Margia Kramer facts for kids

Margia Kramer (born 1939) is an American artist, writer, and activist from New York. In the 1970s and 1980s, Kramer created groundbreaking art using many different types of media. Her art focused on important topics like women's rights, civil rights, privacy, and government watching its citizens. She used real government documents in her work.

Exploring Important Issues Through Art

Margia Kramer is a visual artist, writer, and activist who lives in New York. In the 1970s and 1980s, she created new kinds of art. She used different media like videos, books, and art installations (large art pieces in a space). Her work explored big ideas like women's rights, civil rights, civil liberties (your basic freedoms), and how governments sometimes watch people.

Her art has been shown in many places. This includes over 15 solo shows and more than 40 group exhibitions. Some famous places include the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London (1980), the Museum of Modern Art (1981), and the Whitney Museum of American Art (1984). Her videos and installations are also part of permanent collections. These include the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Public Library.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Kramer used a law called the Freedom of Information Act (1967). This law lets people ask the U.S. government for documents. Kramer asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for specific files.

She then showed these real FBI and CIA documents in her art. She presented them exactly as she received them. This included parts that were blacked out (called "redactions"). To show how these blacked-out parts hid information, Kramer changed the documents. She made them much bigger or smaller. She also changed them from positive (like a regular photo) to negative (like a film negative). Sometimes, she printed them on clear film instead of paper.

Kramer turned these official papers into huge art pieces. She hung giant negative images on clear film from ceilings. These would cast shadows on the walls. The large, dark shapes and bright white areas (where text or blackouts became clear) created a powerful feeling. It was both serious and informative.

By making art from these documents, Kramer showed how the government used secret methods. She also showed how these actions affected the lives of American citizens. These citizens are protected by the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights. Her art focused on feminism, censorship (stopping information), civil liberties, and civil rights. All of this was shown in the context of government watching its people. For example, Kramer made videos, books, and installations about government programs that spied on people. These included works about actress Jean Seberg and artist Andy Warhol.

Working with Others

Kramer helped start a group called Political Art Documentation/Distribution (PAD/D). She worked with another artist, Lucy Lippard, on this. Kramer was also on the editing team for the group's magazine, Upfront. She wrote two articles for it. The records of PAD/D are now kept at the Museum of Modern Art library in New York City.

Videos by Margia Kramer

Margia Kramer has created many videos that explore important topics:

• 1988 Taking the Fifth (10 min.): Kramer shows clips from a famous government hearing in 1987. She compares it to an older hearing from 1954. This video was part of her art show about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
• 1989 Looking at Militarism: Two Interviews (60 min.): Kramer interviews two professors from MIT. They are Noam Chomsky and Vera Kistiakowsky, who are both peace activists. This video was part of her 1989 art installation.
• 1985 Freedom of Information Tape 3; The Guerrilla Manual for the Contras in Nicaragua (4 min.): Kramer shows and reads from a real manual. The U.S. government gave this manual to a group in Nicaragua in 1984.
• 1984 Progress (Memory) A Video Installation (5 min.): This video was part of Kramer's art installation at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
• 1983 Freedom of Information Tape 2: Progress and Access (36 min.): Kramer talks with early internet creators. She also interviews a Nobel Prize winner, Wassily Leontief. They discuss how computers might change work in the future.
• 1982 No More Witchhunts, A Street Festival (15 min.): Kramer filmed a street festival in New York. She interviewed people there. Kramer helped organize this festival.
• 1980 Freedom of Information Tape 1; Jean Seberg (18 min.): This video tells the story of actress Jean Seberg's life and death. It uses her writings, interviews, and clips from films.

Writings by Margia Kramer

Margia Kramer has written several books and articles:

• 1988 Andy Warhol et al: The FBI File on Andy Warhol: A book she published herself.
• 1981 Jean Seberg/The FBI/The Media: Another self-published book.
• 1980 Essential Documents: The FBI File on Jean Seberg Part II: A book she published herself.
• 1979 Essential Documents: The FBI File on Jean Seberg Part I: A book she published herself.

She also wrote articles for magazines and art publications, often about art and social issues.

Key Artworks

Here are some of Margia Kramer's important art pieces:

• Essential Documents, The FBI File on Jean Seberg, Part I, Part II (1979)
• Secret I (1980) – a floor installation with a pamphlet.
• Secret III and Secret IV (1980) – window installations with pamphlets.
• Secret VI (1980) – a video installation.
• Freedom of Information Tapes 1-3 (1980-1985)
• American Film Institute First and Fifth Annual Video Festivals (1981, 1985)
• Progress/Memory II (1984) – a video installation.
• Jean Seberg (1980) – shown in an exhibition called "Issue: Social Strategies by Women Artists."
• Progress/Memory (1989-1990) – shown in the exhibition "Making Their Mark: Women Artists Move Into the Mainstream."
• Address Triptych (1987-1988) – shown in the 1990 exhibition "A Different War: Vietnam in Art."
• CIA Screen (1993) – shown in "Democracy and Politics."
• Rehnquist to Hear Black Panther Case (1988-1990) – shown in "Committed to Print."
• Andy Warhol et al. The FBI File on Andy Warhol (1988) – a book.
• Looking at Militarism (1989) – a film and video installation.
• I a WO/MAN (1989) – a video and film installation.
• Jean Seberg (1992-1993) – shown in "Postcards from Alphaville: Jean Luc Godard in Contemporary Art."

Exhibitions

Margia Kramer's art has been shown in many places, both in solo shows and group exhibitions.

Solo Exhibitions

• 1989 I a WO/MAN in San Francisco, California.
• 1989 Looking at Militarism at M.I.T. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 1988 Obelisk, for Raymond Williams in City Hall Park, New York.
• 1988 War and Peace at Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, New York.
• 1986 Freedom of Information Tapes 1-3 in New York.
• 1984 Progress (Memory) video installation at Whitney Museum of Art, New York.
• 1984 Progress and Access computer and video installation at Vassar College Art Gallery.
• 1983 Progress (Memory) I video installation in Rochester, New York.
• 1981 Jean Seberg/The FBI/The Media video installation at Museum of Modern Art, New York.
• 1981 Let and Right video installation in Toronto, Canada.
• 1981 Jean Seberg video installation in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1980 Secret VI video installation in London, England.
• 1980 Secret III Secret IV window installations in New York.
• 1980 10 Year Retrospective at Duke University Art Gallery.
• 1980 Secret I floor installation in New York.

Group Exhibitions

• 2015 Learn to Read: A Surviving History of Printed Matter in New York.
• 2014 Behind the Personal Library: Collectors Creating the Canon in New York.
• 2014 The Library Vaccine in New York.
• 2004 The C Series in New York.
• 2003 American Tableaux in Miami, Florida.
• 1993 Women Artists' Books 1969-1979 in New York.
• 1992-93 Postcards from Alphaville: Jean Luc Godard in Contemporary Art in New York.
• 1989-92 A Different War: Vietnam in Art (traveled across the U.S.).
• 1989-90 Image World: Art and Media Culture at Whitney Museum of American Art.
• 1989-90 Making Their Mark: Women Artists Move Into the Mainstream (toured the U.S.).
• 1988-90 Committed to Print (traveled across North America).
• 1988-90 Unknown Secrets (toured the U.S.).
• 1989 Artists' Books: An Alternative Space for Art in Akron, Ohio.
• 1988 Democracy and Politics in New York.
• 1987 Social Engagement: Women's Video in the 80's at Whitney Museum of American Art.
• 1987 Surveillance in Los Angeles, California.
• 1987 Urban Images of the 80's in New York.
• 1986 The Law and Order Show in New York.
• 1986 Cinemaobject in New York.
• 1985 American Film Institute Fifth Annual Video Festival in Los Angeles.
• 1985 WorldWide Video Festival in the Netherlands.
• 1985 Disinformation in New York.
• 1984 Women and the Media, New Video in Oberlin, Ohio.
• 1983 Ninth Annual Global Village Documentary Festival in New York.
• 1983 Not Misinformation in New York.
• 1983 The Artist's Use of Language in New York.
• 1982-83 CAPS Traveling Video Festival in New York.
• 1982 Not Misinformation in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
• 1981 American Film Institute First Annual Video Festival in Washington, D.C.
• 1980 Issue: Social Strategies by Women Artists in London, England.
• 1980 Group in New York.
• 1980 Women Artists' Books in New York.
• 1980 Vigilance in New York.
• 1979 Group in New York.
• 1976 Scale in New York.
• 1975 Group in New York.
• 1974 Vera List Selects in Connecticut.
• 1974 Continuing Abstraction in American Art in New York.
• 1974 New Talent Show in New York.

Awards and Recognition

Margia Kramer has received many awards and grants for her work:

• 1989-90 National Endowment for the Arts, Artist Fellowship
• 1988-89 Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, New Works Grant
• 1983 Visual Studies Workshop Commission, New Video Installation
• 1982 National Endowment for the Arts, Artist Fellowship
• 1982 New York State Council on the Arts, CAPS Artist Fellowship
• 1987-88 New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist's Fellowship
• 1988 Public Art Fund, Inc.: Commission for Sculpture
• 1986 New York State Council on the Arts, Visual Arts Grant
• 1985 Jerome Foundation Grant, New Video Installation
• 1981 National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Seminar Grant
• 1981 New York State Council on the Arts, Visual Arts Grant
• 1979-85 Committee for the Visual Arts, Artists Space Grant
• 1980-85 The Media Bureau of The Kitchen Grant
• 1976 National Endowment for the Arts, Artist Fellowship
• 1963-64 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Fellowship in Fine Arts

Education

Margia Kramer studied fine arts and languages at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. There, she learned painting and printmaking from famous artists like Ad Reinhardt. She earned her master's degree in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. She also took workshops with well-known dancers Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer.