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Fran Herndon
Born
Fran Herndon

c. 1926
North Carolina, U.S.
Died (aged 94)
EducationCalifornia School of Fine Arts, San Francisco
Known forlithographs, painting

Fran Herndon (c. 1926 – May 24, 2020) was an American artist associated with the central poets of the San Francisco Renaissance. Trained at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) in print-making and painting, Herndon is known for her lithographs and collages, many of which were produced in tandem with Jack Spicer's poetry, and intended for joint viewing and reading.[1] More recently, Herndon has branched out to work in drawing and pastels.[2][3]

Herndon's work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions dating back to at least 1963, during which Herndon's "Grail Series" works were a part of the group exhibit, Exhibit.[4] More recently, Herndon has had three solo shows in 2011 at Altman Siegel Gallery, Canessa Park Gallery, and The Apartment.[5] In 2010, her work was part of the group exhibition, Breathless Days 1959-1960: A Chronotropic Experiment, at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.[6] For most of her career, Herndon had no dealer and rarely sold her work, and her reputation was therefore greatest amongst fellow artists and poets. Her silence is typical of the artistic circles she ran in: San Francisco being far off the art map, San Francisco artists indulged in a kind of "nihilism," rarely "took any precautions to preserve their work," and "[d]ocumentation was unheard of."[7] From 2011 she was represented by the Altman Siegel Art Gallery.[8][3]

Early life and work

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Born in North Carolina and of Native American ancestry, Herndon lived for a time in France, where she met her then-husband Jim Herndon. The Herndons settled in San Francisco, where they had two children: Jay Herndon (1957-) and Jack Herndon (1960-).[8] It was in San Francisco that she met the central poets associated with the San Francisco Renaissance: Jack Spicer, Robin Blaser, Robert Duncan, and Jess. More specifically, they were the poets of the Berkeley Renaissance, which was later "absorbed into a broader aesthetic, geographical, and temporal movement called the San Francisco Renaissance", alongside the clashing Beat aesthetics of Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen.[9] Her tutelage under and collaborations with Jack Spicer, in particular, resulted in various lithographs created in tandem with Spicer's poetry.[4] His verse "allowed the poetry he wrote while working with Herndon to grow flat, more literal, incantatory, till it approaches the emotionally numb."[1]

Artistic practices

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Alongside fellow artists such as Helen Adam, Paul Alexander (American artist), Jess and Tom Field, Herndon contributed to the development of a socially engaged school of art in California that "challenged the values of the East Coast School of Abstract Expressionism." The visual and literary arts were crucial to creating local, West Coast and Bay Area variants of modernism. Her work has been described as one of "quiet [extremism]" and linked, in that way, to other West Coast artists connected to the San Francisco Renaissance such as Harry Jacobus, Jess Collins, Paul Alexander, and Tom Field.[10]

An example of Herndon's early work is her series of collages made in 1963 based on Sports Illustrated.[3] These collages were later published as a part of Jim Herndon's memoirs of the collaboration between Herndon and Jack Spicer, Everything as Expected. Herndon continues to be invested in the convergence of the written and visual arts: her prints continue to be best viewed with "their intended volume of poetry" and her collages often make use of "clipped text swirling about in a manner somewhere between that of Richard F. Outcault's Yellow Kid comics and Richard Hamilton's similar collages."[11]

Spicer impressed upon Herndon his own poetic strategies of "applying practical magic and using allegory to express the existential conflict and social upheaval that was central to the artistic ground swell of the Beat movement"[12] which she, in turn, absorbed and put to use in her own practices of painting and printmaking. As her artistic practice matured, Fran Herndon became Spicer's closest collaborator. In an interview with Lewis Ellingham, she said that "He [Spicer] saw in me something greater than I saw in myself – I think."[13] Writing for SFMOMA's OpenSpace project, Norma Cole stated that "Jack would come over to Fran and Jim Herndon's place in the evening and read the new poems to them. During the day Fran would walk up to the San Francisco Art Institute and create the beautiful, mysterious lithographs that would be in the book with the poems."[14] The close relationships between Herndon's practice and poetic practices, and between Herndon the artist and the many poets who at one point or another drew upon ideas coming out of the San Francisco Renaissance is apparent. At Herndon's 2012 solo exhibition at Vancouver's Blanket Gallery, for example, curator Lee Plested organised a special poetry reading[12][15] including Meredith Quartermain, Gary Thomas Morse, Robin Blaser's partner, David Farwell, and George Stanley, whose 2003 poetry collection, "A Tall, Serious Girl" features Herndon's painting, "Eye on the Sea."[16] Her works continue to be curated and shown by poets such as Kevin Killian, just as she began her career by "showing at the experimental "poets' galleries" of the period (the Peacock Gallery, Buzz)."[3]

Editorial work

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In 1959, Herndon served as the art editor of the poetry/art magazine J, often credited as the first journal of the "mimeo revolution and the harbinger of hundreds of successors in the 60s and 70s."[3] The magazine was produced by Spicer via mimeograph in San Francisco.[17] Herndon's contribution to the magazine was crucial: its "playful, even colorful, formal character thanks to Fran Herndon, who edited the artwork for the magazine" in combination with an "uncompromising editorial stance" led to J's establishment as a "representative of the best of the mimeograph revolution."[17] Together, Spicer and Herndon edited the first five issues of the magazine.[18] J was named after the Herndons' first son, Jay.[8]

Death

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Fran Herndon died on May 24, 2020, at the age of 94.[19]

Solo exhibitions

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Group exhibitions

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Collections

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Catalogues

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  • Benzan, Carla, Allison Collins, Shaun Dacey, Aldona Dziedziejko, Darrin Martens, Sarah Todd, and Scott Watson. Breathless Days: 1959-1960.[34]
  • Alexander, Paul, Lyn Brockway, Ralph T. Field, Fran Herndon, Harry Jacobus, and Jess. Exhibition. Peacock Gallery, 1963.[30]

Further reading

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  • Adam, Helen, and Jess Collins. "Selected letters, 1956-1984." Chicago Review, 2016.[35]
  • "A dance with Orpheus"
  • Blaser, Robin. "Les Chimères, Translations of Nerval for Fran Herndon", 1965.[36]
  • Herndon, Fran. "Artwork from The Heads of the Town up to the Aether (1962)"[37]
  • Herndon, Fran. "Fran Herndon / introduction, Lee Plested [essay by] Kevin Killian"[38]
  • Robinson, Elizabeth. "San Fran Reconnaissance: an Interview with Fran Herndon." Fact-Simile 7 (2011) 6-38.[8]
  • Spicer, Jack.The Heads of the Town up to the Aether, Auerhahn Society, 1962. ASIN B0006CRD0C
  • Spicer, Jack. Golem. New York City: Granary Books, 1999.[39]

References

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  1. ^ a b Julie Harrison. "Golem, Jack Spicer & Fran Herndon". Granarybooks.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  2. ^ Kelly (2014-01-14). "Fran Herndon". Rain Taxi. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Fran Herndon". Altman Siegel. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  4. ^ a b c Lewis Ellingham; Kevin Killian (1998-07-29). Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance. Wesleyan University Press. p. 403. ISBN 9780819553089. Retrieved 2017-05-03 – via Internet Archive. peacock gallery fran herndon.
  5. ^ "The Apartment". Cargocollective.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  6. ^ a b "Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery | Breathless Days 1959 - 1960". Belkin.ubc.ca. 2010-06-02. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  7. ^ "Fran Hendon : Prepared for exhibition, "Fran Herndon," at Altman Siegel Gallery, September 8, 2011" (PDF). Altmansiegel.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  8. ^ a b c d "Fact Simile : Feature interview with FRAN HERNDON by Elizabeth Robinson" (PDF). Altmansiegel.com. 2011. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  9. ^ Vincent, John Emil (2005). ""Pinnacle of No Explanation: Jack Spicer's Exercise of the Novel."#". The Massachusetts Review. 46 (2): 313–41. JSTOR 25090993.
  10. ^ Borruso, Matt (2010-07-10). "A Less Shadowed Place : Open Space". Openspace.sfmoma.org. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  11. ^ "Fran Herndon at Altman Siegel Gallery | Artcards Review". Artcards.cc. 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  12. ^ a b c "Vernissage to Voyage in Paint - Fran Herndon at Blanket Gallery". Talonbooks.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  13. ^ Ellingham, Lewis, and Kevin Killian. "Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance." Wesleyan: 1998.
  14. ^ Stein, Suzanne (2011-05-20). "Palimpsest 11 : Open Space". Openspace.sfmoma.org. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  15. ^ "Poetry 'Commutiny' in the Couve (It's a Riot!) | the Capilano Review". Archived from the original on 2018-04-07. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  16. ^ "A Tall, Serious Girl: Selected Poems 1957-2000 CLOTH - George Stanley : Small Press Distribution". Spdbooks.org. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  17. ^ a b "A Secret Location. . ., A Little History of the Mimeo Revolution". Granarybooks.com. 1955-10-07. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  18. ^ [1] [dead link‍]
  19. ^ Albon, George (14 June 2021). "Fran Herndon: A Remembrance". San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Fran Herndon at Blanket Gallery | Here and Elsewhere". Hereelsewhere.com. 2012-05-20. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  21. ^ "Fran Hendon : Organized by Lee Plested and Kevin Killian" (PDF). Altmansiegel.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  22. ^ "Kevin Killian presents ... Fran Herndon Day" (PDF). Altmansiegel.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g "Fran Herndon Biography – Fran Herndon on artnet". Artnet.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  24. ^ "Exhibitions". White Columns. 2006-03-13. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  25. ^ "Fran Hendon" (PDF). Altmansiegel.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  26. ^ "ARTIFACT*: 7.11-8.12 : Five Habitats: Squatting at Langton". Artifactseries.blogspot.ca. 2006-07-05. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  27. ^ "Past Exhibitions". California Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  28. ^ a b "Fran Herndon". Verdantpress.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  29. ^ "3.1-2.0.0065 - White Rabbit Symposium: Jack Spicer Conference, June 1986". Belkin.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  30. ^ a b "Catalog, Exhibition: Paul Alexander, Lyn Brockway, Ralph T. Field, Fran Herndon, Harry Jacobus, Jess, at Peacock Gallery · Digital Collections - University at Buffalo Libraries". Digital.lib.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  31. ^ "Death of Kid Paret - Herndon, Fran". Belkin.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  32. ^ "Jack Spicer on the Beach - Herndon, Fran". Belkin.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  33. ^ "Portrait of Robin Blaser - Herndon, Fran". Belkin.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  34. ^ "Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery | publications". Belkin.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  35. ^ Adam, H., and J. Collins. 2016. Chicago review: Selected letters, 1956-1984. 60, (2): 15
  36. ^ Herndon, Fran (2006). ""Les Chimères: 1963–1964." In The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser, Revised and Expanded Edition., edited by Nichols Miriam, by Creeley Robert and Bernstein Charles". University of California Press: 95–108. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt1pphk2.12. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  37. ^ Jack Spicer (1977). "Front Matter". Boundary 2. 6 (1). Duke University Press. JSTOR 302466.
  38. ^ Fran Herndon / introduction, Lee Plested [essay by] Kevin Killian. San Francisco, CA : Altman Siegel, 2011.
  39. ^ Julie Harrison. "Golem, Jack Spicer & Fran Herndon". Granarybooks.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
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