Soho: The Rise and Fall of an Artist's Colony - Hardcover

Kostelanetz, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415965721 ISBN 13: 9780415965729

Publisher: Routledge, 2003

Synopsis

Soho: The Rise and Fall documents how a little-known industrial neighborhood in New York became, through one of the accidents of history, a nexus of creative activity for a brief but intensive period. Such an ideal situation--entirely unplanned--could not last forever; the author shows how market forces squeezed out this art utopia, to be replaced by a shadow of its former self.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Kostelanetz is a critic and literary artist. He moved to SoHo just as it was being developed by the underground arts community, and his home-apply named WordShip-has become one of the most famous loft/work space environments of the city. He is the author of over 40 original books as well as 40 edited volumes. He lives in New York City.

Review:

Artist and author Kostelanetz writes with firsthand knowledge of the place and its people, tracing SoHo from its heyday as an eclectic center of artistic expression in the 1970s to its discovery by the mainstream and subsequent transformation into the pricey world of chic. -- Carol J. Binkowski, Library Journal
The chapters that focus on Nam June Paik, Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, and other such pivotal figures offer the book's best insights into the essence of the SoHo phenomenon. -- Carol J. Binkowski, Library Journal
There is plenty of detailed description throughout about everything from startling sculpture and performance art and the design of offbeat lofts to the complicated mechanics of funding and the protocol of garbage scavenging. -- Carol J. Binkowski, Library Journal
Of particular interest to artists and New York City buffs, this savvy little history should also be appealing to those intrigued by the sociology of counterculture and the traditions of avant-garde art. -- Carol J. Binkowski, Library Journal
Books at once this informative and this much fun are rare. Here is city history--neighborhood history--at its best. What starts off looking like a no frills account, develops authority, presence, and drive. Read it, and the art of that time, that place will simply make more sense. It's a book I'm glad I read and am personally grateful to Kostelanetz for having written. -- Samuel R. Delany
New York's SoHo, by an uncanny series of accidents, became one of the great magical places of the late twentieth-century. There are many people around the world today, including me, who were drawn to downtown in its prime and who mourn what is gone. The amazing thing though is that SoHo happened at all. Richard Kostelanetz was there from the start and lived through its glory days from inside. He offers thick, rich descriptions of people, institutions, and events, explains the unlikely synergies that made it possible, and above all captures its aura. Without intending to do it, Kostelanetz convinces us that creative buildings, blocks, streets, and neighborhoods can come into being again. -- Marshal Berman
A very important first hand contribution to the history of a unique art community that changed not only the art, but also the City, of New York. -- Jonas Mekas
For those who want to read up on media and performance artists and others who were active in SoHo in the 70s and 80s, Kotelanetz's book will be a useful reference. He has probably the best and most even-handed description of George Maciunas, the Fluxus artist and creative developer of the first SoHo co-ops. -- SoHo Artists Foundation/ Ingrid Wiegand
For those who want to read up on media and performance artists and others who were active in SoHo in the 70s and 80s, Kotelanetz's book will be a useful reference. He has probably the best and most even-handed description of George Maciumas, the Fluxus artist and creative developer of the first SoHo co-ops. -- Ingrid Wiegand

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0415965721
• ISBN 13: 9780415965729
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264