Edited by Scott Portnoy, Robert Snowden, Ciarán Finlayson. Text by Alan W. Moore, Ciarán Finlayson, Curtis Cuffie. Photography by Katy Abel, Carol Thompson, Curtis Cuffie, Margaret Morton, Tom Warren.
The first book on the art-world legend who installed his ephemeral sculptures on the streets of New York’s East Village
Curtis Cuffie (1955–2002) was an artist from Harstville, South Carolina, who found local notoriety in the 1990s for the thrilling and surprising way he adorned the streets of New York’s East Village. His on-the-spot sculptures were woven into fences, hung from walls and sprawled along the Bowery and Cooper Square. Making use of whatever he could find to fashion works that were imaginative and real, Cuffie took the street for all it could provide: materials, an audience, a rhythm and a sense of the strange unexpectedness of public life. He was unhoused for stretches of his life, and his sculptures were viewed near to his outdoor quarters. Cuffie’s art was often removed by city sanitation, but new work would spring up soon after. Though little of his art survives today, a trove of photographs documenting it keeps him in the present. This publication, the first on Cuffie, seeks to honor the artist and rectify his omission by going backward to recover that which has been left behind. It places Cuffie’s own photographs and those of his companion Katy Abel alongside pictures that photographers Margaret Morton and Tom Warren took of Cuffie and his art on the streets.
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Saturday, October 28 at 4 PM, Artbook @ MoMA PS1 Bookstore presents the new Blank Forms publication Curtis Cuffie. Photographers Katy Abel and Tom Warren and art historian and curator Bonnie Yochelson will be discussing and honoring the late artist Curtis Cuffie's legacy. There will also be a screening of an excerpt from a documentary made by the late photographer Margaret Morton. RSVP for the event and pre-order a signed copy of the book at artbookstores.com. Join in-person or livestream on Instagram at @artbookps1. continue to blog
FORMAT: Pbk, 8 x 10.75 in. / 248 pgs / 93 color / 75 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $39.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $55.95 ISBN: 9781953691156 PUBLISHER: Blank Forms Editions AVAILABLE: 8/29/2023 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AU/NZ AFR ME
Published by Blank Forms Editions. Edited by Scott Portnoy, Robert Snowden, Ciarán Finlayson. Text by Alan W. Moore, Ciarán Finlayson, Curtis Cuffie. Photography by Katy Abel, Carol Thompson, Curtis Cuffie, Margaret Morton, Tom Warren.
The first book on the art-world legend who installed his ephemeral sculptures on the streets of New York’s East Village
Curtis Cuffie (1955–2002) was an artist from Harstville, South Carolina, who found local notoriety in the 1990s for the thrilling and surprising way he adorned the streets of New York’s East Village. His on-the-spot sculptures were woven into fences, hung from walls and sprawled along the Bowery and Cooper Square.
Making use of whatever he could find to fashion works that were imaginative and real, Cuffie took the street for all it could provide: materials, an audience, a rhythm and a sense of the strange unexpectedness of public life. He was unhoused for stretches of his life, and his sculptures were viewed near to his outdoor quarters. Cuffie’s art was often removed by city sanitation, but new work would spring up soon after. Though little of his art survives today, a trove of photographs documenting it keeps him in the present.
This publication, the first on Cuffie, seeks to honor the artist and rectify his omission by going backward to recover that which has been left behind. It places Cuffie’s own photographs and those of his companion Katy Abel alongside pictures that photographers Margaret Morton and Tom Warren took of Cuffie and his art on the streets.
