ACT UP Art Box

Date1993-1994

MediumMultiple of wooden portfolio box with zinc-cut stamp with paint additions on the lid, six objects, two of them multi-part, and one signed documentation sheet

Dimensions5 in. x 24 in. x 14 in. (12.7 cm x 60.96 cm x 35.56 cm)

Credit LineCollection Center for Curatorial Studies, Gift of Rosina Lee Yue, 1997.

Object numberCCS1997.1

ClassificationsMultiple

Not on view

DescriptionIn 1994 the AIDS activist group ACT UP commissioned seven artists to create works for a limited-edition art box as a fund-raising initiative for the organization. Based on the 1966 Pop art collaboration Seven Objects in a Box, the ACT UP Art Box contains six small sculptures designed to fit into the box, with the seventh work printed on the lid. The contributions, while aesthetically and materially diverse, each reference the body in its fragility, absurdity, and resilience. This box consists of a painted lid by Nancy Spero and is filled with objects by artists Ross Bleckner, Mike Kelly, Simon Leung, Louise Bourgeois, Kiki Smith and Lorna Simpson.
Exhibitions

Closer To Life: Drawing and Works on Paper in the Marieluise Hessel Collection (2021-06-26 - 2021-10-17)