Robert Overby: 336 to 1 August 1973-July 1969 - Paperback

Robert Overby: 336 to 1 August 1973-July 1969

This artist book is a faithful reprint of Robert Overby's original 1973 publication, which he personally conceived, edited, and designed. The book documents a critical four-year period in Overby's career, spanning from July 1969 to August 1973, when he developed his distinctive approach to Process art and post-Minimalism.

About Robert Overby's Practice

Robert Overby (1935-1993) produced an eclectic body of work that remained largely unseen during his lifetime. Beginning in 1969, Overby consistently returned to the human form across diverse media and subject matter. His polyurethane stretches and ghost-like latex casts of walls and doors represent significant contributions to late 1960s and early 1970s experiments in Anti-Form, Process art, and post-Minimalism.

In the 1980s, Overby's practice evolved into post-Pop image paintings that combined figure and abstraction. These works explored themes of surface, decay, and the boundary between the real and its incorporeal other—concerns that connected directly to his earlier sculptural investigations.

Museum Recognition

Overby's work has been recognized by major institutions including the UCLA Hammer Museum, which mounted a retrospective of his work. His pieces are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum, and The Museum of Modern Art New York.

Publication Details

Published in collaboration with the Estate of Robert Overby by JRP Ringier, this paperback edition makes Overby's rare first publication accessible to contemporary audiences. The book preserves the artist's original vision and design, offering insight into how Overby documented and conceptualized his own practice during a formative period of American contemporary art.

This publication serves as both a historical document and an artist book in its own right, reflecting the conceptual approaches to documentation and self-publishing that characterized the early 1970s art scene.