Mark Johnstone collection

The bulk of the material in the Mark Johnstone collection is from the time Johnstone worked in Los Angeles. The collection contains materials on artists Johnstone worked with in the role of curator, as well as Johnstone’s own literary work and research materials. Prominent among the collection is material relating to Joe Deal, with whom Johnstone worked with and assisted in the publication of Joe Deal: Southern California Photographs, 1976-86, for which he wrote essays for the book including “Abstract Territories,” and Larry Burrows, on whom Johnstone was gathering material for a biography. Also included is a small amount of correspondence, print versions of some of his writings, oral interviews with artists, and moving image materials.

The collection is divided into five series: Artist Files, Writings, Exhibitions, Research Files, and Audiovisual Materials and dates 1951-2010 with the majority of the materials from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. There is minimal biographical material on Johnstone in the collection.

The Artist Files, circa 1968-2004 and undated, constitutes the bulk of the collection and includes articles, correspondence, interview transcripts, and exhibition materials relating to various artists. Correspondence includes both personal and business correspondence; exhibition materials include exhibition cards, proof prints and slides. There is minimal biographical material on individual artists and, when present, it generally is in the form of a CV or resume. Digital copies of Joe Deal email correspondence and images are also contained within this series. This series is organized alphabetically by the artists’ last name.

The Writings series, circa 1978-2001, includes articles and reviews written by Johnstone for various publications as well as catalogs he edited, the bulk of which are his essays and reviews for Artweek. For some works only Johnstone’s article has been stored, while in other cases the complete issue has been retained. Writings are from multiple issues across the publication dates of each periodical. This series is organized alphabetically by publication name.

The Exhibitions series, circa 1981-2000, consist of press releases, exhibition cards and/or catalogs for exhibitions, many of which were curated by Johnstone. Many files in this series also include articles about, and reviews of, the shows. This series is organized chronologically.

The Research Files, 1971-1999 with the bulk of the material dated 1982-1989, include articles pertaining to photojournalism, photographers, and other photographic issues.

The bulk of this material relates to the Vietnam War. Also included is a selection of transparencies from Life Magazine, photographer Larry Burrows, and others.

The Audiovisual Materials, 1981-2016, series includes videotapes and sound recordings for projects with which Johnstone was associated or materials he collected. The bulk of the moving image materials relate to the PBS series The Photographic Vision for which Johnstone served as content supervisor but also includes recordings of programs at the Security Pacific Gallery as well as several videos from Johnstone’s personal collection. The audio recordings consist of interviews conducted by Johnstone with various photographers and artists as well as individuals associated with the arts including Ansel Adams, Garry Winogrand, Nathan Lyons, Robert Rauschenberg, and Beaumont Newhall. The majority of these interviews were done as research for The Photographic Vision. Many of the audio recordings correspond to artists for which there are Artist Files.