Diego Cortez Mudd Club Collection, circa 1977-1979.
Collection Number: 8117

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Diego Cortez Mudd Club Collection, circa 1977-1979.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
8117
Abstract:
The collection features material focused on Cortez's activities as co-founder and manager of the Mudd Club, 1977-1979, with items by or relating to artists with whom he collaborated, such as Jimmy de Sana, Arto Lindsay, Kathy Acker, James Nares and Boris Policeband, and Diego's original artwork for the seminal "No New York" (1978) LP. There are 7 black and white photographs (5x7) by Digne Meller Marcovicz taken around Diego's film "Grutzi Elvis" shot in Germany (1978), 11 black and white silver gelatin photographs by Jimmy de Sana, 8 Polaroids by Diego Cortez, two notebooks relating to the band Boris Policeband, 26 flyers and zines (including some original paste-ups) and 3, 7" 45rpm records in picture sleeves for the bands DNA, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, and Boris Policeband.
Creator:
Cortez, Diego
Quanitities:
.1 cubic feet.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Born James Allen Curtis in Geneva, Illinois in 1946, Curtis moved to New York City in 1973 and assumed the name Diego Cortez. He became well-known as an artist, club manager, promoter, and independent curator, co-founding the influential NYC nightspot The Mudd Club, which offered an eclectic mix of art, music and cultural events that combined both modernist and punk aesthetics. The Mudd Club operated at 77 White Street in downtown Manhattan between 1978 and 1983. In 1981, Cortez curated the groundbreaking exhibition "New York, No Wave" at a defunct elementary school in Long Island City, Queens called P.S. 1. The exhibition featured the work of David Byrne, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Kenny Scharf, among many others.

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The collection features material focused on Cortez's activities as co-founder and manager of the Mudd Club, 1977-1979, with items by or relating to artists with whom he collaborated, such as Jimmy de Sana, Arto Lindsay, Kathy Acker, James Nares and Boris Policeband, and Diego's original artwork for the seminal "No New York" (1978) LP. There are 7 black and white photographs (5x7) by Digne Meller Marcovicz taken around Diego's film "Grutzi Elvis" shot in Germany (1978), 11 black and white silver gelatin photographs by Jimmy de Sana, 8 Polaroids by Diego Cortez, two notebooks relating to the band Boris Policeband, 26 flyers and zines (including some original paste-ups) and 3, 7" 45rpm records in picture sleeves for the bands DNA, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, and Boris Policeband.
Restrictions on Use:

Due to the fragility and potential degradation of moving image and sound recordings, viewing and listening is limited to items that have been digitized. If an item is in another media format, you may request to have the item digitized for access. Information on ordering access copies may be found on our Reproductions and Permissions page.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:

Diego Cortez Mudd Club Collection, #8117. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Conditions Governing Use

Sound recordings may be viewed but not played.

SUBJECTS

Names:
Acker, Kathy, 1948-1997
De Sana, Jimmy.
Subjects:
Punk rock music.
Punk culture.
Nightlife.
Nightclubs.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Series I. Photographs
Box 1 Folder 1
Digne Meller Marcovicz photographs
1978
Creator: Marcovicz, Digne Meller
Scope and Contents
Taken around filming of "Grutzi Elvis" in Munich and Darmstadt, Germany
Box 1 Folder 1
Jack Smith, film maker
1970's
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Box 1 Folder 1
Diego Cortez
1979
Creator: Resnick, Marcia
Scope and Contents
After an incident outside of a Tribeca night club where Cortez was punched and had his nose bloodied
Box 1 Folder 1
Diego Cortez
1977-1979
Scope and Contents
Still from "Grutzi Elvis"
Box 1 Folder 1
Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips
1977-1979
Scope and Contents
Publicity still from "Grutzi Elvis"
Jimmy de Sana photographs
Box 1 Folder 1
David Byrne
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
Backstage at The Bottom Line, NYC
Box 1 Folder 1
Debbie Harry and Diego Cortez
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Box 1 Folder 1
Richard Hell and Anya Phillips
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
At Micky Ruskin's Lower Manhattan Ocean Club
Box 1 Folder 1
James Nares and Diego Cortez
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
Chinatown, NYC
Box 1 Folder 1
Patti Smith
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
On stage with guitar
Box 1 Folder 1
Patti Smith
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
In performance, hands on stomach
Box 1 Folder 1
Richard Hell
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
Smoking backstage
Box 1 Folder 1
Julia Heyward
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
At home
Box 1 Folder 1
Seth Tillett
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Box 1 Folder 1
David Byrne
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
Headshot, singing, microphone
Box 1 Folder 1
David Byrne
1978-1979
Creator: de Sana, Jimmy
Scope and Contents
At Jimmy de Sana's loft.
Diego Cortez polaroids
Box 1 Folder 1
Glenn Mercer (4)
1978-1979
Creator: Cortez, Diego
Scope and Contents
Lead vocalist and guitarist of The Feelies
Box 1 Folder 1
Anna Sui
1978-1979
Creator: Cortez, Diego
Scope and Contents
At CBGB's
Box 1 Folder 1
Michael Cooper, Jimmy DeSana and Ray Johnson
1978-1979
Creator: Cortez, Diego
Box 1 Folder 1
Unidentified (2)
1978-1979
Creator: Cortez, Diego
Series II. Notebooks
Box 1 Folder 2
Boris Policeband notebook I
1979-03-11
Creator: Cortez, Diego
Scope and Contents
Outlining performance at The Mudd Club, annotations in Cortez's hand
Box 1 Folder 2
Boris Policeband notebook II
1979-30-1979-05
Creator: Cortez, Diego
Scope and Contents
New York performances and others, annotations in Cortez's hand
Series III. Flyers/Posters/Zines
Box 1 Folder 3
Postcard announcing "The Batman Show"
1979-01-06, 1979-01-13
Box 1 Folder 3
Zerox & Blood
Undated
Scope and Contents
Exhibition at The Whitney Museum Art Resources Center
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 3
DNA (2)
1979
Scope and Contents
Live at Max's Kansas City
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 3
DNA
Undated
Scope and Contents
Live at CBGB
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 3
MARS/DNA
Undated
Scope and Contents
Live at Max's Kansas City
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 3
James Chance and The Contortions
Undated
Scope and Contents
Live at Max's Kansas City, includes annotations by Diego Cortez
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 3
Policeband
1979-03-11
Scope and Contents
At the Mudd Club with opening act Suzuki Class
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 3
Tuesday Night
1977-09-20
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 3
Tuesday Night #5
1977-09-27
Scope and Contents
Includes reviews of shows
Xerox zine
Box 1 Folder 3
Tuesday Night
1977-10-04
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 4
Teenage Jesus and The Jerks (2)
Undated
Scope and Contents
At CBGB's
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 4
Flyer announcing reading of "Blood and Guts in High School" by Kathy Acker, with Diego Cortez
Undated
Scope and Contents
At The Kitchen
Box 1 Folder 4
Flyer announcing various events
1977Summer 1977
Scope and Contents
At The Kitchen; stapled with additional list on yellow paper
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 4
Paste-up of flyer announcing various Diego Cortez events
1977-01-25-1977-01-31
Scope and Contents
At Anthology Film Archives, NYC
Box 1 Folder 4
Flyer, "Medical Records"
Undated
Scope and Contents
Original text scribbled over with pen
Box 1 Folder 4
Flyer, "Studies for Grutzi Elvis"
Undated
Scope and Contents
Original mockup
Box 1 Folder 4
Flyer, "Studies for Grutzi Elvis"
Undated
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 4
Flyer, Richard Lloyd Jam/video/Diego Cortez
1978-06
Scope and Contents
Max's
Xerox flyer
Box 1 Folder 4
Image of Hans Magnus Enzensberger
Undated
Manuscript Box 92
An Evening Commemorating Zanu's
1979-05-17
Scope and Contents
Flyer advertising performance by Policeband and Beirut Slump at the Mudd Club
Xerox flyer
Manuscript Box 92
Yellow flyer, "No New York"
1978Spring 1978
Manuscript Box 92
Mockup of soundtrack album cover
Undated
Manuscript Box 92
Flyer, "Television Talking Heads"
Undated
Scope and Contents
At CBGB's
Manuscript Box 92
Poster announcing "Bands at Artists Space"
Undated
Manuscript Box 92
X Magazine
Undated
Scope and Contents
Volume 2, issue 4-6
Series IV. Records
Box 1 Folder 5
"Orphans b/w Less of Me"
SR-20357
1978
Creator: Teenage Jesus & The Jerks
Conditions Governing Use
Must use digitized AV instead of original.
45 rpm
Box 1 Folder 5
"You & You blw Little Ants"
SR-20358
1978
Creator: DNA
Conditions Governing Use
Must use digitized AV instead of original.
Scope and Contents
Back cover photo by Diego Cortez
45 rpm
Box 1 Folder 5
"Stereo/Mono"
SR-20359
1979
Creator: Policeband
Conditions Governing Use
Must use digitized AV instead of original.
Scope and Contents
Accompanied Boris Policeband notebook I; inscribed on front and back cover by Diego Cortez
45 rpm