GOING PUBLIC

     I first met David Ireland in his kitchen at 500 Capp St. in San Francisco in the Spring of 1978. I was 25 years old. David was 47. My friend, and fellow art student Tony Labat introduced us. Labat was videotaping David’s “maintenance action,” while he turned 500 Capp into part archeological dig, part social sculpture/site specific installation—the home as art. As Labat knew both David and I to be working carpenters, as well as artists, he felt we would get along. He was correct.

    Initially my relationship with David Ireland was transactional. I knew enough of his work to ask him to be my advisor at The San Francisco Art Institute. In those days a student could ask any member of the Bay Area artist community to become an advisor. A small stipend was provided the artist and the community grew organically through an informal mentorship program. When David learned that I could swing a hammer he hired me periodically as construction jobs came up. He was my boss, my advisor and soon thereafter my friend and landlord.

    Despite the age difference, David and I had much in common. I had a small-town upbringing in New York, while Bellingham, WA., where David was born in 1930, wasn’t much bigger in his day. We came to conceptualism from a similar hands-on, blue-collar perspective. We were both printmakers early in our careers. We looked for a core of an idea to propel a project, shying away from over-intellectualization or didacticism. Material was important to each of us. He wasn’t afraid to explore the beauty in the banal, literally excavating the construction site for inspiration as well as object. But David’s greatest gift to me as an artist was his creation of context by example. I had never considered that context could stand alone, mutate, remain relevant, and prevail.

      500 Capp was first and foremost David Ireland’s home address. He lived there. It was not a house to be flipped or a neutral art project container. By the time I sat down at that kitchen table David had been at 500 Capp three years, and the building neared completion as a functioning home. It was no longer a construction site, yet still a work in progress. Sealed in his special concoction of paint and urethane the sanded smooth, plaster walls literally glowed in the candlelight. I’d never seen anything like it. The atmosphere was mysteriously inviting and comfortable yet contained some unexplainable twist…. a bit of Hollywood fakery. You didn’t know if you were being put on with smoke and mirrors or following him willingly down the rabbit hole.

     Since his death in 2009 David Ireland’s profile as a seminal conceptualist and influence on the Bay Area art scene has only increased. This is as it should be. The subtle nature of his work will take time to appreciate. The vessel that he created to contain his objects as well as historicize his rubric has not remained static. 500 Capp has mutated and prevailed. The context became the salable object, and then transformed back into a non-profit foundation. The process has not been without struggle. 500 Capp continues to exist in a fluid, sometimes antagonistic uncertainty. Is there a there there? Time will tell.

    Twentieth and Capp St. is not the same quiet backwater address it was in the 1970’s. The house now interacts with an unpredictably volatile, sometimes hostile community, on the cutting edge of change. Housing shortages, gentrification, “art washing,” economically disparaging narratives all play into the equation. David’s old house now becomes a lightning rod specifically because it remains a social sculpture. The conversations (if not the evictions) are unavoidable. The vacuum of responsibility no longer exists. If it ever did. One cannot detach the art gesture from a neighborhood struggling to maintain its character and adhere to the needs of its inhabitants.

    The “social” element of this sculpture will always exist. Because 500 Capp is now formalized as a “foundation,” instead of simply David’s home, navigation within the community can be precarious. Any and all moves will be scrutinized. There will never be complete consensus regarding any program that The 500 Capp Foundation adopts. This unavoidable new wrinkle to the Ireland work should be embraced and celebrated. It is a microcosm within a larger dynamic that questions the validity of our art institutions, political power structure and the needs of a community under constant threat of marginalization and disenfranchisement. There’s a reason this idiosyncratic sculpture resides in the Mission and not Pacific Heights. It is on the front line.   

      I had never done anything at 500 Capp. 500 was sacred, different from all other Ireland real estate, David’s baby. It’s difficult, even today, to separate the house from the man. His ghost is everywhere. To be asked to add my imprint will be a challenge. But as David would advise, you must accept it all as art—then point.

 

     In January 2020 I was invited to put on an exhibition at David Ireland’s House at 500 Capp St.

 

Dear Mike Osterhout,

 

I hope this email finds you well. 

 

It is my great honor to write to you from The David Ireland House at 500 Capp Street. Having worked here at 500 Capp Street since we opened to the public in Jan 2016, in various capacities and director since Jan 2019, it's been an honor to learn about your work through the ephemeral pieces of yours in the collection and display in the House. Not only through artists and friends such as Tony Labat or Jock Reynolds, but other times from visitors who point to the jar with the check from the little green man or the dried white steaks and elaborate on the performances and stories that go along with it. 

 

I am in the early stages of planning exhibitions for 2020 and beyond. As you may be aware of, we are going through some organizational changes here at 500 Capp Street. These changes have been important as we try and best consider honoring David Ireland's legacy and honoring the art community of the Bay Area past, present and future. 

 

Your work, your mentorship under David, your friendship with David is an important part of the legacy and history of David Ireland, and we would love to invite you back to 500 Capp Street within the next couple of years to tell that story and share your work through an exhibition. I've been grateful to Tony Labat for reaching out to you as one of David's oldest friends and have learned from Tony this is something you may be interested in considering. 

 

I should mention, my ideas for this first exhibition in 2020 have changed, as I first envisioned a group exhibition, and upon further consideration realize how important it is for each friend each of these connections like yourself to have an exhibition onto their own. For this reason, I would like to have a conversation in the coming weeks about what this could look like and see if a plan for a 2021 exhibition could work with our ideas and your schedule. 

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Respectfully yours,

Cait 

 

       The Covid-19 pandemic hit soon after and so began a three-year process of delays and negotiations. Let me back up. As I said, I thought of David as a mentor, advisor, and friend. We collaborated on multiple projects. In San Francisco I mounted both a church and a whorehouse on Ireland property in the late 70’s. In 1983 I rented a garage below an old Victorian David owned on South Van Ness St. and started MO David Gallery there. When I moved MO David to NYC, I put on David Ireland’s first solo exhibition in New York in the East Village in 1985.

     Having this rich history with David Ireland I was thrilled to be invited to show my work in his house, now turned hybrid museum/gallery/shrine. I hadn’t seen the building since it was purchased by a SF philanthropist named Carlie Wilmans. I heard there was now an elevator in the kitchen. I don’t think D.I. could’ve seen that one coming.

    A quick Google search of The 500 Capp Street Foundation immediately turned up controversy. Its first curator had been fired after five years or so on the job. I didn’t know why, nor did I care. A fresh administration was in power, and showing my work was part of their new mandate. The woman inviting me, Cait Molloy, was glowing in her assessment of my career, impressed by my bona fides as David’s old friend and excited to be putting on a Mike Osterhout exhibition in the near future. I accepted their offer to show and asked what the budget would be.

 

     On March 30, 2021, I received this email proposing a budget to put on (F)ANCESTOR from Cait Molloy:

 

      The organization would have about $10,000 available in addition to an honorarium for you, but that does not include any grants we could apply for which could significantly increase funds available. With a spring or summer 2022 intention, we would have enough time to apply for funding.

 

     In October 2021 Cait Molloy paid me a studio visit in New York. Specific works were displayed and discussed as they applied to the proposed exhibition (F)ANCESTOR. There was no discussion of any other project or budget for my show at David Ireland’s House. More time went by without a settled date for the exhibition or any change in budget, but we kept in touch. Then, in April 2022 the Foundation flew me out to SF for a visit. I was able to view the new gallery spaces, deck, and kitchen elevator. This was extremely helpful in finalizing locations for specific pieces and dates for the exhibition. We settled on April 2023 after I was to have a scheduled eye operation.

   

On July 15, 2022 I received this email from Lian Ladia:

 

Dear Mike,

    Hoping for your fast healing and recovery. We need you here so rest well, and you’ll be back in track in no time!

I wanted to ask this group about having Dan curate Mike's show. I think this would be best, wouldn't it? I just see the strong friendship and support that you both have maintained through the years. We definitely always look for Dan's vision in exhibition designs and making decisions in spaces just comes naturally for him.  I think in this group, Dan has the most understanding of your work Mike. I have been thinking about this and wondering what you all think.

 

With these events, I wanted to ask you how you feel about these dates for next year

Ann Hamilton - January/ Febraury

Marcel Pardo & SECA - March/April 

Mike Osterhout - May/June

 

     Over my concerns of an obvious conflict-of-interest, Dan Ake, an old friend, and Foundation board member was appointed curator of (F)ANCESTOR. His first task was to inform me that the Foundation was cutting the $10,000 budget to $5,000 and the show was re-scheduled for May/June. When presented with this slashed budget we entered negotiations to resolve the financial disparity. A contract was signed in October 2022 agreeing on a $10,000 budget for (F)ANCESTOR all-inclusive of honorarium, shipping, and travel. $5000 was promised to be paid to the artist on December 1, 2022. After being repeatedly assured that the check was on the way I was informed by Ms. Molloy by phone on December 22,2022 that they did not have the funds and could not issue the check. A $1,500 honorarium was offered if “exhibition went forward or not.” I declined the offer. They were now in breach.

     One of the saddest side bars of all this has been the tensions that have arisen between two old friends. A couple of 70-somethings butting heads over an obscure art show for the price of an old used car is unseemly to say the least. Dan tried to make everybody happy and in doing so nobody was happy. As he later shared, he was in over his head.

     Admittedly this dispute between the artist and 500 Capp is little more than a tempest in a teacup. But it’s a teacup I’m very fond of. When Carlie Wilmans is demonized for “art washing” by evicting tenants from her properties that adjoin 500 Capp Street, one must remember that David Ireland was doing the same thing in the 1970’s. The tenants who lived over me on South Van Ness were evicted in court proceedings by David Ireland while I lived there. When he sold the place, my rent was doubled by the new owners. I moved to New York before I could also be evicted. That’s the rental eco-system most of us buy into.

      As a real estate investor, Ireland purchased two other rundown properties in the Mission in the 1970’s and went to work on them. I was there from the beginning at 65 Capp, helping him jack up the building and put a second story on. Today, instead of being identified as a working artist and good businessman, he would be seen as a rich, “white developer,” ignoring the needs of a community of color by taking affordable housing off the market.

     Here’s the thing, art making, and city building are messy processes of creation, neglect, and renewal. None of us are saints. As an artist and art dealer I’ve been as complicit as David Ireland in the gentrification of the East Village in the 1980’s and decades later here in the Catskills. It’s an old story. Artists move into a blighted area that enjoys cheap rent and through their efforts and sweat equity the neighborhoods grow, change, and rent goes up. Evictions ensue. Communities evolve, sometimes for the better, other times for the worse.

     When my contract with 500 Capp was breached, I reacted immediately. Why had they not been up front for months before? The Foundation (Cait Molloy, Lian Ladia and Dan Ake) did not avail themselves of the many opportunities to come forward with financial concerns. Instead, I was led to believe the check was on the way until three days before Xmas. When it did not arrive, my reaction was to draw up a complaint for breach of contract and threaten litigation for damages far exceeding the agreed upon budget. As with all social sculpture one follows the process wherever it leads. This invitation to show, contract, and breach led me in a circle back to that fired curator. Why was he sacked?

      Years after his dismissal and subsequent protests the affair still reverberated in certain artist communities, and I was feeling the effects. Much of the complaint was that the curator spent too much money on crating and shipping. Others had trouble pointing to a clear reason for his dismissal. Well, I can relate. Do you know what it costs to ship a 4x8 sheet of plywood across the country and back by art handler? $4,790 one way (without crating). The show of objects, paintings, collage, photographs, drawings, etc. comprised four crates and had to be moved from New York to San Francisco. To accomplish this by art handler was cost prohibitive. So, I crated the artwork up myself and prepared to ship it all by standard freight.

    The racket that art handling has become aside, the only way I could do (F)ANCESTOR was to spend half the budget sending fragile work across the country twice without the security and guarantees provided by art shippers. I was willing to take the chance. This fact was known by all parties from the beginning. But the experiences with outrageous crating and shipping expenditures seemed to remain hanging over the affair. Shipping art bad. When the budget was withdrawn where did this leave me? Unable to do the show that was planned.

      Instead of addressing the complaint for breach directly the Foundation sought a resolution from the artist. At first, I was angry, resistant to bend and stubbornly insisted that they offer a counterproposal or honor the terms of the original contract. After all, why should the injured party (the artist) be expected to come up with a compromise? I dug into their finances. What was the real value of 500 Capp? I didn’t have sufficient information to respond to their claims about lack of finances being the cause of their decision to cancel my show. But I noted that public records indicated the Foundation had assets into the millions; and usually enjoyed annual revenues in the hundreds of thousands. In response to my findings on January 5, 2023, I received another email from Cait Molloy:

 

Dear Mike,

 

Those "assets" you speak of are David Ireland artworks in the collection valued at that total amount if every single one was sold. As you know, there is a low market for David Ireland's works, and in fact, this is a way we are looking to raise funds. We've been building a committee to build a market and release sales of his works. We've also already offered really notable early works of David Ireland for sale to private collectors. We're trying everything we can to raise funds- However, we're still trying to get through. Those assets are in artworks and not in liquid cash. 

 

500 Capp Street- the organization created to preserve and sustain the legacy of your dear friend, David Ireland's house, does not have enough cash to keep our doors open for spring/ summer 2023. And so, once again, considering we all care so deeply about 500 Capp Street and David Ireland, please counter with an offer you feel is within our means as an organization. But unfortunately, we cannot afford a $10,000 project at this time.  

 

Respectfully,

Cait

 

A further qualification:

 

Dear Mike,

 

Important I get my facts straight relating to our "assets." In reviewing our recently submitted 2021 taxes, our assets come from the land and building. Consider this when understanding the net worth of 500 Capp Street. 

 

Respectfully, 

Cait

 

    Then, inexplicably, I changed my mind. I had an idea for a different show. I decided to give up half of the money and two galleries worth of real estate to my old friend David Ireland to mount a two-person exhibition entitled $ORRY. I proposed David and I show together. Here’s the pitch:

 

      Title: $ORRY – Mike Osterhout and David Ireland - Selected works curated by Mike Osterhout

 

Dates: May 13- June 24, 2023

 

    In consideration of The 500 Capp Street Foundation’s current financial limitations, being “unable to put on a $10,000 project in Spring of 2023,” I would like to approach this show fresh, hopefully to the benefit of The 500 Capp Street Foundation, David Ireland and myself. In addition, I would be willing to curate a selection of David Ireland works drawn from the Foundation’s and my own collection to be displayed in garage and accordion room galleries. The exhibition title would be changed to $ORRY. The shipping costs lowered to almost zero would allow $ORRY’S budget to be radically reduced.

     So as not to confuse the display of the Ireland works as part of my social sculpture, I feel it is appropriate to promote $ORRY as a two person show of Mike Osterhout’s and David Ireland’s work with Mike Osterhout listed as curator. I offer this compromise of a pared down Mike Osterhout show on the proposed May/June 2023 dates.

 

BUDGET: $4500 plus $1,500 honorarium, travel and per diem. Terms would be set forth in a new contract with the $1,500 honorarium paid immediately. I would fly out for a couple of days for install and the opening; the remaining monies paid at that time.

 

     This would provide The 500 Capp Street Foundation an opportunity to showcase individual Ireland pieces from their collection outside of the D.I. House proper. If the Foundation's plans to raise money include de-accessing Ireland work this seems a perfect opportunity to familiarize and engage collectors with pieces that may or may not be for sale. It’s not the show I wanted to do but I feel we will all regret not trying to come to some compromise.

   

    On January 9, 2023, I received this email reply from Lian Ladia:

         

     Thank you for your renewed proposal. I do like it when the artist respond(s) to present situations to keep things relevant and moving. I believe this was the intent of having you visit Capp Street in the beginning. And how artists are operating within an exhibition framework recently. It is not set in stone, but if the artist respond(s) to our present moment, it just sparks something in the house.

Your proposal reminds me of Tony's "Trust Me" - although very different, it was just a impulse of a response.  I also like your image and the possibility of that image.

 

Bear in mind though that we do not want to close or release a statement of that nature, or are in no fear of closing - Yes, we are in financial constraints, but as long as we all work together, that is in the sidelines. Tomorrow, Cait, Dan and I will meet to discuss your thoughtful counter reply.

 

Warmest and Best from rainy SF -

L

 

So, we wait……again.

 

    With all due respect to Ms. Ladia’s understanding of the law, a contract is about as close as it comes in America to being “set in stone.” As far as the imminent closing of 500 Capp’s doors in 2023 goes I got conflicting messages. Through this entire process the artist has been put in the uncomfortable position of reactionary without having all the information at his disposal. Just after Xmas I received a letter dated 12/15/22 soliciting donations (from me!) with Ann Hamilton and Marcel Pardo listed on 500 Capp’s 2023 schedule with no mention of Mike Osterhout.

 

    After being under contract for (F)ANCESTOR the show was in effect canceled, and the artist was now expected to enter a proposal process for a new exhibition at a reduced rate. This brings me to the subject of content. (F)ANCESTOR was the culmination of six years of research, writing, and formulation into an exhibition of work based on one family’s genealogy (my own) that began in 17^th century New York. The exhibition’s components dealt with Indian removal, disenfranchisement and genocide, enslavement of Africans and the eventual discovery of African American Osterhouts photographed by their nephew Harlem Renaissance photographer James VanDerZee.

     Written and presented by a descendent of Dutch and English invaders and enslavers (F)ANCESTOR offered a unique perspective and opportunity for engagement with current issues revolving around race, politics, and power structures. Could this content and the artist’s point of view, not exclusively finances, colored the way the Foundation interacted with the artist eventually denying the funding for the (F)ANCESTOR exhibition? I honestly do not know. I suspect it’s a combination of both. Many questions remain unanswered.

       

    Why should anybody care about any of this? In the grand scheme of things, you shouldn’t. Let’s keep things in perspective. This is just one artist’s experience with the institution. When I tell friends what I’ve been through they tilt their heads and ask, “I thought this was the artworld?” It is and it isn’t. It’s not the ARTWORLD writ large of auction houses, galleries, museums, and big money. This is the mostly fringe, low-end, DIY, underground context of the working artist. It’s always been my world and it’s getting smaller all the time. On January 18^th I received this email. The last nail was in the coffin.

 

Dear Mike,

 

After careful consideration with 500 Capp Street's Board, Staff, and financial advisors, we have made the difficult decision that we cannot move forward with a project with Mike Osterhout in 2023. Our budget constraints have forced us to cut back our program budget for 2023 drastically, so we do not have the funding to move forward with your original or counter-proposal "$orry.” 

 

Thank you for the work you put into your ideas relating to a project here at 500 Capp Street. Even with 500 Capp Street budgetary restraints, we would like to offer you an honorarium of $1,500 for your work put towards the project thus far, as discussed in prior conversations.

 

My best,

Cait Molloy

 

      My response was to reject their $1,500 offer and withdraw all previous offers of compromise, a sorry ending to what had promised to be a rewarding experience. My goal in making this public is to hopefully spare another artist enduring a similarly frustrating process and encourage The 500 Capp St. Foundation to honor their future contractual obligations; to in effect, point.

 

All opinions are those of the artist.