The Paula Cooper Gallery is hosting an auction to benifit CAE artist Steven Kurtz in his fight against persecution by the federal goverment on April 17.
The list of artists is impressive (Serra, Sherman, Burden, Torres, etc.) Anyone who loves me should think about buying me whatever work William Pope L. serves up as an early birthday present.
Full link to the press release and other info after the jump...
March 9, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media @ caedefensefund.org
ART WORLD RALLIES TO SUPPORT INDICTED ARTIST STEVEN KURTZ
Auction of work by major artists to benefit CAE Defense Fund
An April 17 auction to benefit the Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund
has attracted donations from some of the biggest names in the
contemporary art world, including Richard Serra, Cindy Sherman,
Alexis Rockman, Ruben Ortiz Torres, Hans Haacke, Kiki Smith, Chris
Burden, and a great many others.
Organizers of the auction at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York expect
to raise at least a six-figure sum to help Steven Kurtz and Robert
Ferrell defend themselves against politically-motivated federal
charges of "mail fraud" and "wire fraud." If convicted, Kurtz, a
founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) and Professor of
Art at the University of Buffalo, and Ferrell, a Professor of Human
Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, could face up to 20 years
in prison. (See http://caedefensefund.org for full details.)
The cost of the May 2004 raid on Kurtz's home, and his subsequent
prosecution, is in the millions of public dollars, according to
independent estimates. The federal authorities now admit that Kurtz
and Ferrell, who have collaborated on widely shown artworks about
biotechnology, have never posed any danger to public health - yet
they continue to waste vast sums of public money prosecuting the
case. Meanwhile, the bills for Kurtz and Ferrell's defense keep
growing as well.
Since June 2004 there have been numerous public events to support the
CAE Defense Fund in the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Latin America and
Australia. These efforts, as well as numerous individual
contributions, have met the mounting defense costs thus far. But as
the case moves to trial, Kurtz and Ferrell's expenses are expected to
increase dramatically, and more fundraisers and donations will be
needed.
The April 17 auction organizers hope the auction will serve as a spur
for people worldwide to organize new benefit events and to contribute
to the fund. Please visit http://caedefensefund.org/ for details on
how you can help publicize the auction, organize your own event,
donate, or otherwise help support Kurtz and Ferrell in this
exceedingly important case.
Auction details: Sunday, April 17, 2005 (2:00-5:00 PM viewing, 5:00-7:00 PM
auction), at the PAULA COOPER GALLERY 521 West 21st Street NYC 10011
Artists who have donated work for the auction:
Acconci Studio
Dennis Adams
The Atlas Group
Nayland Blake
Mel Bochner
Cecily Brown
Chris Burden
Paul Chan
Jeremy Deller
Mark Dion
Sam Durant
Tony Feher
Andrea Fraser
Joseph Grigely
Hans Haacke
Ann Hamilton
Rachel Harrison
Mike Kelley
Barbara Kruger
William Pope L.
Louise Lawler
Zoe Leonard
Sol LeWitt
Glenn Ligon
Sharon Lockhart
Brice Marden
Allan McCollum
Julie Mehretu
Arnold Mesches
Donald Moffett
Dave Muller
Vik Muniz
Takashi Murakami
Yoshitomo Nara
Cathy Opie
Rubén Ortiz Torres
Laura Owens
David Reed
Alexis Rockman
Martha Rosler
Christy Rupp
Carolee Schneemann
Richard Serra
Cindy Sherman
Amy Sillman
Lorna Simpson
Kiki Smith
Janaina Tschape
and many more.
The Benefit is sponsored by the National Association of Artists'
Organizations (NAAO) and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
(Buffalo), and is supported by galleries across the US.
Please visit http://caedefensefund.org/ for more information. Press
inquiries may be directed to mailto:media@caedefensefund.org.