June 16, 1989
Friday, 10:30 am

Monday I finally wrote the letter to Tina Brown about Kostabi -- an article on Oprah Winfrey in the Sunday Times Magazine gave me some ideas; finished the Fountain painting; then went to ACT UP where I showed the letter to Bill Dobbs and Hunter Reynolds. Then home and to bed.

Tuesday David called to ask if I was going to take the studio. We made a date to meet Wednesday and talk it over. I finished up "Nabokov Map". Ken Silver gave a lecture on Jasper Johns at Simon's. Though I looked forward to it outside of his basic premise -- how can you do work exploring your history while still being an "American" artist -- it was typical academic junk. He kept trying to connect Johns to Demuth and Hartley, linking color and subject matter. While that may be plausible I don't think it is the crux. That would be how Johns managed to paint the things he did and overcome the myth of Pollock? Same for Rauschenberg and Warhol. Was it just change of fashion?

What was the difference between Johns' "Target" with the body parts and Rauschenberg's "Bed", which they made at the same time and that seem to be about each other. Or rather the way they saw the other as a lover. None of this is in the official history and John's doesn't help. Why should he? This veneration of the "great" artist by Silver isn't going to get at it. The question of why this thread of investigation may be important is probably more important than answering any specific question anyway.

I did enjoy the linkage between Johns' Hart Crane paintings, Hartley's Crane painting and Hart Crane's poem in homage to Walt Whitman. Will gay artists turn Whitman into Judy Garland?

Wednesday I went out early to Williamsburg to see David's studio. It was a long haul to walk to 14th street to catch the L, then another seven blocks to reach his street. On the top floor the loft is beautiful. How do these kids do it? It was built by some sculptor. The studio is OK but will be hot in the summer. David wants to keep the option of working in it so we're at a standoff. If I'm going to pay $550 a month I want the space to myself. Afterward I talked it over with Simon -- I'd only have to sell one small piece a month to pay for it and having a studio instead of working in my apartment might increase sales. David said he'd call me later that night to talk about it.

ART+ met and we decided to send both the letter I wrote and Jim Fouratt's (he wasn't there). Also, Abbeville Press messengered a letter to use with their press release disassociating themselves from what Kostabi said. I volunteered to write a letter to Abbeville, which is planning a big Kostabi book.

We voted to do a poster next week and maybe something in response to the Corcoran in Washington D.C. cancelling their Mapplethorpe show. It's good to sit and talk about these things, even better to plan to do something in response.

At a small Mexican restaurant after I had something rolled up and hard. Someone named Dennis showed up. He was cute and I told Bill Dobbs what we really need are more cute queer artists. Bill and I walked home together in the rain and we talked about the purpose of ART+ and its difference from Gran Fury. I want it to be geared toward political response rather than graphic design. That's where the power of art really is, not in the object but in the social connection. Someone like S.I. Newhouse is more powerful than any politician and you can get at him through art.

Thursday Hunter called to say Abbeville left a message. I called them back and they said they may not publish the book. I told them we were sending a letter to Robert Abrams. I wrote that letter, rewrote the Tina Brown letter and went uptown to deliver them by hand.

On the way I stopped at Marian Goodman to see Andrew but they were closed for installation and wouldn't let me in. Went to Robert Miller and liked the paintings of Roberto Juarez -- very Stux-ish but better than what Stux shows.

Went to the "Tina!" presentation at Simon's. Not what I expected but very good. Representatives from the whores' conference talked about prostitution. A lack of black representation and very European. Margo St. James is wonderful, someone said she just makes you want to go out and fuck. They made sex sound so wonderful even if it was a job, something you had to work at. I've been so busy I haven't been getting much these day. Then again most people I know don't seem to be getting much either.

A very happy, up crowd. I bought a t-shirt from an Australian, a book about the rights of prostitutes, got drunk on something called "Millionaires Punch" and came home with an Alf napkin.

There was a review of the Barbara Toll show in the paper but no mention of me. I'm going to start new work today, see the Kali-Filme tonight. A review of it in the Voice said the last place that showed a Heine film was charged with pornography.

There's a protest at Kings County Hospital tomorrow because they don't stock pentamidine.