Originally designed for an application for a public commission for the program “Art on the Beach,” Ashford went on to produce.
I find work
Ashford was a student at The Cooper Union from 1976 to 1981 – with a year hiatus hitchhiking and training across Europe and North Africa and a brief period of study at The Free Academy Psychopolis in Den Haag. At Cooper he was mainly invested in the course wrk provided then under the rubric “Sculpture” – and given the times, it was an area it was loaded with contrasting outlooks on education and diverse philosophies of art. Ashford had repeated semester studies with Hans Haacke, Dore Ashton, Robert Breer, Martha Rosler and Reuben Kadish (find more on Reuben’s work here _(link) as well as shorter term work with visiting artists Charles Simmonds, Louise Bourgeois, Nicholas Marsicano, Vito Acconci and many others. During his tenure at Cooper, Ashford became invested in progressive narratives of art education as an instructor in The Saturday Program and committed himself to becoming a teacher in the public schools immediately after graduation at Boys and Girls High Schoo in Bedford/Stuyvesant Brooklyn. (1981 – 1985). For more on his early teaching experiences, please see here _(link)
School days
This is a testing
drawings from the 80’s
One year after graduating from The Cooper Union, Ashford returned to the it’s “Foundation Building” and painted red stars on walls throughout the building.
Red Star
The Other Side of the Iceberg, 1987. Enamel and Photograph.
Hospital
Our Modern Town, 1984. (detail from a larger installation) Enamel and photographs.
Produced for the exhibition “Motives,” Curated by Claudia Gould, for Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY.
Hallwalls archive _(link)
Catalogue _(download)
The United States
The Security of the Thrones is Founded on Poetry, 1983. Ink drawing.
The security of the thrones is founded on Poetry
Change This Picture, Blue print and crayon, 1981
Produced for the Group Material exhibition “M5”
December 10, 1981 to January 10, 1982. Interior os NYC Fifth Ave buses
Busposter
Source photo for bus advertisement. Group Material’s M5 show, 1982
Busposter source _ Gwangju Rebellion
The Fantastic, 1982. Enamel and photographs
Fantastic important and effective
None Can Desire What is Not Perceived (for William Blake), 1984. Enamel on aluminum.
Produced for the Group Material exhibition “Timeline: A Chronicle of US Intervention in Central America”
January 22 to March 18, 1984. PS1 The Institute for Art and Urban Resources
as part of “Artists’ Call Against US Intervention in Central America” — see the Artists Call section of this website _(link)
Museum of Modern Art web page _(link)
No one can desire what’s not perceived. 1984
Gun drawing 1983
First Star Drawing, 1982
First Star drawing
Studio wall,1983
Man with frame
US Army Terminal, Brooklyn. 1985
Army terminal show, 1985
Empire, 1984. Silkscreen, unique print.
Produced for the exhibition “PERSUASION(S)” Curated by Howard Halle
The Kitchen NYC archive page for exhibition _ (link)
Howard Halle’s contact sheet_ (download)
old work 1
Anti-War recruiting game stand produced by Sarah Safford and Doug Ashford for The Coney Island Show. 1983