Extent:

74.64 linear feet (117 boxes, 2 flatfile folders)

Scope and content:

The series contains correspondence, installation notes, shipping receipts, ephemera, text panels, posters, and photographs chronicling Sekula's extensive exhibition history from his 1970 installation at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to the 2013 exhibition, L'oeil Photographique. Each of Sekula's solo exhibitions is thoroughly documented. The files for Fish Story (1995-1996), which traveled to Rotterdam, Stockholm, Glasgow, Calais, and Santa Monica, California, are especially extensive and contain announcements, checklists, correspondence, scripts, slide notes, and text galleys, as well as drafts and annotated versions of the catalogs. Original artworks for early exhibitions such as a handmade comic, "Red Comix Square," and several plastic fried eggs for a 1971 installation are also found in this series.

Sekula's participation in group shows was as extensive as that of his solo exhibitions. The materials for these exhibitions primarily comprise ephemera and reviews. Exceptions such as Real Stories: Revisions in Documentary and Narrative Photography, InSite97, Yokohama Triennial, Titanic's Wake, Documenta 11, and Documenta 12 include more comprehensive files containing catalogs, press packets, and correspondence. Files on proposed and unrealized exhibitions are also included in the series, as are materials relating to Sekula's film screenings.

Also included in the series are materials relating to Sekula's film screenings, with particular emphasis on Forgotten Space, including scripts, treatments, and voiceovers.

Processing information:

Processing of this series was begun by Lauren McDaniel and continued by Emmabeth Nanol.

Arrangement:

The series is organized into two main categories: Exhibitions and Film and Video Screenings. Within Exhibitions, files are further organized into solo and group exhibitions, with files listed chronologically within each subgroup. A few posthumous exhibitions (after 2013) are also included.

Audiovisual and born-digital titles, unless enclosed in brackets, are transcribed directly from the labels on the pieces.

Contents

Access and use