Coup. Although a difficult show
to market since the public was not apparently in the mood for
this type of artistic response, the first show opened at the
Scott printed on a digital inkjet printer. He also offered artists
the option of creating a work on paper using traditional materials
in the same size form. Artists paid $55 for a poster, which
was his cost, plus shipping for each print.
In the exhibition were works by video artists projecting raw
footage of pro- and anti-war demonstrations on the walls of
the galleries. The juxtaposition of the large videos and lines
of posters created a powerful theatrical space, and the Web
sites allow for greater interactivity and also serve as documentation
for the exhibition. This traveling show will next tour at Presbyterian
College, in Clinton, South Carolina.
Since the printing of the book several groups and venues have
asked
Frank to create and organize shows that were first seen on the
net , where they draw attention of interested producers and
organizers. The Majlis Cultural Center, one of the largest in
India recently printed over 100 posters the size of giant advertising
banners ( 7X27 feet). 12 of them were Shifreenís work,
showing that his being an organizer is good for his art career.
He has been creating sites and helping Casa del Sol find a place
in the art community.
In addition to his other work, Frank acts as Franz Klein in
the DVD feature Pollock Squared, directed by the artist William
Rabinovitch (profiled later, in chapter 6), and he will be exhibiting
at the 2003 Florence Biennial.
Frank Shifreen understands the value of devoting time to organizing,
curating, writing, and overseeing publicity. He follows up his
releases with e-mails, faxes, and phone calls to the reporter
or critic. Human contact is critical to long-term success, and
Frank Shifreen knows that art critics will follow your career
if they believe in your work; this strategy has helped his illustrious
career. E-mail him at fihifreen@mindspring.com) or visit his
Web site at www.shifreen.com.
/
From the desk of: Julius Vitali
Author - Artist
From the Fine Artists Guide to marketing and Public Relations
Revised Edition 2003
juliusvitali@hotmail.com
Frank Shifreen
Frank Shifreen has had such a colorful art career that a whole
chapter could be written about his achievements. He is an artist,
curator, and genius of artist-organized events. The way in which
he operates provides a textbook case for understanding the myriad
possibilities and concrete results of sponsoring artist-organized
projects. He uses a unique combination of guerrilla tactics
and sound business practices.
From the start, Shifreen found the best way to begin an artist-organized
show was to create low-cost, black-and-white posters that could
be plastered all over the city. Shifreen first started doing
this in 1976 for his own solo exhibitions. In 1979 he began
to have open-studio party shows at his Gowanus, Brooklyn studio.
Here many artists started to network ideas.
Since his building had 9,500 vacant square feet, Shifreen asked
his landlord if he could occasionally use the space as long
as it was unrented. He and artist Michael Keene decided to have
a monumental show, which the group of artists then assembled.
Six months before the show, Shifreen put up call-for-entry posters
and sent out press releases. Grant applications were also written,
and after receiving a $1,500 grant from the Brooklyn Council
on the Arts, Shifreen assembled more than 150 artists to create
the “Gowanus Memorial Artyard.” Artists had to send
in proposals to be accepted for the show. The organizers received
over 1,000 proposals and selected 150 artists. Each artist was
given a twenty-by-twenty-foot space to create monumental art.
The participants included well-established artists like Carl
Andre and Keith Haring. The show opened May 16, 1981, and more
than 4,000 people came out from Manhattan on Saturday and Sunday.
Sculptors, painters, video, and dance performances increased
attendance.
Unfortunately, Frank Shifreen had a misunderstanding with his
landlord, and as a result of the art show he lost his living
space and was arrested for stealing his landlord’s electricity.
Because of this action and the success of the show, he made
the cover of the New York Daily News on June 15, 1981.
In addition, New York magazine did an article called “Gowanus
Guerrillas” on June 8, 1981. They called this exhibition
“the event of the season.” Because Shifreen was
an organizer, they used a color photo of his art to illustrate
the story. Although there is no written rule, reviewers usually
will use the artist-organizers work to illustrate an article
since they do all the legwork and receive little credit. This
is a creative payback. After this show Shifreen was asked to
participate in many exhibitions.
With this success under his belt, in 1982, Shifreen and Scott
Siken organized “The Monument Redefined,” an exhibition
held in three sites. The outdoor site covered twelve acres,
and the artworks were visible from the window as one rode the
F subway train. The space for two indoor sites was donated by
the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural Center. Some of the sponsors
were the Department of Parks and Recreation, the City of New
York, Con Edison, F. W. Woolworth Co., and the Organization
of Independent Artists. Shifreen made some interesting associations
preparing for this exhibit. He discovered a direct link between
art and real estate interests, since art has to be hung on walls
and exhibited. Management and realty companies will sometimes
lend space for various reasons. It is a good idea to make friends
with real estate people, since the space can be among the most
expensive aspects of an artist-organized show.
The concept of “The Monument Redefined” was to create
true monuments—public statements rising out of a collective
need and based on a personal understanding. Size was not a prerequisite;
the challenge was to communicate social responsibility. The
call-for-entries consisted of a poster and free ads from Artforum,
Arts, and Artnews. Some of the jurors were Marcia Tucker, the
director of the New Museum; Henry Geldzahler, the N.Y.C. Cultural
Commissioner; and Mary Boone, the gallery owner. Three panel
discussions were held at Cooper Union and artists as well as
art critics took part. Thousands of artists submitted the curators
selected proposals and 400. The selected artists had to pay
a $25 fee for the catalog.
Again the show attracted well-know artists, including Christo,
Vito Acconci, Nancy Holt, Chris Burden, Dennis Oppenheim, Nancy
Spero, and Leon Golub. The New York Times and many art magazines
reviewed this important exhibition. It is possible to excite
the public with ideas and political controversy.
Just as Frank Shifreen was about to organize the “Brooklyn
Terminal Show” he fell ill and did not have a major hand
in its organization, although he did exhibit in it. This September
1983 “Terminal Show” was one of the biggest artist-organized
shows ever attempted. Over 550 artists assembled in what, at
one time, was the largest building in the world.
Through his contacts with artists, critics, and museum curators,
Frank Shifreen was asked to organize legitimate shows, as well
as to exhibit in commercial galleries. But this did not stop
him from continuing to develop artist-organized shows. The Pan
Arts group in Manhattan made Frank the editor of its magazine,
which served as a catalog for their “Art and Ego”
show in 1984. In a 6,000-square-foot space, approximately 300
artists exhibited in various media, such as sculpture, painting,
performance art, film, and video art. A landlord excited by
the ideas and energy of these artists donated the space.
Frank believes the East Village art movement of the mid-eighties
came into existence as a result of the artist-organized and
not-for-profit shows of those years. The shows created an opportunity
for galleries and dealers to take on emerging artists along
with art that had a political or social consciousness. In 1985–86
Frank Shifreen had five one-person shows as a result of the
publicity and connections cultivated through his artist-organized
events. He became a successful grant writer, writing grants
for the performance artist Karen Finley, and a $100,000 grant
for a blind artist for the New York Commission for the Blind.
He wrote himself into the grant as an art teacher.
The “Brooklyn Bridge Centennial Show” was put on
with Pratt institute and Creative Time, a nonprofit public outdoor
sculpture organization. Shifreen was one of the organizers that
helped coordinate grants, artists, and sites. The 22 Wooster
Gallery gave him the paid position of Program Director for the
Artists Talk on Art series. He organized panels on diverse topics.
These were always well-attended and provided lively discussions.
He was a member of Group Scud, which bought and reconstructed
a trailer and used it as portable gallery space parked in front
of New York City museums and Soho galleries. Because a member
of Scud remained behind the wheel at all times, the group was
able to average three to four hours of rent-free exhibition
space in prime locations. He helped organize the “Art
Against Apartheid” exhibition, to benefit and raise consciousness
about South Africa, held on twenty-six sites in New York City.
The Organization of Independent Artists helped coordinate “Art
Against Apartheid,” as Frank Shifreen wrote many grants
for them. From 1986 to 1989 he was involved with the international
artists’ organization called Plexus, which created multi-cultural
art environments. Some of these exhibitions traveled to Rome,
as well as other parts of Europe. In 1990, after a decade of
significant achievements, Frank Shifreen finally took time out
to travel, write, and go back to college. However, in 1993 he
again joined with younger artists such as Amy Shapiro in Brooklyn
to form “Cat’s Head” in the Williamsburg and
Greenpoint area.
Upset over the 2000 presidential election Shifreen put out a
call to artists about a response to George Bush being elected
in an exhibit called “Counting Coup.” Although a
difficult show to market as the public was not in the mood for
this type of artistic response, the first show opened at the
Scott Phaffman Gallery NYC on January 21, 01 the day after Bush
was officially president. Shifreen found listings on the Internet
and sent e-mails to over 50 sites. The Museum of New Art (MONA)
in Detroit, MI was interested in presenting the show. Since
it is a new museum, it had a beginning fundraiser and Frank
donated some paintings and the director Jef Bourdeau was appreciative
and supportive. However, the show continued to travel to the
Theater for a New City, NYC; and the Center for Social Change,
Northampton, MA; the show would have continued to travel except
for the tragic events of 9/11. As a result of that act President
Bush legitimized his presidency and Counting Coup ended as an
exhibition.
On September 11, 01 Frank went to the WTC site to volunteer
but was not allowed to help do to union rules about insurance.
After the initial tragic shock Frank talked to Patricia Nicholson
a local activist and dancer about the CUNADO gallery building
on 9 2nd Ave. It was unoccupied for years however the nonprofit
status was still active. There were plans already underway to
do a show in October 01 called “Witness” this all
changed and a new show called “From the Ashes” opened
October 13-November 4, 01. The Herculean effort to put a show
together about the WTC in such as short time, which included
150 visual artists, 200 performing groups, video artists and
site specific installations and performances on 5 floors is
a test of sheer human will power. On September 25, 01 the “Witness”
show was transformed, and Frank asked the noted Willoughby Sharp
to assist as a curator, in all five curators began involved.
Frank wrote an essay, the catalog, the release and Carla Cupid
an Outsider artist and actress starting sending/faxing out releases;
as a result the show received significant press in the LA Times,
Village Voice, Villager, etc. It was also successful in terms
of sales, $5000-6000 of art sales plus donations resulted in
$7,000 being donated to the Fireman’s Fund and five fire
houses. However, the show was not without turmoil NYC tried
unsuccessfully to close the building. While CUANDO had a lease
for the building, NYC tried to condemn the building before the
opening, but lawyers for CUANDO received an injunction for it
to remain open.
The show has continued to travel and was supposed to open February
8, 02 at the Open Space Gallery, Allentown, PA where I was the
Executive Director and co-curator, however due to board politics
the show was cancelled on the opening night. This whole event
received significant local press due to the myopia of those
in charge. Undeterred, MONA was contacted and Frank Shifreen,
Julius Vitali and Danny Scheffer were co-curators and on July
13, 02 “Ground Zero” opened to tremendous press
coverage. They show continues to travel and gain esteemed momentum.
Frank Shifreen understands the value of devoting time to organizing,
curating, writing and overseeing the publicity. He follows up
releases with e-mails, faxes and phone calls to the reporter
or critic. Human contact is critical to long-term success. Frank
Shifreen knows art critics will follow your career if they believe
in your work, and this strategy has helped his illustrious career.
