Red Grooms
American, born 1937Mango Mango, 1973
On view
Silkscreen on paper
Dimensions40 1/16 × 28 7/8 in. (101.8 × 73.3 cm)
Gift of Argosy Partners and Bond Street Partners, 1980.6
A native of Nashville, Grooms was encouraged by his parents in his artistic talents. He often attended circuses and state fairs and these early experiences, in addition to the skits he used to perform with his friends in his backyard, paved the way for his eccentric form of satire. In 1957, he moved to New York and attended the New School for Social Research, the Art Students League, and the Hans Hofmann School, Provincetown. Grooms has been a printmaker since 1958.
In 1959 he staged a Happening in New York entitled The House That Burns. He also collaborated with Claes Oldenburg about this time. In 1961 he produced his first film. In 1966 he was represented at the Venice Biennale. In 1970 he was included in the exhibition Happening & Fluxus at the Kunstverein Cologne and at the Württemberischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart.
