SECA. 1980 SECA Photography Invitational, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, October 10-December 7, 1980.

By Van Deren Coke. Exhibition catalog, wraps, 24 pages (including covers), with checklist of 104 works in the exhibition. Photographers: Gay Block; Jack Butler; Vida Freeman; Sally Gall; Victor Landweber; Thomas Neff; Jane O'Neal; Susan Rankaitis; Gail Skoff; Wolf von dem Bussche; and Steve Yates. SECA is an acronym for the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art. Very good plus with moderate signs of handling.  Two available, one with old price label on cover.  Summary:

The 1980 SECA Photography Invitational catalogue, authored by renowned curator Van Deren Coke, documents a milestone contemporary photography exhibition held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) from October 10 to December 7, 1980.

Organized by the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA), this exhibition and its accompanying publication served as a major showcase for the region's highly innovative and experimental trends in photography.

Key Overview and Objectives

• Curatorial Direction: The publication marks a pivotal era at SFMOMA following Van Deren Coke’s 1979 appointment as photography curator (and subsequent founding of the separate photography department in 1980). Coke utilized the exhibition to explicitly challenge the traditional, straight documentary photography championing New York institutions at the time, prioritizing self-consciously artistic and conceptual frameworks.

• Focus on Innovation: Rather than presenting straightforward representations of reality, Coke used the catalogue to highlight artists utilizing the camera as a fluid medium for creative, avant-garde expression, drawing conceptual parallels to European Surrealism and German experimental traditions.

Featured Artists

The publication highlights unique portfolios and experimental processes from eleven notable contemporary photographers:

• Gay Block * Jack Butler

• Vida Freeman

• Sally Gall

• Victor Landweber

• Thomas Neff

• Jane O'Neal

• Susan Rankaitis

• Gail Skoff

• Wolf von dem Bussche