The Ray Johnson Revival Continues with an Article in "Vanity Fair"

[De Villo Sloan]

A new article in Vanity Fair looks at Ray Johnson as "prankster," with many stories including dropping hot dogs from a helicopter, trading with Christo, cutting up collages for reduced prices, and Johnson's place in the art world.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2015/ray-johnson-art-pranks

[De Villo Sloan]

I didn't know how to tell Richard and even removed the comment for fear of upsetting him. But someone on Facebook expressed surprise that he (Richard) was still around. They thought he passed away. They said he was a really great artist but remembered his one liners from the 80s as being his best work. Then they went into this thing where maybe he did or didn't appear in a show with Ray Johnson. Look, and this was my point, if they are talking about you, that's good. Right?

BG, there are folks here who were actually close to Ray Johnson. I'm not one. But I read in one of Ruud's interviews (I think it was) that RJ switched over to phone calls almost exclusively in the later years.

[borderlinegrafix]

From what I know he used the phone as communication, as well as mail.  Nothing to it.

[De Villo Sloan]

Thanks, Richard. I didn't like this VF article as well as some of the others that appeared recently. I like some of the anecdotes. I noticed the North Carolina college thing immediately. If the writer had just said Black Mountain College, all would have been explained.

I posted the link on my FB page too and received at least one angry comment from a very established and longtime mail-artist grumbling, I guess you can describe it, as the current commercial exploitation of Ray Johnson.

Your name came up as well, Richard, without any prompting from me. The short of it is whether or not your work appeared in a Feigner (?) Gallery show of RJ's work.

[Richard Canard]

22.01.15 Dare De Villo S.,... Thanx again for keeping everyone posted. Vanity Fair-no less???... (I suspect that RJ would have been ironically pleased---although, I do seem to recall even some tiny blurb many, many years ago in Mademoiselle )  & I had not fully realized  how many members of the younger set have become curious about Ray Johnson---maybe they are confusing him with that "Mister Selfie" Ray William Johnson character????  Enjoyed the article but found myself chuckling for some reason at the line  about arriving in "New York City after leaving art school in North Carolina"...which notable Art School was that that???.. The Richard Petty Nascar Driving/& Art School or the Red Clay Crayola School of Aren't???? Ave uh nez dae. Richard Canard