After meeting in New York City in 1968, Scott Burton and Eduardo Costa developed a deep friendship over the shared pains and pleasures of living as artists. As Costa moved between Argentina, Brazil, and New York, the pair stayed in touch until Burton’s death in 1989. Burton wrote to Costa as New York City was coming undone in the midst of a fiscal crisis; as a burgeoning performance art scene rose against the expanding gallery system; and as he himself was becoming a notable art critic and sculptor. Meanwhile, Costa told Burton about his continuing work to bridge art, fashion, and jewelry and encounters with censorship by the military dictatorship in Argentina. Between planning new collaborations and gossiping about mutual friends and acquaintances, Burton and Costa articulated new ways of thinking about art, design, and performance. Readers will find in these collected letters an intimate glimpse into a queer artistic friendship, as well as new perspectives on the transnational struggle to establish conceptual artistic practices.
Magic Episodes: The Letters of Scott Burton and Eduardo Costa, 1970–1980, published this spring by Ugly Duckling Presse, represents the pair's most significant co-created work, gathering these letters alongside additional writings from Costa and the volume’s editors, David J. Getsy and Patrick Greaney.
On April 22, join Ugly Duckling Presse at Artists Space (11 Cortlandt Alley)—where Burton once exhibited his work. Getsy and Greaney will present the book, discussing Burton’s and Costa’s lives, letters, and works as well as the artists’ process and the processes of making this collection.