Show and Tell. A Chronicle of Group Material

The first monograph on the New York based artists’ collaborative known for its socio-political art practice. Organised by former group members in keeping with the methods and aims Group Material employed, the book charts the origins, processes, developments, projects and contexts of the group’s activities, and draws heavily from Group Material’s archive, including original documents, photographs, drawings, correspondence, artefacts, anecdotal information and texts.
Group Material created 45 projects during its period of activities (1979–1996), each represented though installation photography and information from original proposals, exhibition statements, press releases, responses, etc. One emblematic exhibition project, AIDS Timeline, is examined in detail, from collected material and newly conducted interviews. Essays by Doug Ashford, Julie Ault, Sabrina Locks and Tim Rollins further illuminate the methods and principles of Group Material’s practice.
In 1979, the artist collective Group Material opened a storefront at East 13th Street on New York's Lower East Side, from which they launched exhibitions-45 in all-that radically overhauled curatorial thought, setting art alongside artifacts, documentary material and storebought objects, within exhibitions that were oriented around topical social concerns. Group Material's original members-Julie Ault, Patrick Brennan, Beth Jaker, Mundy McLaughlin, Marybeth Nelson, Tim Rollins and Peter Szypula-came from backgrounds in feminism, Marxist theory, design and popular culture, and curated classic exhibits reflecting this eclecticism, such as It's a Gender Show, AIDS Timeline and The People's Choice-a collection of everyday objects (wedding photos, dolls, even a cigarette-pack collage) gathered from people living on their block. Show & Tell is the first monograph on Group Material, and charts the group's activities, with essays by original members, plus original documents, photographs, drawings, correspondence and interviews.
http://www.fourcornersbooks.co.uk/showandtell.html