In the early 1980s I flew out to California to visit a friend who was living outside San Francisco. While exploring the city I discovered an old book store that was about to close. They had binders of aging copies of the now-defunct New York Herald newspaper dating from 1897 to the 1920s that were selling at discount. Because I was from New York City and had a fascination with the early 20th century (because of my grandparents living in the city during that time), I felt a strong connection to the old newspapers and bought them. They were around 20 dollars for each binder. I remember bringing the newspapers home on the plane with me in bags and how heavy they were. The pages were aging. When I would open up the binders, little pieces of the newspapers would flake off.
The binders filled with aging New York Herald pages sat in my apartment for years. I didn’t know what to do with them. Then I had an idea. Make them into art. In the summer of 2000, I took a class at the Art Students League of New York, so I could create collage art using the old newspapers. What got in the way of my plan was I learned how to paint that summer. I became obsessed with painting. And I forgot all about the newspapers.
Since that summer 25 years ago, I have created some collage art pieces with the New York Herald pages. But only a few. I have now decided to focus on it. I am going to collage the old newspapers into some of my photographs and drawings this year. The aging pages will be shaped into abstract faces and forms, glued onto paper, and preserved.
February 23, 2025