Ray Johnson (American 1927-1985)
Ray Johnson was once called 'New York's most famous unknown artist'. Johnson was relatively unknown compared to other artists that he went on to influence, not because of his artistic skills, but rather because he wished to keep a low profile. Johnson in fact had a very powerful influence and contribution in some of the biggest art movements of the twentieth century. Ray Johnson is considered to be the 'Founding Father of mail art', (Mail art is an art that uses the postal system as a medium) having exchanged work with his friend Arthur Secunda as early as 1943. Ray Johnson is also credited with being originator of installation art and one of the first performance artists. As his contemporaries became famous, Johnson cultivated his role as an outsider. From 1982 on, he repeatedly refused offers from numerous galleries to exhibit his art, and for the last five years of his life, he refused all public exhibitions of his work.
