The Art Dockuments records the stories of the 36 exhibitions from 1980 to 1986 that I hosted in the Art Dock, a loading dock that was part of my loft in downtown Los Angeles. This was a drive-by gallery, and only one artwork at a time could be seen by a vehicle passing on the street by the Citizens Warehouse. The Art Dock was a gallery of the downtown art community. There were many vivid images and tales created in this space, which was curtained off first from my living and working space by a piece of Christo’s “Running Fence” and later a wall built by artist Sauren Crow, whose art work, “Dissolving Views,” didn’t appear until weeks after the opening. Gary Lloyd’s piece, “Defense Spending,” a coin-covered sculpture looking like a fireman’s axe made out of meat, was stolen from the dock. The artist appeared on a local news station for a story titled “Contemporary Art Stolen.” In a four-part installation by artist Neal Taylor and composer Drew Lesso, a musical score was played into the street. The video artist Ulysses Jenkins had his performance in the Art Dock, “Without Your Interpretation,” and this piece was replayed in 2022 in his retrospective show at the Hammer Museum.

The Art Dockuments

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Two Art Dock installations by Neal Taylor and Drew Lesso. Left: Still Among The Living. An installation for  Halloween. Right: A Means to a Natural Order. The insallation with leaves in the Art Dock and coal dust in the street