Oral history interview with Brian Daniel Butler

Scope and Contents

An interview with Brian Daniel Butler conducted 2018 June 4, 18, and August 6, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art, at 1301PE Gallery in Los Angeles, California.

Scope and Contents

Mr. Butler discusses growing up in the Los Angeles area, in particular in Palos Verdes; his early introduction to studying art at ArtCenter while in high school and his initial interest in illustration; his work in the summers at the advertising firm BBDO; his time as a student at Franklin College and his travels and time spent in Germany and Switzerland as a college student; his introduction to British 20th-century art, especially the work of the artists from St. Ives; his time studying art and art history at UC Berkeley with Peter Selz, among others; his subsequent work in galleries while living in south London, including Paton Gallery; his return to Los Angeles and his work at the advertising firms Chiat/Day and TracyLocke; his continuing interest in the art world, his employment at the Los Angeles gallery Asher/Faure, and his curation of the show there titled British Art: The Literate Link; his introduction to Burnett Miller and his time as the director of the Burnett Miller Gallery; his work with Karsten Schubert on the show A Brave New World; his time in Cologne, Germany, working for a collaborative gallery owned by Miller and Claes Nordenhake in the early '90s; and the challenges presented by representing galleries at art fairs.

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Mr. Butler also describes his first thoughts about starting a gallery, and on his focus on producing multiples and editions; his first gallery Brain Multiples, where he helped produce work by Thaddeus Strode, among others; his subsequent gallery 1301 where he produced exhibitions for Jorge Pardo, Diana Thater, Jason Rhoades, Pae White, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Sarah Seager, among others; the transition to his gallery 1301PE (Projects and Editions) and working with Paul McCarthy, Charles Ray, Angela Bulloch, and Fiona Banner, among others; his three years as the director of the New Zealand gallery Artspace beginning in 2005; his thoughts on the current museum and gallery scenes in Los Angeles and the world, and the changes he has seen during his years in the business.

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Mr. Butler also recalls Jay Chiat; Duke Comegys; John Baldessari; Dagny Corcoran; Lynne Cooke; Tarlton Pauley Morton; Peter Morton; Fred Sandback; Ian Hamilton Finlay; Kate Ericson; Mel Ziegler; Katrina Cerio Butler, as well as Fred Fehlau; Jean Rasenberger; Meg Cranston; Wilhelm Schürmann; Lincoln Tobier; Peter Noever; Suzanne Goin; Isha Welsh; Judy Darragh; Amada Cruz; and Mungo Thomson, among others.

Biographical / Historical

Brian Daniel Butler (1961- ) is an art dealer and owner of the 1301PE Gallery in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is a writer in Los Angeles, California.