Culture Hero Masterprint

On view in the galleries, Feb. 28 – March 25, 2018.

Les Levine, Culture Hero Masterprint: Jill Johnston Exposed, 1970

A special 1970 issue of the short-lived art tabloid Culture Hero, subtitled “A Fanzine of Stars of the Super World,” published by artist Les Levine from 1969-1971, printed in 28 rainbow-rolled lithographs and bounded in corrugated cardboard with 3 screws fasteners, was dedicated to Jill Johnston. As The Village Voice critic from 1959 to 1970s, Johnston wrote on Judson Dance Theater, Fluxus happenings, and the countercultural Downtown New York art scene. She later published the book “Lesbian Nation: The Feminist Solution” in 1973. In a role reversal, Culture Hero issue #3 features writings on Johnston by the composer Meredith Monk, the choreographer Yvonne Rainer, artists James Lee Byars, Andy Warhol, and “Vitamin G”, a regular gossip column by poet John Giorno. (Culture Hero Masterprint – Jill Johnston Exposed is in the Columbus College of Art & Design Packard Library Rare Books Collection).

Les Levine, Culture Hero Masterprint: Jill Johnston Exposed, 1970

Known for his heterogeneous output that spans five decades, including vacuum-formed acrylic pod in the 1960s, videos in the 1970s, and billboards in the 1980s and 1990s, Levine has long incorporated documentation, interviews and encounters with other artists in his video works, actively engaging in the mythic realities of artists’ roles in society. Beeler Gallery shows two of Levine’s films on Saturday March 3 and Sunday March 4, 2018.
I Am An Artist, 15 min, 1975
Analyze Lovers: The Story of Vincent, 41 min, 1990

For more info, see Moving Image.

Les Levine, Culture Hero Masterprint: Jill Johnston Exposed, 1970