Letty Lou Eisenhauer (May 30, 1935 – April 25, 2023) was an American visual and

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

known for her free-spirited

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...

performances during the 1960s. She was on faculty at the

Borough of Manhattan Community College The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is a public community college in New York City. Founded in 1963 as part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC grants associate degrees in a wide variety of vocational, business, ...

as a counselor, professor, and

forensic psychologist Forensic psychology is the application of scientific knowledge and methods (in relation to psychology) to assist in answering legal questions that may arise in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes ...

Biography

Eisenhauer was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 30, 1935, to Charlotte Itzen Eisenhauer and Frances Eisenhauer. She attended Ramsey High School in New Jersey. She was an undergraduate at

Douglass College Douglass Residential College is a non-degree-granting program established in 2007 and open to Rutgers undergraduates at any of the degree-granting schools of Rutgers University-New Brunswick. It replaced the liberal arts degree-granting Douglas ...

from 1953 to 1957, when she received her Bachelor of Arts degree and was a graduate student and department secretary in the M.F.A. program from 1961 to 1962. She studied art primarily with

Robert Watts Robert Watts (23 May 1938 – 30 September 2024) was a British film producer who was best known for his involvement with the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' film series. Career Watts began working in the film industry in 1960, after two ye ...

. She befriended Geoff Hendricks and

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

, both of whom were teaching art at Douglass College at the time. She also posed for Lichtenstein. Watts introduced her to

Allan Kaprow Allan Kaprow (August 23, 1927 – April 5, 2006) was an American performance artist, installation artist, painter, and assemblagist . He helped to develop the " Environment" and "Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well as their theory. ...

, who persuaded her to perform in his ''Spring Happening'', her first performance. She continued to perform in Happenings throughout the 1960s, often appearing nude or scantily clad. After graduating from Douglas, Eisenhauer moved to Paris, France where she worked in the editing department of a fashion magazine. On returning to the states in the 60's, Letty acted in many of the "Happenings" in New York City, her best known performance being "The Tart, or Miss America" written by

Dick Higgins Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was ...

. She was also featured in Higgins' only feature-length film "The Flaming City (1962)." She simultaneously pursued a career in the visual arts, exhibiting sculptures, prints, and paintings, many of which were informed by a

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

sensibility. She went on to study Forensic Psychology eventually becoming a professor, counselor, and forensic psychologist for many years at Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York City. She established an artists' residence, in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. She traveled several times to Africa volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Her common-law husband was David Becker. Eisenhauer died on April 25, 2023, at the age of 87.

Selected performances

*''Spring Happening'', by Kaprow. Performed at the Reuben Gallery. *''Courtyard'', by Kaprow. Performed at the Greenwich (or Mills) Hotel on Bleecker Street in November, 1962. *''The First and Second Wilderness'', by Michael Kirby. Performed during the Yam Festival, at Smolin Gallery, NYC, May 27, 1963. Letty Eisenhauer wrote cheers and performed them as a cheerleader for a Civil War-inspired live action board game. *''BLINK'', Rolf Nelson Gallery, Los Angeles in 1963. Eisenhauer modeled collaborative creations by

Alison Knowles Alison Knowles (born 1933) is an American visual artist known for her installations, performances, soundworks, and publications. Knowles was a founding member of the Fluxus movement, an international network of artists who aspired to merge diffe ...

George Brecht George Brecht (August 27, 1926 – December 5, 2008), born George Ellis MacDiarmid, was an American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer, as well as a professional chemist who worked as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnso ...

, and Watts. *''Whipped Cream Piece (Lick Piece)'', by Ben Patterson. Performed during Fully Guaranteed 12 Fluxus Concerts at Fluxhall in 1964 in New York City. *''Orange'', by Kaprow. Performed in 1964. *''Tart, or Miss America'', by Dick Higgins, 1965, Queens boxing arena. This piece was dedicated to Eisenhauer who also performed in it. *''Washes'', by Claes Oldenburg, May 1965. In this piece Eisenhauer, covered with balloons, floated motionless on her back in a swimming pool, while a man bit the balloons and exploded them.Michael Kirby, "The New Theatre" in ''The Art of Time'' (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1998), p. 85.

References

Bibliography

#Sid Sachs and Kalliopi Minioudaki, ''Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968''. Philadelphia, PA: University of the Arts, Philadelphia, 2010. # Cheryl Harper,'' A Happening Place''. Philadelphia: The Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia, 2003. # David McCabe, ''A Year in the Life of Andy Warhol''. New York: Phaidon, 2003. # John Marter, ed. ''Off Limits: Rutgers University and the Avant-Garde, 1957-1963''. New Brunswick, NJ and London: The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ and Rutgers University Press, 1999. # Jon Hendricks, ''Fluxus Codex''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988. # Dick Higgins, "The Tart, or Miss America," in ''TDR (Tulane Drama Review)'', ed. Richard Schechner and Michael Kirby (special issue eds.), 10, no. 2 (Winter 1965): 132–141. {{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenhauer, Letty 1935 births 2023 deaths American women performance artists American performance artists 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists Fluxus Rutgers University alumni 21st-century American women