Anything can substitute art: George Maciunas in SoHo

An exhibition that features never seen before Maciunas pieces and illuminates a pivotal period in New York City and contemporary art’s recent history

A free event open to the public

Anything can substitute art: George Maciunas in SoHo, a singular exhibition that brings never seen before Maciunas pieces to the United States, sheds new light on a pivotal historic period for both the city of New York and contemporary art’s recent history. By connecting the countercultural activism of the 1960’s and 1970’s to the moment of Fluxus, an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s, the exhibition features over 170 objects, documents, ephemera, personal items, and films. These works were created by a variety of Fluxus artists, specifically focusing on the Fluxus founder and self-appointed “chairman,” George Maciunas (1931-1978, graduated from The Cooper Union in 1952). The exhibition will include rarely exhibited early work by Maciunas, such as his self-portraits, as well as the entire Atlas of Russian History (1953), along with Fluxus manifestos, charts, interviews, and Maciunas’ plans for artist housing in SoHo. Anything can substitute art: George Maciunas in SoHo was created in collaboration with The Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius, Lithuania, and The School of Art at The Cooper Union.

Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm

Dates closed: Mondays, Sundays, and winter holiday (Friday, December 21, 2012- Tuesday, January 1, 2013)

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is a distinguished private college of art, architecture and engineering founded in 1859 by Peter Cooper, an inventor, industrialist and philanthropist.

The Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, founded in 2007 in Vilnius, Lithuania holds one of the largest collections of Fluxus art in the world and is dedicated to promoting the art of the avant-garde.