The Flue was a periodical published between 1980 and 1989 by the venerable institution Franklin Furnace Archive, which was founded in 1976 by the artist Martha Wilson to present, preserve, interpret, proselytize, and advocate on behalf of avant-garde art, especially forms that may be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, cultural bias, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content. The periodical took on a multitude of media forms and functions, from organizational newsletters to exhibition supplements and catalogs, to scholarly surveys of contemporary and historical artists’ book movements. This shapeshifting approach was supplemented by artists’ projects and a changing cast of editors and designers, most of whom were artists. In total, there were sixteen issues of The Flue across six volumes, and all have been digitized and made available online for the first time here.

This issue was published in conjunction with the exhibition Mail Art: Then and Now and includes artwork and essays by Anna Banana, Fatima Bercht, Mark Bloch, Josely Carvalho, Guglielmo Achille Cavellin, Buster Cleveland, John Evans, Ken Friedman, Gilbert & George, E. F. Higgins III, Ray Johnson, Milan Knížák, Valery Oisteanu, Nam June Paik, Carlo Pittore, Ed Plunkett, Ad Reinhardt, and Lon Spiegelman. Organizational news is also included.

56 pages
10 x 8 inches
Paperback
1984
Editor / Curator: Ronny Cohen
Designer: Joe Lowery
Publisher: Franklin Furnace

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Managing Editor (2021): James Hoff
Managing Designer (2021): Dan Bourke