From artist Rene Moncada:
In 1980 I put together a newspaper with other artists named THE OFFICE. The idea came about because we gathered at Spring and West Broadway. It was a place to take a break, exchange ideas and have performances. The plan was to have no censorship, no selection. We each paid a nominal amount for the printing and in turn received 50 or so copies each. There was a page by the Leslie Lohmann gallery that was censored by the printer and I was pressed to fill it with the magazine’s manifesto. Sur Rodney Sur presented himself on the cover in silhouette in protest of the censorship. It was my hope to have periodic issues published, but I found it too hard to corral the artists’ participation and even to get them to pick-up their copies. I ended up with a house full of issues. This became the first, and only issue.
THE OFFICE is a good example of the wide range of artists and arts that were nurtured in Soho.
They are, in page number order (annotated):
P.G. Gillispie and J. Kanter
Joanne Mayhew Young (aka Gracie Mansion)
Joel PonzanPeter Astrom
Lynne Pamela Kantor
Scott MacNeill
Hans Wasema
Jax
Ed Higgins
Steve Levin (later, partner at real estate firm Sinvin)
Steve Dalachinsky & Yuko Otomo
John Squadra
Sur Rodney Sur
Mary Ann Russo & Janus
Cartier
Bill Schiffer (he and wife had store above bodega on West Broadway & Prince) Buster Cleveland
Bruce Carleton
Simon Berson
Jose Luis OrtizArleen Schloss (had Gallery A on Broome Street)
Tod Jorgensen (worked at Jamie Canvas and later ran Todd’s Copy Shop) Rene
Rene I Am The Best Artist (manifesto)
Norberto Lopez
Richard Horner
Robert Louis Sellman
D. James Dee (the Soho photographer)
