Criss-Cross Art Cooprative
From left to right, zig-zagging back and forth: Jon Thogmartin, George Woodman, Fred Worden, Gloria Klein, Marilyn Nelson, Clark Richert, Richard Kallweit, Arnold Wechsler, Craig Fuller, Dee Shapiro, Charlie Di Julio, Elizabeth Hutchinson. Present but not pictured: Tony Bechara, Phyllis Rosenblatt, Mary Ann Unger (Boulder Art Center, Nov., 1979, Criss-Cross Pattern Project and Conference)
Having evolved out of Drop City, the 1960s artists' community, Criss-Cross focused on issues surrounding "pattern and structure" and became associated with the 70's art movement "P&D"(Pattern and Decoration).
Informal gathering of Criss-Crossers and friends at the Spring Pattern Project, April 1979, NYC. Includes Phyliss Rosenblatt, Richard Kallweit, and Gloria Klein. Art by Mary Ann Unger displayed on the wall.
In 1974, the five founders, Gene Bernofsky, JoAnn Bernofsky, Richard Kallweit, Charles DiJulio and Clark Richert, artists and filmmakers from Drop City, regrouped in Boulder, Colorado to start the new artist's cooperative. C-C's purpose, like the Drop City purpose - the Criss-Cross purpose was to function in a "synergetic" interaction between peers to create experimental artistic innovation. Between 1974 -1980 the participants in Criss-Cross expanded to include filmmaker Fred Worden, University of Arkansas painter/printmaker Marilyn Nelson, and New York artists Gloria Klein, George Woodman and others.
Artist to Artist
Core Editorial Group: (L-R: Filmmaker Fred Worden, Painter Charles DiJulio, Painter Clark Richert, and Painter/Sculptor, Richard Kallweit)
There was no formal application for Criss-Cross, no membership card, no dues, no educational or resume requirements. Any artist who participated in a Criss-Cross exhibit or contributed to the journal was considered a member. But a dedicated core group formed that was composed of individuals who worked with geometry, pattern, perception, and mathematical systems. Included were members of the Criss-Cross journal’s editorial group (Worden, Di Julio, Kallweit, and Richert) as well as painters Marilyn Nelson and George Woodman, who also lived in Boulder, Colorado at that time.
The periodical served as a platform for art-sharing, a sounding board for ideas, and an extension of the group’s reach and influence across the country. Over the years 1974-1981, Criss-Cross published 13 issues (in 10 volumes) of their partly grant-funded journal. The magazine served as a fulcrum and alternate “exhibit space” for the Criss-Cross cooperative, providing a printed “gathering place” for artists who wished to give their work greater exposure; and exhibits, often curated by the Criss-Crossers themselves, brought artists together face-to-face in various venues throughout the country.
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