Ray Johnson, Ray Johnson

A collection of essays and writings by William Wilson on the work of Ray Johnson, unpacking the enigmatic artist’s work in the often intersecting disciplines of mail art and collage. Wilson argues that all art is representational, “it just depends on what the artist thinks is real.” For all of the playful mystery surrounding Johnson’s work, through this lens we are led to believe that there is indeed no boundary between art and artist; Johnson presents a reality—a world—as he experiences it, complete with all of its confounding clues and coincidences.

Includes the introduction to Something Else Press’ The Paper Snake, “Ray Wilson: Vibration and Reverberation,” “Grandma Moses of the Underground,” “NY Correspondance School,” “Ray Johnson: Letters of Reference,” and “Ray Johnson: The Comedian as the Letter” from North Carolina Museum of Art’s Correspondence: An Exhibition of the Letters of Ray Johnson.

Wilson, William S. Ray Johnson Ray Johnson. New York: Between Books Press, 1978.