Side Room is pleased to present its end-of-summer online exhibition, John Urbain, Sewell Sillman, Gerald Johnson: Collage and the Legacy of Black Mountain College. This focused presentation showcases just three historical works—each a mixed media paper collage—made by three overlooked artists who were directly influenced by Black Mountain College and its esteemed faculty, notably Josef Albers (1888-1976) and Ilya Bolotowsky (1907-1981). These three works, made between 1972 and 1987, demonstrate the lasting impact of this important school, one which gave the European avant-garde a foothold in the United States. This short- lived institution impacted an emerging generation of American artists who would define the second half of the 20th Century, from Robert Rauschenberg to Ruth Asawa.

John Urbain (1920-2009) studied at Black Mountain under Joseph Albers, enrolling at the school at the suggestion of fellow Detroit native and friend, the artist and prominent collagist, Ray Johnson. As a student of Albers, Urbain began a life-long exploration of matière, a concept that Albers emphasized at Black Mountain to describe a focus on the physical and visual properties of materials. True to his Black Mountain roots, Urbain was also a lifelong poet, with his work appearing in publications like the New York Quarterly. His collage, Red Green I, 1987, demonstrates his long-term commitment to color, composition, and materials, with its subtle exploration of two complementary colors and varied textural effects.

Sewell Sillman (1924-1992) also studied under Albers, initially at Black Mountain, but soon followed him to Yale, where he would receive his BFA and MFA. He would also become an important member of the faculty, where he taught from 1953 to 1966, and in 1958 he co-founded the printing press Ives-Sillman, Inc., which published works by Josef Albers, Roy Lichtenstein, and Romare Bearden, among others. His notable students include Howardena Pindell, who studied Albers’s color theory at Yale under Sewell. Pindell credits Sewell for directly impacting the subtle and muted color palette typical of her early works, recently remarking that “his course changed my life!” Sillman’s collage Untitled [Orb], 1972, is a characteristic example of his explorations with color and composition and is likely a study for a related painting.

Gerald Johnson (1944-2009) is by far the least recognized of these three artists and remains mostly unknown. After graduating from Pittsburgh State University in 1967, he immediately established a studio on Green Street in New York City and took a job as master printer with Steve Poleskie at the famed Chiron Press, where he printed works by artists with whom he would soon forge creative relationships, from Ellsworth Kelly to Ilya Bolotowsky. His work with Bolotowsky—who took over the art department at Black Mountain after Albers’s departure—began in 1970, when Johnson printed several tondos and diamonds by the elder artist. Their conversations about art and transcendence led Johnson to become Bolotowsky’s exclusive printer and studio assistant, with lasting evidence of a productive collaborative relationship. After working 8-10 hours a day with Bolotowsky, Johnson would retire to his own studio, where he made numerous collage studies and finished paintings, nearly all of which remained in his estate until his death in 2009. Untitled, 1986, is a study for a related painting from the same year and manifests the lasting influence of Constructivist principles.

For further information, please contact Gilles Heno-Coe at gilles@sideroomgallery.com. Visit us on Instagram @sideroomgallery.