Ellen Levy: A Book about Ray

​Author Ellen Levy discusses her book "A Book About Ray" with NYPL Librarian Allison Nellis.

This event will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.

A Book about Ray is the first full-career survey of the idiosyncratic life and work of Ray Johnson, a collagist, performance artist, and pioneer of mail art.

Ray Johnson (1927-1995), a.k.a. “New York’s most famous unknown artist,” was notorious for the elaborate games he played with the institutions of the art world, soliciting their attention even as he rejected their invitations. In A Book about Ray, Ellen Levy offers a comprehensive study of the artist who turned the business of career-making into a tongue-in-cheek performance, tracing his artistic development from his arrival at Black Mountain College in 1945 to his death in 1995. Levy describes Johnson’s practice as one that was constantly shifting—whether in tone, in its address to potential audiences, or among three primary artistic modes: collage, performance, and correspondence art.

A Book about Ray takes an elliptical path, circling around rather than trying to arrest in flight the elusive artist and his purposefully ephemeral art. By crafting the book in this way, Levy evokes Ray Johnson’s art in the moment of its making and draws readers into the artist’s world, while making them feel, from the beginning, that they somehow already know their way around that world. In exploring Johnson’s scene, readers will also encounter the artists who influenced him, like Joseph Cornell and Marcel Duchamp, and his friends and peers like Jasper Johns, Allan Kaprow, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. The work of such figures will look forever different in light of Johnson’s subversive take on their shared aesthetic.

Suitable for readers both new to Ray Johnson and those already familiar with his work, A Book about Ray is a complete and vital portrait of an American original.

At this event, author Ellen Levy will discuss her new book and more with NYPL Librarian Allison Nellis. 

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellen Levy is the author of Criminal Ingenuity: Moore, Cornell, Ashbery, and the Struggle Between the Arts (Oxford UP) as well as essays on poetry, visual art, theater, and film. She has taught at Pratt Institute, Vanderbilt University, and the School of Visual Arts in New York.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

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Please submit all press inquiries to Lizzie Tribone at least 48 hours before the event: email lizzietribone@nypl.org.
 

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All programs are subject to change or cancellation.

The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

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