An Anarchitectural Body of Work : Suzanne Harris and the Downtown New York Artists’ Community in the 1970s

The artist, dancer and educator Suzanne Harris (1940-79) was a protagonist of the downtown New York City artists’ community in the 1970s. With her boundary-transgressing practice, she played a decisive part in avant-garde projects, such as the Anarchitecture group, 112 Greene Street, FOOD, and the Natural History of the American Dancer. Harris furthermore participated in the Heresies editorial collective. Nevertheless, her own oeuvre fell into abeyance. Friederike Schäfer reconstructs Harris’s dispersed, postminimalist body of work, which broke the mold of art categories, art practices, art spaces, and the common notion of space. The author draws on post-Marxist feminist theory to trace how Harris transcended both sculpture and dance to create site-specific, ephemeral installations. Recipient of the Terra Foundation for American Art International Publication Grant 2021 Look Inside

The artist, dancer and educator Suzanne Harris (1940-79) was a protagonist of the downtown New York City artists’ community in the 1970s. With her boundary-transgressing practice, she played a decisive part in avant-garde projects, such as the Anarchitecture group, 112 Greene Street, FOOD, and the Natural History of the American Dancer. Harris furthermore participated in the Heresies editorial collective. Nevertheless, her own oeuvre fell into abeyance.

Friederike Schäfer reconstructs Harris’s dispersed, postminimalist body of work, which broke the mold of art categories, art practices, art spaces, and the common notion of space. The author draws on post-Marxist feminist theory to trace how Harris transcended both sculpture and dance to create site-specific, ephemeral installations.

Recipient of the Terra Foundation for American Art International Publication Grant 2021

Look Inside