Printable view
|
|
|
| Archives HomeContact Us | Close window Printable view |
Overview of the Collection |
||
| Creator: | Lombardi, Mark | |
| Title: | Mark Lombardi Card Archive | |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1990–2000 | |
| Quantity: | 16 linear feet Sixteen 5.5 x 12.5 x 3.25" index card boxes |
|
| Abstract: | Artist Mark Lombardi's personal archive of contemporary political, economic, and social scandals, arranged by company, individual, or publication, on thousands of 3 x 5" index cards. | |
Arrangement |
||
| Original order was maintained where possible, with index cards divided into two distinct groupings and one miscellaneous grouping, which now make up the following three series: | ||
| Series I: Pink Index Cards (Companies) | ||
| Series II: Green Index Cards (Individuals) | ||
| Series III: Pink, Green, and Yellow Index Cards (Companies, Individuals, and Publications) | ||
Mark Lombardi was born in 1951 in Syracuse, New York. After graduating from Syracuse University with a bachelor's degree in
art history in 1974, Lombardi moved to Houston, where he worked as an Assistant Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art,
while also running a small gallery on the side. In 1976, he became a reference librarian in the Fine Arts department of the
Houston Public Library, where he started a regional artist archive. In 1994, he pivoted his artmaking from abstract painting
to diagrammatic drawings, which were first exhibited in Houston the next year. In 1997, he was included in a group show at
the Drawing Center in SoHo beginning his rise to prominence. Lombardi died by suicide at the age of 48 in 2000.
Lombardi was a conceptual artist whose drawings consisted of diagram or web-like networks of intersecting circles, lines,
and letters, which he referred to as "narrative structures" concerning contemporary political, economic, and social issues,
assembled from the newspapers Lombardi read each day. He maintained an archive of these published sources, amounting to over
10,000 3 x 5" index cards, which make up this collection.
Lombardi used contemporary political, economic, and social scandals, published in newspapers, as the basis of his diagrammatic artworks. This collection represents his archive of these published sources, amounting to over 10,000 3 x 5" index cards, arranged thematically by either company, individual, or publication.
The records are open for research and contain no/few restricted materials.
The Mark Lombardi Card Archive is the physical property of The Museum of Modern Art. Literary rights, including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with The Museum of Modern Art. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the staff of the MoMA Archives.
Published citations should take the following form:
Long version: Mark Lombardi Card Archive, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
Short version: Mark Lombardi, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY.
The Mark Lombardi Card Archive was donated to the MoMA Archives in 2006 by the artist's father Donald Lombardi, via the Pierogi Gallery.
Series I and II are arranged in their original order, which roughly follows alphabetical order. However, Series III was received in no discernible order. Those index cards were in loose groups or stacks at the bottom of a shipping box. Some had been rubber banded together, but in almost all cases, the rubber bands were broken, making it impossible to know where one group started and the other ended. Many were upside down, backwards, and so forth. Aside from trying to make them all upright and forward-facing, they were transferred from the shipping box into archival boxes, as is. To determine whether an individual or company is represented in this series, one would need to look through all eight boxes.
Series I: Pink Index Cards (Companies) |
||
|
Roughly four linear feet of handwritten index cards, arranged alphabetically by subject heading, with brief citations and other notes. Subject matter includes domestic and international companies, such as banks, airlines, and other large corporations. There are a few instances of non-pink cards found in this run. The cards are arranged in their original order; some may be out of order alphabetically. |
||
| Folder | Title | |
| I.1 | A-C | |
| I.2 | D-La | |
| I.3 | Le-Sp | |
| I.4 | St-Z | |
|
|
||
Series II: Green Index Cards (Individuals) |
||
|
Roughly four linear feet of handwritten index cards, arranged alphabetically by subject's last name, with brief citations and other notes. Individuals include domestic and international politicians, businessmen, people accused or convicted of crimes, and more. There are a few instances of non-green cards found in this run. The cards are arranged in their original order; some may be out of order alphabetically. |
||
| Folder | Title | |
| II.1 | A-C | |
| II.2 | D-Kl | |
| II.3 | Kn-R | |
| II.4 | S-Z | |
|
|
||
Series III: Pink, Green, and Yellow Index Cards (Companies, Individuals, and Publications) |
||
|
Roughly eight linear feet of pink, green, and yellow index cards, which were received in no discernible order. Index cards have brief citations and other notes. Companies and individuals are represented in this series, on pink and green index cards, respectively. The subject matter of some yellow cards includes newspapers, reports, and other published sources, in addition to companies and individuals. |
||
| Folder | Title | |
| III.1 | Miscellaneous | |
| III.2 | Miscellaneous | |
| III.3 | Miscellaneous | |
| III.4 | Miscellaneous | |
| III.5 | Miscellaneous | |
| III.6 | Miscellaneous | |
| III.7 | Miscellaneous | |
| III.8 | Miscellaneous | |
|
|
||
| Box | Series | Folder |
| 1 | I | 1 |
| 2 | I | 2 |
| 3 | I | 3 |
| 4 | I | 4 |
| 5 | II | 1 |
| 6 | II | 2 |
| 7 | II | 3 |
| 8 | II | 4 |
| 9 | III | 1 |
| 10 | III | 2 |
| 11 | III | 3 |
| 12 | III | 4 |
| 13 | III | 5 |
| 14 | III | 6 |
| 15 | III | 7 |
| 16 | III | 8 |