“Louise Lawler, Adrian Piper and Cindy Sherman are participating in an exhibition organized by Janelle Reiring at Artists Space, September 23 to October 28, 1978.”

Janelle Reiring:

“I asked Christopher D'Arcangelo, Louise Lawler, Adrian Piper and Cindy Sherman to participate together in this exhibition because their work addresses the issue of how art is presented and, in turn, how it is seen. The methods they use to deal with this issue are diverse, and even their basic intentions for doing so are disparate, ranging from overtly political to unselfconsciously private. But each, in his or her way, underscores or circumvents the system that has developed to exhibit, market and interpret the artist’s work. This implies maintaining a control over one’s work that the artist has traditionally relinquished to the go-between—dealer, curator, critic, etc.

These four artists have all presented work outside the customary exhibition parameters of galleries and museums. But I was also interested in how they would use the conventional context of a group exhibition at Artists Space, and that is the genesis of the pre-sent show. Hopefully, it will allow consideration of each artist’s work while also creating an interesting group situation.

The premise of the exhibition somewhat limits my role as mediator between artist and viewer. I did not select, install nor explicate the work being shown. But I did select the artists and set up a specific context for their work, thus accepting responsibility for an exhibition that ultimately reflects my own notions of art, politics, etc. This involves a form of control over the work, how it is presented, and seen, in addition to the control exerted by the physical, economic and organizational aspects of Artists Space.”