It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Bob Witz passed on February 23, 2021. For the past 3 years we have visited Bob's studio monthly (often weekly) for filming, putting his papers in order, and observing his increasing artistic production right up to his last day. This year he would have been 87. In these past three years he received long overdue recognition with two grants and four noted exhibits —including a one person show at OSMOS ADDRESS in the East Village.
You can view some of his art below on this page an on instagram @bobwitzuntitled.
However most ironic, two days after his passing Bob was awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. And regrettably he was not able to enjoy this honour personally or receive the ‘financial’ award as it can only be granted to a ‘living’ artist.
On Monday, February 22 we filmed Bob in his studio for his film with the independent curator Choghakate Kazarian preparing for a show of his works which she is curating for the hallway adjacent his studio. "The Bob Witz Hallway Show” opening date is to be announced soon for April 2021. You will visit by appointment and visit his studio as well. There will also be a Bob Witz Memorial in conjunction with
"The Bob Witz Hallway Show.”
And though nearly finished, due to the circumstances, the film takes on a different trajectory demanding some re-edits, including final footage of a visit to his tiny family home in Tomah, Wisconsin.
Regarding Plato’s Cave, we have three exhibitions planned and will keep you posted.
Plato’s Cave / EIDIA House is open for your visit by appointment:
14 Dunham Place
Brooklyn, NY 11249
You can view some of his art below on this page an on instagram @bobwitzuntitled.
However most ironic, two days after his passing Bob was awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. And regrettably he was not able to enjoy this honour personally or receive the ‘financial’ award as it can only be granted to a ‘living’ artist.
On Monday, February 22 we filmed Bob in his studio for his film with the independent curator Choghakate Kazarian preparing for a show of his works which she is curating for the hallway adjacent his studio. "The Bob Witz Hallway Show” opening date is to be announced soon for April 2021. You will visit by appointment and visit his studio as well. There will also be a Bob Witz Memorial in conjunction with
"The Bob Witz Hallway Show.”
And though nearly finished, due to the circumstances, the film takes on a different trajectory demanding some re-edits, including final footage of a visit to his tiny family home in Tomah, Wisconsin.
Regarding Plato’s Cave, we have three exhibitions planned and will keep you posted.
Plato’s Cave / EIDIA House is open for your visit by appointment:
14 Dunham Place
Brooklyn, NY 11249
1934-2021 Robert Witz Photo credit ©1992 Tom Warren
Clark Stoeckley
“Feral Felines”
Originally presented February 22 - March 22, 2020 show was closed early due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
PLATOS CAVE is extending the show to Saturday June 13, 2020.
You are invited to view the show maximum two individuals at a time by appointment.
EIDIA House announces the 30th initiative of its ongoing PLATO’S CAVE exhibition / salon since launching in 2009. Clark Stoeckley is the first artist to have a second exhibition at Plato’s Cave and “Feral Felines” is the first exhibit having its genesis in Kuwait. A two part exhibition for the opening, there are 25 Giclee photographs of the Felines on display. These are mounted on archival foam-core and framed in varied vintage frames. Prices upon request. The Feral Felines were originally photographed by Stoeckley in the streets of: Kuwait, Istanbul, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Goa, and Paris, 2016 to present. For the opening Stoeckley also presents “Thoughts and Prayers” his newest work-in-progress series of color works on paper, inspired by classic and contemporary Islamic geometric design.
Clark Stoeckley is an interdisciplinary artist and working in photography, illustration, performance, video, and graphic design. He earned a BFA in Alternative Media from Webster University and an MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Art from Brooklyn College. As a courtroom artist he authored a graphic novel The United States vs. Private Chelsea Manning. These drawings have appeared inThe Guardian, Newsweek, The Nation, LA Times, MSNBC, and PBS. His other art projects have been featured in ARTnews, VICE, Hyperallergic, Associated Press, and The Wall Street Journal. His work has been exhibited at the International Spy Museum (Washington DC), Pratt Manhattan Gallery (New York), Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery (New York), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), Hartware Medien Kunst Verein (Dortmund), and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art and Graphic Design at American University of Kuwait and he previously taught at Bloomfield College in New Jersey.
Feral Felines “When I first moved to the Middle East I sought a safe way to make subtly political art and maintain my work’s connection between the streets and the Internet. My first day in Kuwait, I walked outside and was quickly surrounded by dozens of stray cats. For some unknown reason I felt an urge to document their personalities, homelessness, and self-reliance. Like those playing Pokemon Go, I became addicted to searching for and photographing the splendor of these beasts. With each Instagram post I hope to raise awareness of their plights. These cats remind me that no matter how bad the state of politics gets, at least I am not one of these poor felines. Each low-angle photo challenges me to capture a moment when the cat is making eye contact with the camera - a brief bond between myself and my wary subjects.” (Nearly 2,500 Feral Felines are posted on Instagram @clarkstoeckley.)
Thoughts and Prayers “My goal with this work is to find harmony, balance, and beauty through art making again. Distraught by the violence and vitriol in America, I desired a break from social media and an activist art practice. I seek to save my own psychological and spiritual well-being, as well as, spark joy in others. Inspired by the beauty of Islamic geometric patterns, I blend and distort these designs with visions of my own divine explorations, introspection, and meditations. These synesthesia stimulated drawings reflect my vibrant personality, complex identity, and quest for bliss.
I start with a final image in my mind and then work backwards, doing whatever is necessary – performance, video, photography, design, or drawing – to realize that vision. My art connects utopian ideals with everyday life to inspire action for change. I am always looking to reach people beyond the art world, as my work is best experienced in public spaces like our streets or the Internet. It is intended to be an engaging, tongue-in-cheek response to the day’s headlines, but also a solemn critique of the systems and power structures in our daily lives. My interests inspire me to document and comment on homelessness, consumerism, police brutality, voting accessibility and the environment. I utilize various personas, uniforms, and class, paired with serious humor, to create a constructive dialogue about society’s dilemmas within the communities I have lived. My projects are layered with a visual vocabulary that stems from a deep interest in modern and contemporary art theory, history, and criticism. For me, Art is not the end product. Art is the tool; social justice is the ultimate goal.”
http://www.clarkstoeckley.com/
Two years in the making, for this exhibit at Plato’s Cave, Stoeckley had to acquire special permission from American University of Kuwait to be present in New York for the installation and opening. Clark and his wife are still in the US and residing in Minnesota until travel bans are lifted for their return to Kuwait.
For PLATO’S CAVE, EIDIA House Inc. co-directors Melissa P. Wolf and Paul Lamarre (aka EIDIA) curate invited fellow artists to create an installation with (in some cases) an accompanying limited edition. EIDIA House functions as an art gallery, salon, and meeting place—collaborating with artists to create "socially radical" art forms framed within the discipline of aesthetic research.
Plato’s Cave at EIDIA House, 14 Dunham Place, Brooklyn, NY 11249 USA
Paul Lamarre or Melissa P. Wolf 646 945 3830 eidiahouse@earthlink.net
https://www.eidia.com/a
“Feral Felines”
Originally presented February 22 - March 22, 2020 show was closed early due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
PLATOS CAVE is extending the show to Saturday June 13, 2020.
You are invited to view the show maximum two individuals at a time by appointment.
EIDIA House announces the 30th initiative of its ongoing PLATO’S CAVE exhibition / salon since launching in 2009. Clark Stoeckley is the first artist to have a second exhibition at Plato’s Cave and “Feral Felines” is the first exhibit having its genesis in Kuwait. A two part exhibition for the opening, there are 25 Giclee photographs of the Felines on display. These are mounted on archival foam-core and framed in varied vintage frames. Prices upon request. The Feral Felines were originally photographed by Stoeckley in the streets of: Kuwait, Istanbul, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Goa, and Paris, 2016 to present. For the opening Stoeckley also presents “Thoughts and Prayers” his newest work-in-progress series of color works on paper, inspired by classic and contemporary Islamic geometric design.
Clark Stoeckley is an interdisciplinary artist and working in photography, illustration, performance, video, and graphic design. He earned a BFA in Alternative Media from Webster University and an MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Art from Brooklyn College. As a courtroom artist he authored a graphic novel The United States vs. Private Chelsea Manning. These drawings have appeared inThe Guardian, Newsweek, The Nation, LA Times, MSNBC, and PBS. His other art projects have been featured in ARTnews, VICE, Hyperallergic, Associated Press, and The Wall Street Journal. His work has been exhibited at the International Spy Museum (Washington DC), Pratt Manhattan Gallery (New York), Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery (New York), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), Hartware Medien Kunst Verein (Dortmund), and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art and Graphic Design at American University of Kuwait and he previously taught at Bloomfield College in New Jersey.
Feral Felines “When I first moved to the Middle East I sought a safe way to make subtly political art and maintain my work’s connection between the streets and the Internet. My first day in Kuwait, I walked outside and was quickly surrounded by dozens of stray cats. For some unknown reason I felt an urge to document their personalities, homelessness, and self-reliance. Like those playing Pokemon Go, I became addicted to searching for and photographing the splendor of these beasts. With each Instagram post I hope to raise awareness of their plights. These cats remind me that no matter how bad the state of politics gets, at least I am not one of these poor felines. Each low-angle photo challenges me to capture a moment when the cat is making eye contact with the camera - a brief bond between myself and my wary subjects.” (Nearly 2,500 Feral Felines are posted on Instagram @clarkstoeckley.)
Thoughts and Prayers “My goal with this work is to find harmony, balance, and beauty through art making again. Distraught by the violence and vitriol in America, I desired a break from social media and an activist art practice. I seek to save my own psychological and spiritual well-being, as well as, spark joy in others. Inspired by the beauty of Islamic geometric patterns, I blend and distort these designs with visions of my own divine explorations, introspection, and meditations. These synesthesia stimulated drawings reflect my vibrant personality, complex identity, and quest for bliss.
I start with a final image in my mind and then work backwards, doing whatever is necessary – performance, video, photography, design, or drawing – to realize that vision. My art connects utopian ideals with everyday life to inspire action for change. I am always looking to reach people beyond the art world, as my work is best experienced in public spaces like our streets or the Internet. It is intended to be an engaging, tongue-in-cheek response to the day’s headlines, but also a solemn critique of the systems and power structures in our daily lives. My interests inspire me to document and comment on homelessness, consumerism, police brutality, voting accessibility and the environment. I utilize various personas, uniforms, and class, paired with serious humor, to create a constructive dialogue about society’s dilemmas within the communities I have lived. My projects are layered with a visual vocabulary that stems from a deep interest in modern and contemporary art theory, history, and criticism. For me, Art is not the end product. Art is the tool; social justice is the ultimate goal.”
http://www.clarkstoeckley.com/
Two years in the making, for this exhibit at Plato’s Cave, Stoeckley had to acquire special permission from American University of Kuwait to be present in New York for the installation and opening. Clark and his wife are still in the US and residing in Minnesota until travel bans are lifted for their return to Kuwait.
For PLATO’S CAVE, EIDIA House Inc. co-directors Melissa P. Wolf and Paul Lamarre (aka EIDIA) curate invited fellow artists to create an installation with (in some cases) an accompanying limited edition. EIDIA House functions as an art gallery, salon, and meeting place—collaborating with artists to create "socially radical" art forms framed within the discipline of aesthetic research.
Plato’s Cave at EIDIA House, 14 Dunham Place, Brooklyn, NY 11249 USA
Paul Lamarre or Melissa P. Wolf 646 945 3830 eidiahouse@earthlink.net
https://www.eidia.com/a
“Bob Witz: An Orbit All By Himself”
Bob Witz is the 29th initiative of the on going PLATO’S CAVE exhibition series.
EIDIA House announces the 29th initiative of its ongoing PLATO’S CAVE exhibition, started in 2009. This special holiday salon will feature works from Bob Witz’s wry and witty “Milk Carton” series as well as painting portraits of characters conjured from the artist’s deeply esoteric imagination.
The result of a meditation inspired originally by the lunches Wit’z mother prepared for him as a child in Tomah, Wisconsin, “Milk Cartons” - we dare to propose - is a more subversive twin to Warhol’s Soup Cans.
It is an honor for EIDIA House to curate and install Bob Witz's work in the Plato's Cave vault space. While many of the sculptures exist in private and public collections, it will be the first ever exhibit of the near total compilation of Witz's "Milk Carton" series, dating back to the 1980’s and including a number of works created in 2018.
Bob recounts the origin story in his characteristic wry terms: "One day, I had this milk carton and an orange juice container and I thought I’d make some art of it."
To further commemorate this often overlooked artist, EIDIA is also in the process of making a documentary film on Witz, a mainstay of New York’s downtown scene in the 1970’s and 80’s. The film (Bob Witz Untitled) will feature Witz’s paintings and sculptures, and the literary arts publication “APPEARANCES” to capture the artist’s – still at work in his modest one room studio loft - compelling and ever-unfolding story. Including interviews with fellow artists, colleagues, scholars and friends, the film is also a portrait of the artistic circle that spanned the 60 years of Witz’s enduring art practice.
Like us at EIDIA House, they have plenty of good things to say:
"I immediately fell in love and was enamored with his works the "Milk Cartons.” The work is very much of its time using non- traditional art materials and the process. In the Art World Bob is an orbit all by himself...somebody identified Bob as an outsider artist—no way...he was very much an insider but, as an insider he was an outsider." - Jean-Noël Herlin, an artist, curator, archivist and bookseller
"I love it [Bob's work] - so quirky and eccentric. He really gets involved with strange materials. He has a really good ‘I don't care attitude.’” - Betty Tompkins, painter"I really don't like categories, but Bob is an outsider / insider because he's lived in New York all these years." - Bill Jensen, painter
"Bob is kind of like the last bohemian." - Phong Bui, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The Brooklyn Rail
"Bob's a trip!" - Joe Lewis, visual artist, photographer, musician, art critic, former co-director of FASHION MODA, 1978-1993
Bob Witz was born in Tomah, Wisconsin in 1934. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1959. His correspondence with Artforum magazine in 1973 was published by the editor Robert Pincus-Witten as "Robert Witz: Selections from the Tomah Letters". He is founder and editor of the literary arts magazine, APPEARANCES 1976 - 2000. Witz had a retrospective at the New York Studio School, curated by Phong Bui in 2012 and numerous one person and group shows over the years. His works are in many private and public collections.
For PLATO’S CAVE, EIDIA House Inc. co-directors Melissa P. Wolf and Paul Lamarre (aka EIDIA) curate invited fellow artists to create an installation with (in some cases) an accompanying limited edition. EIDIA House functions as an art gallery and meeting place, collaborating with artists to create "socially radical" art forms framed within the discipline of aesthetic research.
Plato’s Cave at EIDIA House 14 Dunham Place Brooklyn, NY 11249 Contact Paul Lamarre or Melissa P. Wolf eidiahouse@earthlink.net https://www.eidia.com/ Trains: J, M, & L Hours 12-6pm, Tuesday - Sunday (or by appointment)
All milk cartons, average dimensions, 13 to 16inch x 5 x 5inch, are for the most part unsigned, untitled, unmarked—of found materials: milk cartons, frozen orange juice cans, wood, acrylics and oil pigments with some duplicated in cast bronze.
The result of a meditation inspired originally by the lunches Wit’z mother prepared for him as a child in Tomah, Wisconsin, “Milk Cartons” - we dare to propose - is a more subversive twin to Warhol’s Soup Cans.
It is an honor for EIDIA House to curate and install Bob Witz's work in the Plato's Cave vault space. While many of the sculptures exist in private and public collections, it will be the first ever exhibit of the near total compilation of Witz's "Milk Carton" series, dating back to the 1980’s and including a number of works created in 2018.
Bob recounts the origin story in his characteristic wry terms: "One day, I had this milk carton and an orange juice container and I thought I’d make some art of it."
To further commemorate this often overlooked artist, EIDIA is also in the process of making a documentary film on Witz, a mainstay of New York’s downtown scene in the 1970’s and 80’s. The film (Bob Witz Untitled) will feature Witz’s paintings and sculptures, and the literary arts publication “APPEARANCES” to capture the artist’s – still at work in his modest one room studio loft - compelling and ever-unfolding story. Including interviews with fellow artists, colleagues, scholars and friends, the film is also a portrait of the artistic circle that spanned the 60 years of Witz’s enduring art practice.
Like us at EIDIA House, they have plenty of good things to say:
"I immediately fell in love and was enamored with his works the "Milk Cartons.” The work is very much of its time using non- traditional art materials and the process. In the Art World Bob is an orbit all by himself...somebody identified Bob as an outsider artist—no way...he was very much an insider but, as an insider he was an outsider." - Jean-Noël Herlin, an artist, curator, archivist and bookseller
"I love it [Bob's work] - so quirky and eccentric. He really gets involved with strange materials. He has a really good ‘I don't care attitude.’” - Betty Tompkins, painter"I really don't like categories, but Bob is an outsider / insider because he's lived in New York all these years." - Bill Jensen, painter
"Bob is kind of like the last bohemian." - Phong Bui, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The Brooklyn Rail
"Bob's a trip!" - Joe Lewis, visual artist, photographer, musician, art critic, former co-director of FASHION MODA, 1978-1993
Bob Witz was born in Tomah, Wisconsin in 1934. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1959. His correspondence with Artforum magazine in 1973 was published by the editor Robert Pincus-Witten as "Robert Witz: Selections from the Tomah Letters". He is founder and editor of the literary arts magazine, APPEARANCES 1976 - 2000. Witz had a retrospective at the New York Studio School, curated by Phong Bui in 2012 and numerous one person and group shows over the years. His works are in many private and public collections.
For PLATO’S CAVE, EIDIA House Inc. co-directors Melissa P. Wolf and Paul Lamarre (aka EIDIA) curate invited fellow artists to create an installation with (in some cases) an accompanying limited edition. EIDIA House functions as an art gallery and meeting place, collaborating with artists to create "socially radical" art forms framed within the discipline of aesthetic research.
Plato’s Cave at EIDIA House 14 Dunham Place Brooklyn, NY 11249 Contact Paul Lamarre or Melissa P. Wolf eidiahouse@earthlink.net https://www.eidia.com/ Trains: J, M, & L Hours 12-6pm, Tuesday - Sunday (or by appointment)
All milk cartons, average dimensions, 13 to 16inch x 5 x 5inch, are for the most part unsigned, untitled, unmarked—of found materials: milk cartons, frozen orange juice cans, wood, acrylics and oil pigments with some duplicated in cast bronze.
Bob Witz: Milk Made
January 22 to February 28, 2020
OSMOS 50 East 1st Street, New York, NY
opening January 21, 6 - 8
Everybody and Nobody, 1980 – 2019, mixed media, milk carton, rubber bands, hair pins and paint, circa 13 x 5 x 5 inches, photo Paul Lamarre
Born in Tomah, Wisconsin in 1934, Bob Witz stayed pretty close to home until he joined the Army in 1954. He returned from Europe to enroll at the University of Wisconsin, exploring what it meant to “be a starving artist” and sending hand written letters-to-the-editor of Artforum. When esteemed critic Robert Pincus-Witten published a two-page spread with Witz’s submissions in the September 1973 issue, the Midwesterner moved to Manhattan. He founded the East Village magazine Appearances wherein artists such as Bill Jensen and Betty Tompkins published their pictures alongside offbeat poetry and fiction by prisoners. For more than 30 years, Witz has resided in a Chelsea loft cluttered with pieces of the past, but his childhood in “America’s Dairyland” has continued to influence his art, especially his choice of materials!
Since the 1970’s Bob Witz has been producing Milk Carton Sculptures that vary in height from 9 to 50 inches covered with cardboard, layers of oil paint, and found materials, such as bottle caps, rubber bands, coins, tin cans, hair ties, bobby-pins and wire. All start out as found milk cartons -- some become bronzes cast from molds of milk carton constructions. All get painted and embellished.
In the 1970s and 80s Bob Witz was known as a publisher and painter who exhibited at spaces like Fashion Moda and Rivington Street, but no gallery ever represented him. In 2012 Phong Bui curated a solo show at The New York Studio School; in 2018 Melissa Wolf and Paul Lamarre installed some of his sculptures at Plato’s Cave; and in 2019 Andrew Edlin included his work in a summer group show. During a studio visit this past December, the artist paused his on going modifications of works that have been in progress for decades to allow us to curate a selection for this exhibition at OSMOS entitled “Bob Witz: Milk Made”.
The work will remain on view until February 26, 2020. Contact Cay Sophie Rabinowitz osmos.address@gmail.com +1 646 559 5347
January 22 to February 28, 2020
OSMOS 50 East 1st Street, New York, NY
opening January 21, 6 - 8
Everybody and Nobody, 1980 – 2019, mixed media, milk carton, rubber bands, hair pins and paint, circa 13 x 5 x 5 inches, photo Paul Lamarre
Born in Tomah, Wisconsin in 1934, Bob Witz stayed pretty close to home until he joined the Army in 1954. He returned from Europe to enroll at the University of Wisconsin, exploring what it meant to “be a starving artist” and sending hand written letters-to-the-editor of Artforum. When esteemed critic Robert Pincus-Witten published a two-page spread with Witz’s submissions in the September 1973 issue, the Midwesterner moved to Manhattan. He founded the East Village magazine Appearances wherein artists such as Bill Jensen and Betty Tompkins published their pictures alongside offbeat poetry and fiction by prisoners. For more than 30 years, Witz has resided in a Chelsea loft cluttered with pieces of the past, but his childhood in “America’s Dairyland” has continued to influence his art, especially his choice of materials!
Since the 1970’s Bob Witz has been producing Milk Carton Sculptures that vary in height from 9 to 50 inches covered with cardboard, layers of oil paint, and found materials, such as bottle caps, rubber bands, coins, tin cans, hair ties, bobby-pins and wire. All start out as found milk cartons -- some become bronzes cast from molds of milk carton constructions. All get painted and embellished.
In the 1970s and 80s Bob Witz was known as a publisher and painter who exhibited at spaces like Fashion Moda and Rivington Street, but no gallery ever represented him. In 2012 Phong Bui curated a solo show at The New York Studio School; in 2018 Melissa Wolf and Paul Lamarre installed some of his sculptures at Plato’s Cave; and in 2019 Andrew Edlin included his work in a summer group show. During a studio visit this past December, the artist paused his on going modifications of works that have been in progress for decades to allow us to curate a selection for this exhibition at OSMOS entitled “Bob Witz: Milk Made”.
The work will remain on view until February 26, 2020. Contact Cay Sophie Rabinowitz osmos.address@gmail.com +1 646 559 5347
Plato's Cave installation views of
“Bob Witz: An Orbit All By Himself” in 2019
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