Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, Gordon Matta-Clark: Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s

This exciting volume presents the work of three leading figures of the New York art scene of the 1970s, focusing on the intersections between their practices and exploring their shared concerns. Collaborators and friends, Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown and Gordon Matta-Clark were at the cutting edge of Manhattan’s burgeoning downtown art scene during the 1970s. This catalogue accompanies an exhibition at Barbican Art Gallery in London, which examines the crossover of these artists’ practices and the influence of their work on each other. Focusing on their mutual themes of performance, the body, the urban environment and found spaces, the book is divided into four sections: Downtown New York; Drawing and Performing; Urban Inventions; and Performance and Interaction. The city of New York in the 1970s, faced with bankruptcy, rising crime rates and unemployment, plays its own starring role in the book, as these artists worked in derelict city buildings for their large-scale projects and engaged directly with the public out of doors. A fascinating portrait of three ground-breaking artists, this beautiful volume documents an exciting period in the history of contemporary art, and reveals the lasting value of open exchange between artists and genres.
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