Local Collector’s Works on Display at MOCA

MOCA Jacksonville opened A Walk on the Wild Side: ‘70s New York in the Norman E. Fisher Collection at MOCA Jacksonville on Jan. 18. The exhibition explores the dynamic culture of New York in the 1970s that spurred a decade of collaboration and innovation between artists working in a variety of genres. It features a special collection within the museum’s permanent collection paired with loans from around the country, including artists like Joseph Kosuth, Gordon Matta-Clark, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Nonas, Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol, as well as writers, dancers, musicians and singers including William Burroughs, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Philip Glass and Robert Wilson.

Comprised of nearly 700 objects in a variety of media, the Norman E. Fisher Collection is one of MOCA Jacksonville’s most significant holdings. It was donated to the museum in 1979 by the family of Jacksonville native Norman Fisher, who became immersed in the New York cultural scene in the 1970s, befriending many of the luminaries of the time.

“It has been incredibly exciting to work with the Norman E. Fisher Collection in preparation of the exhibition,” says Senior Curator Ylva Rouse. “The artworks, printed media and documentation that Norman Fisher amassed give us a rare insight into this boundary breaking period in American Art, that in many ways prefigured the ways in which artists present their work today.”

The exhibition will be on display at MOCA Jacksonville through June 30, 2024.