Author Description

Off Limits is the first examination of a group of artists who came together on the campus of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, during the 1950s and revolutionized art practices and pedagogy. Based on interviews with artists, critics, and dealers from the period, the book connects the initiation of major trends such as Happenings, Pop Art, and Fluxus to the faculty, students, art curriculum, and events at the university. By constantly challenging one another to take art "Off Limits," George Brecht, Geoffrey Hendricks, Allan Kaprow, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, George Segal, Robert Watts, and Robert Whitman defied the art world, bringing Abstract Expressionism to a screeching halt and setting the stage for the art of the rest of the century. Off Limits accompanies a major exhibition of the same title at The Newark Museum, February 18 - May 16, 1999.