CCS BARD

The Conditions of Being Art examines the activities of innovating contemporary art galleries Pat Hearn Gallery and American Fine Arts, Co., and the transnational milieu of artists, dealers, and critics that surrounded them. Drawing on the archives of Pat Hearn and Colin de Land – both independently important figures on the New York art scene of the 1980s and 1990s – and interviews with their peers, this publication illustrates the dealers’ distinctive practices, significant exhibitions, events, and daily business. In different ways, Hearn and de Land found new models for selling art and redefined the relationship of contemporary art to its markets, while championing art that challenged social and institutional norms and conventions. Featuring commissioned essays, archival materials and exhibition timelines for both galleries, this publication is the first book-length critical account of the 1990s commercial gallery practices and vibrantly documents how Hearn and de Land tested notions of what an art gallery could be.