From about 1972 to 1978 The Greighten Group was one of the most influential artistic collectives in the United States. Their reach far exceeded their output - together they may have staged three or four major exhibitions and published only a handful of manifestoes - but their lasting impact on the contemporary aesthetic discourse is remarkably durable.
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| The Greighton Group, 1977 |
Like many important movements initiated by young, relatively untested artists, the collective began as something of a prank. Named after an obscure Bosnian poet named Goren Tomislav, the group evolved from a coterie of pot smoking slackers into a highly disciplined and ideologically rigid guild of original thinkers.
Deceptive and ingenious, the group produced intricate works that appeared on the surface as sober variations on conventional motifs but on closer reading turned out to be fulminating critiques of what they called "ersatz avant-garde retrenchment and retreat."
Though they were often accused of deliberate obscurantism, their ideas slowly gained currency, especially in Europe.
And while they billed themselves as a collaborative, there is little doubt that as the members gradually succumbed to a form of inspirational fatigue the dominant conceptual instruments started landing in the lap of one man, Patrice Loukaeny.
The collective spirit frayed under the strain of Loukaeny's massive, some say megalomaniacal ego. Most of the members went on to various teaching jobs around the country with their own individual projects never living up to the promise of their youthful energy and idealism.
Loukaeny disappeared for over a decade only to resurface in Los Angeles where he opened a small, trendy bakery specializing in tortes.
I am currently in the process of securing loans of many of their most important pieces for a retrospective slated for the spring of 2017 at the Greenspan Gallery at Apotolos College in Coeur d'Alene.
I would appreciate any information from people familiar with these artists and their important work.
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| Master Class, The Creighton Group, watercolor on paper, 1977 |
Though they were often accused of deliberate obscurantism, their ideas slowly gained currency, especially in Europe.
And while they billed themselves as a collaborative, there is little doubt that as the members gradually succumbed to a form of inspirational fatigue the dominant conceptual instruments started landing in the lap of one man, Patrice Loukaeny.
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| Patrice Loukaeny as the Great Dictator, date unknown |
The collective spirit frayed under the strain of Loukaeny's massive, some say megalomaniacal ego. Most of the members went on to various teaching jobs around the country with their own individual projects never living up to the promise of their youthful energy and idealism.
Loukaeny disappeared for over a decade only to resurface in Los Angeles where he opened a small, trendy bakery specializing in tortes.
I am currently in the process of securing loans of many of their most important pieces for a retrospective slated for the spring of 2017 at the Greenspan Gallery at Apotolos College in Coeur d'Alene.
I would appreciate any information from people familiar with these artists and their important work.
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