Richard Saltoun Gallery’s solo booth focuses on Eleanor Antin’s seminal mail-art project, 100 Boots (1971–73).
Critiquing America’s participation in the Vietnam War, Antin documented the staged travels of 100 black rubber army boots from California to New York City. The work comprised 51 photographic postcards mailed to around 1,000 artists, writers, institutions, and others via the US postal service. Initially engaged in everyday activities such as going to church or the bank, the boots later trespassed on private property, announcing their solidarity with the anti-war movement.The series culminated in an exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1973, shortly after the end of the war. The presentation at Independent, which also includes drawings from Antin’s Death and the Maiden series (1974–75), marks 50 years since the peace accords.
