Andres Sterzing, David Wojnarowicz at Gracie Mansion Gallery Sofa Show, September 1983. Photo copyright and courtesy Andreas Sterzing
The Sofa/Painting show, was held in September 1983. Gracie Mansion Gallery invited six artists to create both a sofa and a painting to hang above it, targeting the tastes of art buyers who were more concerned with what “looked good over the sofa” than with the art’s deeper meaning.
The show included Mike Bidlo, Claudia DeMonte, Rodney Greenblat, Stephen Lack, David Wojnarowicz and Rhonda Zwillinger.
David Wojnarowicz found a legless diner bench on the street and placed it on two milk cartons. On the seat, he used Plexiglas to express his frustration with the art world, writing a complaint about the pressures of being constantly pursued by galleries. He then painted over it with bold, abstract forms and a head that seemed to scream in anguish. On the back of the sofa, he painted a cityscape with a globe in the sky, adding to the sense of chaos. Above the sofa, a painting depicted a figure climbing a tree with a broken branch.
