Rita Myers Explained

Rita Myers (born 1947) is an American video installation artist.^[1] Her work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.^[2]

Early life and education

Myers was born in Hammonton, New Jersey,.^[1] and attended Saint Joseph High School in her hometown.^[3] She received a B.A. from Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Jersey and an M.A. from Hunter College, New York.^[4]

Work

Shauna Snow writing in the Los Angeles Times described Myers' "Rift Rise" as "a meditation upon destructive force that incorporates video monitors, music, live trees and mixed media constructions into a confrontation of landscapes".^[5] Cathy Curtis in the same newspaper added that "images of destruction (fire, charred tree branches) and renewal (rushing water, green leaves) play on both sides of opposing banks of monitors, one made of sharp-edged black slabs, the other covered with live birch trees. At once very simple and very grand in scope, the installation offers a five-minute meditation on the cycle of life."^[6]

Also in the Los Angeles Times, "The Allure of the Concentric" was described as having "four monitors amid large volcanic rocks show close-up views of leaves and weeds, dry cracked ground and the silhouette of stark tree trunks against sky."^[7] Curtis described it as a room-size installation where the viewer enters "through a metal gate that is left ajar. Landscape imagery plays on six video monitors set on arrangements of rocks on either side of the room. At the far end of the gallery, three tall aluminum mesh “castles” huddle together. In the center of the room, three dead dogwood trees overhang a pool of water."^[8]

Helen A. Harrison in The New York Times described "In the Planet of the Eye" as "a severe structure of Gothic arched steel, metal and wire mesh frames two distorted chairs. Slits of natural light provide restricted illumination, and attention is focused on a video monitor, suspended from the ceiling, on which a spinning gyroscope is juxtaposed with revolving views of a desert landscape."^[9]

Publications

Publications by Myers

• Rita Myers, Rift rise: September 26–November 7, 1987. New York: The Alternative Museum, 1987. .
• Water moves. New York: Macmillan McGraw-Hill. .

Publications with contributions by Myers

• C. 7,500. Valencia, CA: California Institute of the Arts, 1973. .
• American Landscape Video: The Electronic Grove. Featuring works by Dara Birnbaum, Frank Gillette, Doug Hall, Mary Lucier, Rita Myers, Steina Vasulka, Bill Viola. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Museum of Art, 1988.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• Rita Myers: Phantom Cities, University Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 1990^[10]

Group exhibitions

• Whitney Biennial, 1979. Curated by John G. Hanhardt, Barbara Haskell, Richard Marshall, Mark Segal, and Patterson Sims.^{[11] [12]}
• Video and Ritual, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1984^[13]
• Preparation and Proposition, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York, 1984. Curated by Madeleine Burnside. Includes part of Myers' "In the Planet of the Eye".^[9]
• American Landscape Video: The Electronic Grove, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1988. Curated by William D. Judson. Included Myers' "The Allure of the Concentric".^[7] Travelled to Newport Harbor Art Museum, Costa Mesa, California, 1989.^[5] Myers' contribution was switched to "Rift Rise".^[8]
• Continuum and the Moment, Fullerton Art Gallery, California State University, Fullerton, 1989. With Bill Viola and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Included Myers' "The Allure of the Concentric".^[8]
• Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany, 2015;^[14] ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2017/18;^[15] The Photographers' Gallery, London, 2016/17^[16]

Collections

Myers' work is held in the following permanent collection:

• Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: various materials (as of 5 January 2023)^[17]
• Museum of Modern Art, New York: 1 video (as of 5 January 2023)^[2]

See also

• Feminist avantgarde

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023-01-05. Rita Myers. 10 August 2016. utexas.edu.
2. Web site: 2023-01-05. Rita Myers - MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
3. via United Press International. "Oakhurst Boy Wins NJ Legion Oratory Contest", The News (Paterson), March 13, 1965. Accessed January 18, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "The other three contestants in the order of finish were: Rita Marie Myers, 17, of 323 E Pleasant Ave.. Hammonton, a senior at St. Joseph's High School, Hammonton, 'The Fire of Our Founding Fathers Revitalized',' a $100 scholarship."
4. Web site: 2023-01-05. Electronic Arts Intermix: Rita Myers : Biography. www.eai.org.
5. Web site: Shauna. Snow. 2023-01-06. Artists Turn Landscape Art Into Video. 15 October 1989. Los Angeles Times.
6. Web site: Cathy. Curtis. 2023-01-06. Art Review : 'American Landscape Video' Exhibit Breaks New Ground. 8 November 1989. Los Angeles Times.
7. Web site: L. A. Times. Archives. 2023-01-06. 'The Electronic Grove' : Video Art Takes the Viewer Into the Picture. 10 June 1988. Los Angeles Times.
8. Web site: Cathy. Curtis. 2023-01-06. Art Review : Slow Pace Helps One Savor Fullerton Exhibit : Photography: Video grabs the spotlight at "Continuum and the Moment," a celebration of the camera's 150th anniversary.. 7 December 1989. Los Angeles Times.
9. News: Helen A.. Harrison. 2023-01-06. ART; THE WORKINGS OF THE ARTIST'S MIND. The New York Times. 23 September 1984. 0362-4331.
10. Web site: 2023-01-05. Rita Myers: Phantom Cities. fac.umass.edu.
11. Web site: 2023-01-05. Whitney Biennial 1979. whitney.org.
12. Book: 1979 Biennial exhibition.. 1979 . Whitney Museum of American Art. Internet Archive.
13. Web site: 2023-01-05. Video and Ritual - MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
14. Web site: 2023-01-05. The Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s - Hamburger Kunsthalle. www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de.
15. Web site: 2023-01-05. Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s - 18.11.2017 - 00:00 to 08.04.2018 - 00:00 - ZKM. zkm.de.
16. Web site: 2023-01-05. An exhibition on ground-breaking feminist art is coming to London (and it's going to be an absolute must-see). 20 July 2016. Marie Claire UK.
17. Web site: 2023-01-05. Rita Myers. cmoa.org.