Keith Edmier& EpisodE 1

KEITH EDMIER

& EPISODE 1

Narration by Jade Dellinger

July 10 through September 21, 2008University Art Museum, University at Albany

State University of New York

LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITION

Buzz Sports & Entertainment, Chicago

Mike Capps, Technic Dental Lab, Orland Park, IL

Beverly and Tom Edmier

William Forsche

Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York

Bill Jackson

Jack Kellog

Don Kellogg

The Museum of Broadcast Communication, Chicago

New York State Museum, Albany, NY

Craig Reardon

Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY

Introduction

Keith Edmier: & Episode 1 features autobiographical objects and ephemera that haveinfluenced the early esthetic development of sculptor Keith Edmier. As such, his in-stallation at the University Art Museum and this subsequent publication form an artist-curated project. & Episode 1 weaves together Edmier’s own personal recollections ofgrowing up in the suburban Midwest during the 1970s with larger cultural phenomena,such as children’s television, horror films, special effects, and mass-market toys. Withthe goal of sorting through the many referential layers that connect Edmier’s autobi-ography to larger histories, these commingled hierarchies and collapsed time framesare at the core of Edmier’s devotional quest to give memory a tangible form.

We would like to sincerely thank those individuals whose support and assistancemade this exhibition possible. Special thanks go to independent curator Jade Dellingerfor writing the narration that illuminates the many networks and trajectories that re-main central to Edmier’s practice; to Fritz Dietl and Dietl International for making thewondrous Mold-a-Rama possible; to Daniel Berger and The Museum of Broadcast Com-munication for the loan of so many gems from the golden age of Chicago children’stelevision; to Geoffrey Stein of the New York State Museum, Chris Hunter of the Sch-enectady Museum, and Patrick Ferlo of the Performing Arts Center, University at Albanyfor the important loans of period soundstage equipment; and to Friedrich Petzel Galleryfor its encouragement and assistance in realizing this project. Matt Tiernan, artist andmuseum friend, deserves a special debt of gratitude for his passionate resolve tobring a great idea to life.

The complexities and many challenges of mounting Keith Edmier: & Episode 1were met by the museum’s multi-talented and endlessly resourceful staff under thewise oversight of director Janet Riker. Special thanks go to student volunteers TeganBarron-Shashok, Peggy Collins, Jennifer Hunold, Janae McHugh, and Joelle Nadeau;and to the University at Albany’s Office of the President and Office of the Provost.

Finally, our sincerest thanks go to Keith Edmier for shedding a beautifully twistedlight on the stuff that shapes us all in indelible ways.

Corinna Ripps SchamingAssociate Director/Curator

Mold-a-Rama

Mr. J.H. “Tyke” Miller of Quincy, Illinois designed the Mold-a-Rama, a cutting-edge injection molding sys-tem that could cast waxy plastic toys in a matter of minutes under a glass dome so that the entire man-ufacturing process could take place right before the customer’s eyes. The toys were a novelty at the1964–65 New York World’s Fair; a Sinclair Oil-sponsored exhibition featured machines that produced Sin-clair Dinoland Brontosaurs and Sinclair Dinoland Triceratops in a variety of colors. Like all souvenirs, theMold-a-Rama statues were intended not only as toys, but also as tools to remind visitors of their visit—physical, sensory, and experiential reminders of a particular time and place.

Given their instant popularity, after the World’s Fair the machines were sent on a tour of Sinclair gasstations across the country. The text “New York World’s Fair 1965” on the base was removed from thealuminum molds, while “Sinclair Dinoland” remained on the verso. One of these Mold-a-Rama machines,with its original dinosaur molds, eventually found a home in Illinois at the Brookfield Zoo. The earlysnapshot, which much later became Untitled (Brookfield Zoo) (1976/1993), was taken by the eight-year-old Edmier at the zoo’s ostrich enclosure. Perhaps just as significantly, this zoo was also where thechild artist first collected one of these injection-molded plastic toys.

To this day, the exact material composition of the earliest Mold-a-Rama figures is a matter of de-bate, but the distinctive smell of liquefied plastic and the pliable, waxy surface of the still-warm-to-the-touch, freshly minted toys have remained so vivid in Edmier’s memory that the form has become acommon vernacular in his visual and material language. Edmier’s Flicka (Blue, Green and Yellow) (1993),and Ethiopian Baby, Young Woman (1984–85/1994) are prime examples of the Mold-a-Rama’s lastingimpact. As on the Mold-a-Rama toys, the mold lines and seams are shamelessly revealed, and Edmieradds pigment to a combination of polyvinyl and wax to create a solid, monochromatic, semi-translucentcolor. While from a distance it might be mistaken for a Japanese model kit (fully assembled but left un-painted), the artist’s Young Woman (Maquette) (1994) edition is, on detailed inspection, as close an ap-proximation of a Mold-a-Rama product as one is likely to find.

ABOVE: Keith Edmier, Mold-a-Rama DolphinRIGHT: Mold-a-Rama machine, installation view

Clowns

Keith Edmier notes that “the clown is an ambiguous figure who is neither child noradult. Essentially without gender, the clown becomes a vessel onto which anything canbe projected.” Edmier’s father, Tom, commissioned a family friend to paint a clown por-trait in celebration of his son’s birth in 1967. The canvas, by H.J. Bialik, hung in Edmier’sbedroom and was thematically linked to an officially licensed Bozo doll that accompa-nied the baby nightly in his crib.

“Bozo’s Circus” first aired on Monday, September 11, 1961. The original cast in-cluded Ringmaster Ned (Ned Locke), Bob Trendler and his thirteen-piece Big Top Band,Sandy the Tramp (Don Sandburg), Oliver O. Oliver (Ray Rayner), and Bob Bell as Bozo theClown. There may have been hundreds of Bozos who later played the role on regionaltelevision stations nationwide (many trained by the late Bozo, Larry Harmon), but inChicagoland Bob Bell was the one and only Bozo. The later additions of Cooky (playedby Roy Brown) and characters like Wizzo the Wizzard with his Stone of Zanzibar (createdby magician Marshall Brodien) were entirely unique to WGN-TV.

Bob Bell retired from the program in 1984, and died at the age of seventy-five onDecember 8, 1997.

TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: H.J. Bialik, Clown; Cast photograph from “Bozo’s Circus,” copyright WGNContinental Broadcasting Company, used with permission; Keith Edmier, KE/Bozo

BOTTOM: Larry Harmon-authorized “Bozo the Clown” doll

Marshall Brodien

Marshall Brodien spent twenty-seven years entertaining children on WGN-TV’s “Bozo’s Circus” as Wizzothe Wizard. Donning an Arabian Nights costume and turban, Wizzo first appeared on “Bozo’s Circus” onJuly 31, 1968. In the 1940s, the young Brodien took a job demonstrating tricks at a magic shop in theChicago Loop, but soon was performing as a sideshow barker at Riverside Park, Illinois. He was enter-taining mobsters with card tricks and fire-eating at the Magic Lounge in Cicero, Illinois by the age of nine-teen, and spent a few subsequent years on the stage of Chicago’s Cairo Supper Club performing as ahypnotist.

According to Edmier: “I see parallels between Marshall Brodien and other larger-than-life person-alities from this period, like motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. Evel revolutionized the marketing of char-acter toys. His wind-up stunt cycle and doll sold in record numbers, but Marshall Brodien also becamenationally known as the creator of TV Magic Cards and TV Magic Show Kits for kids. Like Knievel, Bro-dien’s persona is part real, part made up, and can be seen as a composite of all the things that inter-est me on the masculine spectrum of my work. He is a guy from an era gone by—self-taught, driven froman early age, ambitious, a showman, comedian, illusionist, manipulator of his own image and the media,performance artist for the masses who predates Andy Kaufman, a bizarre role model for children, etc.etc…”

Marshall Brodien is the undisputed leader in the mass marketing of magic.

LEFT: Marshall Brodien-authorized “TV Magic Show Kit,” installation viewRIGHT: Autographed promotional photograph of Marshall Brodien as Wizzo

Bill Jackson

As the creator of “Cartoon Town,” “BJ and Dirty Dragon,” and “The Gigglesnort Hotel,” Bill Jackson wasa children’s television innovator. His shows featured live-action puppets made of latex (like monstermovie masks) and a particularly memorable, malleable character known simply as Blob. Blob was alarge mass of wet clay, an unformed mound at the beginning of each segment that Jackson would trans-form by the end. Blob never spoke, but some voices were pre-recorded, and Jackson provided intelligi-ble grunting to animate the character as he shaped the clay into a wide variety of recognizable forms.Eyes, teeth, and an occasional hat or sign were added to complete the character.

As Jackson later recalled in the book The Golden Age of Chicago Children’s Television by Ted Okudaand Jack Mulqueen: “I would try to script out things as fully as possible, but I would just write the be-ginning and the end of the Blob segments, and then we just went from there…When we’d do the Blob,I would let the audio man throw in any response he deemed appropriate…or inappropriate, as the caseoften was. They delighted in throwing me curves. If I was going to build Blob into a mountain with astream or something like that, they had a lot of ways to be disruptive. I had a tough time getting Blobthrough these moments, because if he was supposed to be happy, they would delight in throwing in asad response and I would have to ad-lib around that.”

LEFT: Scene from Bill Jackson’s “BJ and Dirty Dragon”RIGHT: Bill Jackson-related video from “The Gigglesnort Hotel”

LEFT: Bill Jackson, Blob, installation view

RIGHT: Bill Jackson’s puppets

Ray Rayner

The late great Ray Rayner was a staple of Chicago children’s television for more than two decades. Inthe 1960s, he hosted “The Dick Tracy Show” as Sergeant Pettibone, and led the Grand March as OliverO. Oliver on “Bozo’s Circus.” From 1972 to 1981, he hosted “Ray Rayner & His Friends” with Chelvestonthe duck and a hand puppet called Cuddly Dudley (voice by Roy Brown).

On “The Ray Rayner Show” Rayner was known for his popular (while often messy) do-it-yourself artsand crafts projects and for his regular Pretend Broadcasting System (P.B.S.) newscasts. On the P.B.S.segments, an off-camera couple named Mr. & Mrs. David joined Rayner (as he played the role of newsreporter Walter Winkley) in responding to jokes and viewer-submitted artwork with sound effects. As achild, Keith Edmier sent a drawing to “The Ray Rayner Show.” When Rayner (as Winkley) held up theyoung artist’s work, his off-camera sidekicks rang their bells wildly. Rayner’s make-believe Mr. & Mrs.David would as often blow an “ah-ooga” or a bicycle horn. The bicycle horn (accompanied by a ridiculouslaugh-track recording) was blown if they liked a joke, and those jokes or drawings they didn’t like receivedthe “ah-ooga.” Of course, the drawings kids sent in almost always evoked an enthusiastic and laudatorybell-ringing.

In his book The Story of Television, Ray Rayner provides instruction aimed at TV career-minded teensand a thorough description of designing the set for his program: “The important person in making theset was the scenic designer at the television station—an artist who specializes in designing or drawingthe plans and sketches for a set…I am also the producer of my show, so it was up to me to work out myideas with the designer…I told the designer I wanted a fun set for a children-family show. I said I wantedlots of different colors, and not too much emphasis on blue…I did not want the set to have the feelingof being a specific place, like a living room or a street…It was to be ‘anywhere’ and ‘nowhere’…Since Iknew I would be doing a little bit of everything, I wanted my set to be adaptable to anything. Therefore,it was to be ‘nowhere’! (No joke intended!) This kind of set not only lends itself to a wide range of thingsyou can do ‘within’ the set, but it also allows you to move ‘out’ of it into another area or another set with-out breaking the feel or the illusion of your main set.”

Rayner continues: “One of my favorite artists is Mondrian, who became famous with that technique[of using geometric forms and primary colors]. The geometric straight lines and colors I wanted on theflats are all there, but [unlike Mondrian] the colors are nicely muted with gold speckles.”

“Ray Rayner & His Friends” postcard, 1976, copyright WGNContinental Broadcasting Company, used with permission.

TOP: Photograph of University Art Museum, University at Albany, 1967; Photographof Studio One WGN, Chicago, c. 1972. MIDDLE: Photograph of Ray Rayner, c. 1972;Scenic designer’s sketch for “The Ray Rayner Show” set, c. 1972; Autographedpromotional photograph of Roy Brown as Cooky the Clown c. 1976, copyright WGNContinental Broadcasting Company, used with permission. BOTTOM: Keith Edmierscale model of the University Art Museum, 2008; CAD drawing for Keith Edmier’sThe Ray Rayner Show Set, 2008

Installation view of Keith Edmier’s The Ray Rayner Show Set, 2008University Art Museum, University at Albany

Jack Kellogg

A resident of Tinley Park, Illinois and neighbor of the Edmier family, Jack Kellogg would later found a com-pany with his brother called Grey Matter Response. They created synthesizers and E! software for theYamaha DX-7. Essential for both Pop bands on MTV and New York performance artists like Laurie An-derson, the portable E!-equipped DX-7 synthesizer-keyboard was an omnipresent stage tool during theperiod and helped transform electronic music in the 1980s. However, Kellogg’s influence on Keith Ed-mier pre-dated Grey Matter Response. As the artist recalls, “Jack was a friend from high school and childprodigy painter of circus clowns. He was the first exhibiting artist I ever met—featured in People Maga-zine at the age of 13. He introduced me to performance art in general—and to the work of Chris Bur-den in particular.” As People noted at the time in “Lookout: A Guide to the Up and Coming,” “A straight-Astudent steeped in the history of his field (Hieronymous Bosch speaks to him more than Henri Matisse),Jack Kellogg locks himself in his basement to turn out landscapes, still lifes and record album covers.But his great obsession is still those clowns…” The article noted that the then-teenaged Jack Kellogg’scolorful clown portraits would soon be featured in an exhibition at the 1979 National Clown Conventionin Chicago. In addition to his work as an artist (which would later expand into performance, sound art,and film), Kellogg helped innovate digital media technologies for the production of sound in film. He cur-rently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

LEFT: Clipping from People magazine, 1979 RIGHT: Jack Kellogg, video stills from Black Maria

Jack Kellogg, —and in the master bedroom there’seven a view if you remove a few trees, 1982

Mike Capps and Technic Dental Lab

As Keith Edmier recalls: “I first visited Mike Capps’s lab in 1981 at age fourteen. He had a dental labin Tinley, Illinois at 6825 West 171st Street. It was in the basement of my mother’s dentist, Dr. Graff.She told Dr. Graff that I was trying to make vampire fangs out of acrylic and was having difficulty. Dr. Graffsuggested I meet Mike Capps downstairs. He let me hang out in the lab for a day and helped me makethe fangs. I worked for him for two years, from age fourteen to sixteen, after school, Saturdays, and full-time during the summer.”

Like his ongoing exchanges with the legendary make-up effects artist Dick Smith, Keith Edmier’searly apprenticeship with Mike Capps at the Technic Dental Lab was a formative experience; it taughtthe teenager much about materials and casting methods. Dental polymer, or self-curing acrylic resin, asit is also known, is a powdery white substance that is mixed with a liquid monomer to repair chippedteeth and make dentures. The dental acrylic is stable and relatively safe, but the monomer (also knownas methyl methacrylate monomer) evaporates quickly, smells terrible, and is quite volatile. It requirescareful handling in a well-ventilated work space. Aside from their uses in cosmetic dentistry, medical ap-plications, or high-end movie effects, dental polymer and methyl methacrylate monomer are not your typ-ical art supplies, nor are they intended for the novice. The monomer dissolves plastic and thereforemust be stored in an airtight glass container. It must be special-ordered, and, as Edmier learned, in cer-tain states these materials can be purchased only with a license.

LEFT: Promotional photographs of Technic DentalLab, Orland Park, IL, courtesy of Mike CappsRIGHT: Samples from the Technic Dental Lab,

installation view; Keith Edmier, Fangs andPolaroid photograph; Technic Dental Lab

orthodontic appliances

Special Make-up Effects

Long before Dick Smith had formalized his certificate program for budding effects artists, a teenager inTinley Park, Illinois was in frequent contact and maintaining regular correspondence with the movie make-up and special effects maestro. The young Keith Edmier mailed Smith photographs of works in progress(like his special effects “appliance” for a Victor J. Andrew High School stage production of Jesus Christ Su-perstar, a “human back” that realistically gushed fake blood when whipped), and Smith reciprocated withaudiotaped instructions about methods and materials and no-nonsense advice about improving technique.

“If you are going to be a make-up artist, you will need a place where you can practice...A small areawith a worktable, chair, adequate lighting, and a sink, as nearby as possible, is minimum.” As Smithwarned the aspiring effects artist, “A basement, empty room, or garage is fine, but you may have to useyour bedroom.” Keith Edmier had the good fortune of having supportive parents. Tom and Beverly Edmierconverted the family room into a studio to provide their ambitious son with ample space for practicing hiscraft at home. His workshop was well appointed with industrial shelving, ceiling-mounted fluorescent light-ing, a large table, stool, and necessary gadgetry like mixers and scales for measuring materials. A pho-tograph hung on the black-and-white wood paneling above his work surface to provide inspiration—ahaunting image of William Hurt’s transformation make-up from the film Altered States, inscribed simply,“Best to Keith—Dick Smith.”

With a child inspired by the do-it-yourself approach of late-night Chicago horror hosts like Rich Koz (inhis role as Son of Svengoolie), Edmier’s mother and father helped him order clay, plaster, liquid latex, andsilicone rubber, and also made special trips to track down specialty items. Riley’s Trick Shop at 6442West 111th Street in Worth, Illinois, a twenty-minute drive from the Edmier family home, sold magic kits,Halloween costumes, masks, and a wide variety of gags and novelties. Jim Riley, Jr. and his wife Judy hadtaken over the business that his father had begun in Chicago in 1937, but moved it to the Worth locationin 1973. Riley’s Trick Shop became a frequent destination for the Edmier clan and an important sourcefor the artist in acquiring spirit gum, synthetic hair, mortician’s wax, and more.

Upon leaving home for the first time to live in California in 1985, the seventeen-year-old Edmier foundemployment through Dick Smith’s contact with fellow effects specialist Rick Baker. Edmier had first en-countered Baker’s work in Dino DeLaurentis’s 1976 remake of King Kong. This was the film that sparkedEdmier’s interest in the magic of motion picture special effects. At nine, Edmier had been inspired to at-tempt a photographic animation with his Kodak Instamatic camera and an Aurora-model-kit Kong. His fas-cination with the great ape continued through high school, as the aspiring effects artist created severallife-sized animatronic gorilla masks.

During this period, Edmier corresponded with “King of Splatter” Tom Savini, and even made a “Zom-bie corpse” with the hope of being recruited to work on George Romero’s Day of the Dead, but he failedto land the gig. Still, owing much to his fang-making days with Mike Capps, Edmier was well equipped, asopportunities soon arose to assist Greg Cannom (on director Joel Schumacher’s vampire horror/comedyThe Lost Boys in 1987) and make-up effects artist Craig Reardon.

Notably, Edmier provided prosthetics and effects for the TV series “Freddy’s Nightmares” and thefilm A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (where he met Joji Tani, Osaka, Japan’s notorious Scream-ing Mad George)—and, a few years later, worked as the effects supervisor with Tani on the cult horror clas-sic The Bride of Re-Animator. Before moving permanently to New York City in 1990 to concentrate strictlyon visual art, Keith Edmier racked up a rather extensive list of film effects credits that included Big TopPee Wee, Fat Man and Little Boy, and Joel and Ethan Coen’s critically acclaimed Barton Fink.

In a reconstructed photograph, Untitled (Dick Smith’s House) (1983/1995), the now-infamous headprop of actress Linda Blair from The Exorcist rests casually upon a shelf with other assorted knickknacks.This snapshot, from a personal visit (while Edmier was still in high school) to Dick Smith’s home in Larch-mont, New York, ironically cries out—like Jeff Goldblum’s character Seth Brundle in director David Cro-nenberg’s classic remake of The Fly—for viewers to “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” As incredible as it mayseem in retrospect, Keith Edmier’s first paying job in the film industry was to assist Chris Walas in creat-ing the creature effects for Goldblum’s horrific “Brundlefly” mutation. However, the early influence that DickSmith had on Edmier can hardly be overstated; through this photograph, the mature artist took the op-portunity to pay homage to his mentor.

TOP: Dick Smith, Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-Up Handbook with original source materials BOTTOM: Dick Smith, production materials, instructional data sheets

LEFT TO RIGHT: Dick Smith, life cast of actress Linda Blair from The Exorcist;Keith Edmier, photographs from visit to Dick Smith’s basement, Larchmont, NY;

Dick Smith, life cast of Linda Blair (with facial prosthetics) from The Exorcist

LEFT TO RIGHT: Keith Edmier, life cast at age fourteen; Keith Edmier, photograph of make-uptest for The Fly; Chris Walas, life cast of actor Jeff Goldblum with facial prosthetics fromThe Fly; Keith Edmier, Comedy & Tragedy (Victor J. Andrew High School Edition)

LEFT TO RIGHT: Craig Reardon, horror head and process photographs from Poltergeist;Dick Smith, replacement animation busts of actor Jeff Bridges from Starman

LEFT TO RIGHT: Keith Edmier, proposal for zombie head for Day of the Dead;Tom Savini, “Bub” zombie from Day of the Dead

Installation view of Special Make-up Effects section,University Art Museum, University at Albany

MOLD-A-RAMA

Keith EdmierMold-a-Rama machine, 2008Vintage (c.1960s) toy/souvenir-casting machinereconditioned for token-operated vending of theartist’s limited edition sculpture Mold-a-RamaDolphin, 2008Courtesy of Dietl International, New York, NY

CLOWNS

Keith EdmierKE/Bozo, 2008Cibachrome printEdition of 5Courtesy of Lamay Photo, New York, NY

H.J. BialikClown, 1967Oil on canvasCollection of Tom and Beverly Edmier, Orland Park, IL

Cast photograph from “Bozo’s Circus” Collection of The Museum of Broadcast Commu-nication, Chicago, IL

Larry Harmon-authorized “Bozo the Clown” doll,c. 1960s, Collection of Beverly Edmier, Orland Park, IL

MARSHALL BRODIEN

Marshall Brodien-authorized “TV Magic ShowKit,” 1972

Marshall Brodien autographed promotional pho-tograph as Wizzo, 1989

John Moehring, The Magical Life of Marshall Brodien (North Carolina: MacFarland & Co., Inc.,2007)

Interview with Marshall Brodien by Kim Katz for“Buzz News” TV program, “Postcards from theRoad,” 2007Video, 9 minutes, 53 secondsCourtesy of Buzz Sports & Entertainment,Chicago, IL

BILL JACKSON

Bill JacksonBlob, 2008Clay and wood pedestalCourtesy Bill Jackson, Templeton, CA

Bill Jackson’s Puppets:Old Professor, 1964; Dirty Dragon, 1963; MotherPlumtree, 1968; Wally Goodscout, 1968; May-nard Thumptwanger, 1963; and Weird Puppet,1968Latex rubber, fabricCollection of The Museum of Broadcast Communication, Chicago, IL

Bill Jackson-related video from “The GigglesnortHotel,” Volume 9, 1982Episodes: “Moods,” “Pretending”DVD

RAY RAYNER

Keith EdmierThe Ray Rayner Show Set, 2008Site-specific installation/reconstruction of theWGN/Chicago TV soundstage, including the orig-inal barrel prop from “The Ray Rayner Show,”jumpsuit worn by Ray Rayner on “The RayRayner Show,” and Puppets, Pies, Prizes, 2001,

VHS video excerpt (Courtesy of The Museum ofBroadcast Communication, Chicago, IL); Roy T.Brown’s Phantom Piper, c. 1960s, gouache on il-lustration board; Norelco television camera andcamera stand from WMHT Public Television, c. 1970s (Courtesy of the New York State Museum, Albany, NY); Klieg lights and televisionboom, c. 1970s (Courtesy of the SchenectadyMuseum, Schenectady, NY)

JACK KELLOGG

—and in the master bedroom there’s even a viewif you remove a few trees, 1982 (original title: Future’s Tense)Oil on canvas Collection of Don Kellogg, Santa Cruz, CA

Jack KelloggBlack Maria, 2007Digital video on DVDCourtesy of the artist, Buenos Aires, Argentina

TECHNIC DENTAL LAB

Keith Edmier (with assistance from Mike Capps,Technic Dental Lab) Fangs, 1981Dental acrylic (removable oral prosthetics)

Keith Edmier Fangs, 1981Poloroid photograph

Technic Dental Lab’s Promotional PowerpointpresentationCourtesy of Mike Capps, Technic Dental Lab, Orland Park, IL

Samples of the work of Technic Dental LabIncludes orthodontics, removable prosthetics,and fixed restorations

SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS

Keith EdmierSource for King Kong Attacking a Branch,1976/1993Instamatic photograph

Keith EdmierLifecast of the artist at age fourteen, 1981Ultracal

Keith EdmierPhotographs from visit to Dick Smith’s base-ment, Larchmont, NY, 1983

Keith EdmierAnimatronic Ape Mask, 1983Foam latex, fiberglass dental acrylic, wool crepe hair

Cable television feature on Keith Edmier from“Let’s Talk,” 1984DVD

Keith EdmierComedy & Tragedy(Victor J. Andrew High School Edition,)1984/2006Acrylic paint on polystyrene with satin ribbonsPrivate collection, Tampa, FL

Keith EdmierProposal for zombie head for Day of the Dead,1984Painted latex, dental acrylic, glass, polyurethanefoam, wool crepe, wood

Keith EdmierMake-up test for The Fly, 1986, 1998Cibachrome printCourtesy of Friedrich Petzel Gallery, NY

Carlo RambaldiUnsuccessful King Kong production mold, 1976Plaster, wood

One-sheet movie poster and original lobby cardsfor the theatrical release of King Kong, 1976

Al Taylor and Sue RoyMaking a Monster (New York: Crown Publishers,Inc., 1980)

Craig ReardonHorror head from Poltergeist, 1981Recast by Jordu Schell, 2008Painted resin, polyurethane foam, wood, andprocess photosCourtesy of Craig Reardon, Agoura Hills, CA

“A Tribute to Dick Smith,” 1998/2007Directed by Scott EssmanDVDCourtesy Scott Essman, Glendale, CA

Dick SmithReplacement animation busts of actor JeffBridges from Starman, 1984Painted resin, acrylic

Dick Smith Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-Up Handbook withoriginal source materials, 1965

Dick Smith-authorized “Movie/TV Horror Make-Up Kit”, 1975Manufactured by Pressman Co., New York

Dick Smith’s formula for blood (1976) and instructional data sheets sent to Keith Edmier

Dick SmithProduction material from Altered States, 1980

Dick SmithMaquette of actor William Hurt from AlteredStates, 1980Painted hydrocal

Dick SmithFacial prosthetics for actor F. Murray Abrahamfrom Amadeus, 1984Foam latex

Dick SmithFacial prosthetic and lifecast for actor DavidBowie from The Hunger, 1983Foam latex, plaster

Dick SmithLifecast of actress Linda Blair from The Exorcist,with and without facial prosthetics, 1972HydrocalCourtesy of William Forsche, Appleton, WI

Tom Savini“Bub” zombie from Day of the Dead, 1985 (recast)Painted polyurethane

Chris WalasLifecast of actor Jeff Goldblum with facial prosthetics from The Fly, 1986Dental stone

EXHIBITION CHECKLIST

Born Chicago, Illinois, 1967Lives and works in New York

EducationCalifornia Institute of the Arts, Valencia, 1986

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008Keith Edmier, Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York

2007Keith Edmier: 1991–2007, Center for Curatorial

Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson,NY (catalogue)

Keith Edmier: Piano Legs I–III, Henry Art Gallery,University of Washington, Seattle

The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, DublinFrank Veteran, 1980, Galerie Paul Andriesse,

AmsterdamFriedrich Petzel Gallery, New YorkKeith Edmier and Farrah Fawcett, Andy Warhol

Museum, PittsburghKeith Edmier, University of South Florida Contem-

porary Art Museum, Tampa

2002Keith Edmier and Farrah Fawcett, Los Angeles

County Museum of Art, Los Angeles

2000Neugerriemschneider Gallery, Berlin

1998The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, DublinMetro Pictures, New YorkSadie Coles HQ, LondonFriedrich Petzel Gallery, Basel Statements

1997University of South Florida Contemporary Art

Museum, Tampa (catalogue)Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam

1995Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New YorkNeugerriemschneider Gallery, Berlin

1993Petzel/Borgmann Gallery, New York

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2007Sculptors Drawing, Aspen Art Museum, AspenSurrealism and Beyond, Israel Museum,

JerusalemUBS Openings: Drawings From the UBS Art Col-lection, Tate Modern, London (catalogue)

Celebrity, Scottsdale Museum of ContemporaryArt, Scottsdale, AZ

Into Me/Out of Me, curated by Klaus Biesen-bach, KW Institute for Contemporary Art,Berlin; Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome (catalogue)

2006Contemporary Sculpture, Zwirner & Wirth,

New YorkInto Me/Out of Me, curated by Klaus Biesen-

bach, P.S. 1—MoMa, New York; KW Institutefor Contemporary Art, Berlin (catalogue)

Maquette to Monument, Foundry Gallery, WallaWalla, WA

2005Child’s Play, Tate Liverpool, LiverpoolFigure It Out, Hudson Valley Center for Contem-

porary Art, Peekskill, NY

Present Perfect, GreetingLine Gallery, New YorkSad Songs, University Galleries, Illinois State

University, Normal, ILShort Stories: Collections, Henry Art Gallery,

University of Washington, Seattle

2004Precarious Sculpture, Kunsthalle ViennaThe Flower as Image—From Monet to Jeff Koons,

The Louisiana Museum, Copenhagen; Fonda-tion Beyeler, Basel

Contested Fields: Identity in Sports and Specta-cle, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines

It’s All an Illusion, Migros Museum für Gegen-warstkusnt, Zurich

Mike Kelley—The Uncanny, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool

Troy Brauntuch, Keith Edmier, Richard Phillips,Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York

2003Unnaturally, University of South Florida Contem-

porary Art Museum, Tampa; Fisher Gallery,University of Southern California, Los Angeles;Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bona-venture University, St. Bonaventure, NY;Copia: The American Center for Wine, Foodsand the Arts, Napa, CA; Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables

Flower Power, Palais des Beaux-Arts, LilleFamily Ties—A Contemporary Perspective,

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MAThe Summer of 2003, Galerie Paul Andriesse,

AmsterdamWar: What Is It Good For, Museum of Contempo-

rary Art, Chicago

2002My Modern Summer, Galerie Paul Andriesse,

AmsterdamAmerican Standard, (Para) Normality and Every-day Life, organized by Gregory Crewdson, Bar-bara Gladstone Gallery, New York (catalogue)

Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of AmericanArt, New York

2001Das gute Leben, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann,

DresdenCasino 2001: 1st Quadrennial of ContemporaryArt, Stedelijk Museum Voor Actuele Kunst andBijloke, Gent (catalogue)

The Americans, Barbican Gallery, London(catalogue)

Camera Works: The Photographic Impulse in Contemporary Art, Marianne Boesky Gallery,New York

2000Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New YorkPresumed Innocent, curated by Marie-Laure

Bernadac, Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux

Age of Influence—Reflections in the Mirror ofAmerican Culture, curated by FrancescoBonami, Museum of Contemporary Art,Chicago

Fact/Fiction: Contemporary Art That Walks theLine, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Greater New York, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York

Invitational Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture,American Academy of Arts and Letters, NewYork; Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York

Keith Edmier, Ricky Swallow, Erick Swenson, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York

1999Abracadabra, Tate Gallery, LondonWild Flowers, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah,

NYGalerie Paul Andriesse, AmsterdamSliding Scale, curated by Ron Platt, Southeastern

Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem,NC

Xn 99, Espace des Arts, Chalons-sur-Saone,France

1998Body Double, Winston Wachter Fine Art,

New YorkSpectacular Optical, Thread Waxing Space,

New York; Museum of Contemporary Art,North Miami

Hungry Ghosts, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (catalogue)

1997The Name of the Place, curated by Laurie Sim-

mons, Casey Kaplan Gallery, New YorkGothic, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston,

traveling to Portland Museum of Art and SiteSanta Fe (catalogue)

1996Kingdom of Flora, Shoshana Wayne Gallery,

Santa MonicaMutate/Loving the New Flesh, Lauren Wittels

Gallery, New York

1995filmcuts, Neugerriemschneider Gallery, Berlin

(video)Human/Nature, The New Museum of Contempo-

rary Art, New YorkNarcissistic Disturbance, curated by Michael

Cohen, Otis Gallery, Otis College of Art andDesign, Los Angeles (catalogue)

1994Notational Photographs, Metro Pictures/Petzel

Borgmann Gallery, New YorkDrawings on Sculptures, Cohen Gallery, New YorkUntitled Groupshow, Metro Pictures, New YorkSammlung Volkmann, BerlinMuseum auf Zeit, slide projections at Museum

Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany

1993Ghost-Limb, Basilico Fine Arts, New York; Andrea

Rosen Gallery, New YorkDisplace, Cohen Gallery, New York

BIOGRAPHY

Keith Edmier wishes to thank Darcie Abbatiello, Zheng Hu, Naomi Lewis,Joanne Lue, Wren Panzella, Ryan Parr, Janet Riker, Corinna Ripps Scham-ing, Patricia VanAlstyne, Jeffrey Wright-Sedam, Friedrich Petzel, MaureenSarro, Jade Dellinger, Fritz Dietl, Steve DiBenedetto, Bill Jackson, DanielBerger and The Museum of Broadcast Communication, Chicago, TroyMaier, Larry Lamay, Mike Capps, Jack Kellogg, Craig Reardon, NormanCabrara, Mat Falls,Jordu Schell, Bill Forsche, Dick Smith, Scott Essman,Marshall Brodien, Buzz News, Chicago, Tom and Beverly Edmier, and ParisForino.

COVER: Keith Edmier, KE/BozoINSIDE COVERS: Keith Edmier, The Ray Rayner Show Set (detail of installa-tion, daily reports of Chicago’s sports and weather on chalkboard)

Copyright 2008ISBN: 978-0-910763-36-3

Printer: New York Press & Graphics, Albany, New YorkDesigner: Zheng HuEditor: Jeanne FinleyPhotography: Lamay Photo, Ryan Parr, Bridget Streeter

This catalogue was supported by the University at Albany’s Office ofthe President and Office of the Provost, and by a grant from UniversityAuxiliary Services.

University Art MuseumUniversity at AlbanyState University of New York 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222518-442-4035www.albany.edu/museum

Museum Staff:Darcie Abbatiello, Museum AssistantZheng Hu, Exhibition DesignerNaomi Lewis, Exhibition & Outreach CoordinatorJoanne Lue, Administrative AssistantWren Panzella, Art Collections ManagerRyan Parr, Collections AssistantJanet Riker, DirectorCorinna Ripps Schaming, Associate Director/CuratorPatricia VanAlstyne, Administrative AssistantJeffrey Wright-Sedam, Preparator

UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUMUNIVERSITY AT ALBANYSTATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

ROSCO-brand Chroma Key Blue

As the manufacturer promises, ROSCO-brand ChromaKey is specifically formulated for the sensitive contrastrequirements of standard television systems. ROSCOTV paint is a versatile acrylic paint that can be appliedto nearly any surface and comes ready to use right outof the bucket. Featuring one-coat coverage, this systemdries to a matte, non-reflective finish and allows foreasy touch-up. ROSCO-brand Chroma Key Blue TV paintis formulated to provide high-luminescence values andcolor saturation for keying effects.

Anyone familiar with televised weather reports haswitnessed a meteorologist demonstrating this specialeffect. Other colors can be used to create chroma key-ing, but since blue is the complementary color of mostflesh tones, it provides the best contrast. As Keith Ed-mier explains: “Chroma Key paint was used for so-called blue-screen effects. The blue painted surfaceworks as a background in front of which an actor orscale model (as in Star Wars) would be photographed.This color would register as invisible on film or video. Acompletely separate background could then be com-posited with this to make it seem as though these twodisparate images were occurring in the same place.Now, green-screen is used primarily for this effect, butin past decades it was blue-screen.”

When designing the original “The Ray RaynerShow” WGN-TV set, a decision was made to minimizeany use of blue. As Rayner would later write: “Why notblue? Oh, I like blue all right, but television for yearsand years has gone too strongly to blue sets. One rea-son is that blue is the easiest color to shade and trans-mit for color TV.” Contrary to Edmier’s interpretation ofhis set, Ray Rayner seemed to have little interest inChroma Key effects. For Edmier, the color blue and itspotential for a chroma keying effect is conceptually cen-tral to the work: “I intend this color/paint/technique asa metaphor. With the & Episode 1 installation, I am at-tempting to composite disparate elements of time andspace—both personal and collective.”