‘Let’s Go Let Go: In Memoriam Hudson’ at 33 Orchard

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his inspiring tribute to the late Hudson, who died suddenly on February 10, included approximately 70 works by artists who showed at his gallery, Feature, Inc.

Feature opened in Chicago in 1984 with a show of appropriated photographs by Richard Prince. The gallery moved to New York in 1988, at which point the program evolved toward quirky abstractions and sexually provocative photography by Richard Kern, homoerotic drawings by Tom of Finland, and creepy surrealist oils by Alexander Ross.

Curator Jane Kim began this tribute with four small tantric paintings made by an anonymous Rajasthani artist in 1985—a reminder of Hudson’s indifference to distinctions between folk art, fine art, and design. His attraction to meditative forms was also evident in Sam Gordon’s Untitled (Sweepings), 2011, a representation of circled chain links on mirrored Plexiglas adorned with debris from Gordon’s studio floor. Among the memorial pieces was Anne Doran’s poignant Untitled (2011). Knitted for Hudson, an unfinished green-and-brown sock was fastened to the wall with a shocking-pink pushpin—a tribute to Hudson’s unique color sense.

Hudson was once a dancer, and a video played of his 1978–79 performance Poodle Theater Part 1, in which he rolls on the floor and displays the humor that endeared him to everyone.

A version of this story originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of ARTnews on page 120.