The Lazarus Organization: Menschifesto: The Laz/Org Gestalt

This self-published “Menschifesto,” written by the artist Richard Powers (1921 – 1996), is a lively, biting mockery of the American art world of the day. In particular it takes aim at Andy Warhol (1927 – 1987). The document outlines, through rambling prose, poetry, interviews with non-existent artists, and art by Powers, the LAZ/Org Gestalt, a presumably-fictitious school of art. Its imaginary adherents include: Lemming L. Phleeble, a sculptor who wraps people in plaster (killing them); Rahtid Hotbroom, who painted a mile-long stretch of highway outside Teaneck, NJ (with a broken white line down the middle); and Auntywar McPophole, whose works include a question mark penciled on the wall of a handball court ($29,000) and a painting (?) of a semicolon. 

Richard M. Powers is best known in the science fiction and fantasy world as the creator of some 1,500 book covers. Powers’ surrealist approach steered the look of science fiction away from pulpy depictions of dashing spacemen, bug-eyed aliens, and brass bra-wearing heroines. His covers brought a new, modernist sophistication to science fiction publishing and were a particularly good match for the genre’s New Wave movement that emerged in the mid-1960s. Simultaneous to his commercial career, Powers was a fine artist of some note. His work can be found in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. His work has been exhibited at the MET, the National Academy of Design, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the Corcoran, and the National Gallery of Art.