"Alternatives" - The 1973 Pop-up street art exhibition you should know about
Gordon Matta-Clark began documenting graffiti in 1972, wandering the South Bronx and Harlem taking over 2,000 photographs. The question then became: how could he share this growing art movement that he admired with the art world in downtown Manhattan, in particular with those who dismissed this work as not art but “vandalism”?
He began by making a series of black and white prints of his photographs, which he would then painstakingly hand paint using airbrush to evoke the intense color and style of the original graffiti. In a way, it was almost like Matta-Clark was trying to learn the language and form of graffiti through these paintings, as an art student would through replicating the brushstrokes of an old master. He made a series of Photoglyphs where he printed multiple subway carriages in a row on a single long sheet of photo paper, again hand painting the graffiti in bright colors that stand in glorious contrast to the black and white train. (One of Matta-Clark's Photoglyphs was first presented in a group exhibition at 112 Greene Street in 1973.)
He submitted this work to the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, described by Frances Richard in her book Gordon Matta-Clark: Physical Poetics as “a venerable Greenwich Village institution, established in 1931 to help artists earn money. By the 1970s, conservatism had entrenched the organization, and Matta-Clark’s submission, Photoglyphs, was declined.” In the face of this rejection, Matta-Clark organized his own pop-up street art exhibition he titled “Alternatives” To Washington Square Art Show where he displayed his rejected graffiti Photoglyphs on Mercer Street between West 3rd Street and Bleecker Street (just a minute walk from Washington Square Park) over the same two weekends in June, 1973. Beyond this pop-up street exhibition serving as a kind of salon des refusés for the Photoglyphs, Matta-Clark also created a new work that specifically invited community participation.
For Graffiti Truck (1973), Gordon Matta-Clark brought his truck to 105th Street (and/or the South Bronx) and invited the community to completely cover it with graffiti in what looks to be a joyful creative event for both children and adults. He then parked the vehicle next to his “Alternatives” To Washington Square Art Show and during the exhibition used his blowtorch to cut sections out of the truck which he offered as sculptural pieces to visitors.
White Columns is pleased to present GORDON MATTA-CLARK: NYC GRAFFITI ARCHIVE 1972/3, curated by Roger Gastman of BEYOND THE STREETS and Jessamyn Fiore, co-director of the Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark.
Open Tuesday through Saturday until May 17th 2025
11am to 6pm
91 Horatio Street, New York, NY 10014
Free admission
Courtesy of White Columns, New York.
Installation Photos by Marc Tatti