From 1983 to 1987, 157 Hudson Street in Manhattan, New York City, was home to Area. Frequented by he great and good, the club was known for its changing themes (every six weeks the place got a new look – an approach inspired by Zurich’s 1916 Dadaist club Cabaret Voltaire) and fabulous invitations. For its September 1983 opening. 5,000 invitations were sent in capsules for the September 1983 opening. They sent champagne-bottle crackers for New Year’s Eve, hollowed-out eggs for Natural History, and black handkerchiefs for Halloween.
Our friends at the excellent Gallery 98 have a fabulous collection of those invites, many of which are for sale.
AREA Nightclub, Party for The Ramones, Invitation Card with Envelope, February 6, 1985jpg
AREA Nightclub, Fashion, Photo by Michael Halsband, Card, October 17, 1984
AREA Nightclub, “Yoko Ono Lennon Invites You to Join Her at Area to Celebrate the Dedication of Strawberry Fields,” Card, October 9, 1985
“People always measure the success of a thing by its longevity, but the entire point of Area was its impermanence.”
– Eric Goode, Area’s co-owner
AREA Nightclub, Gnarly- Opening Party, Card with Mousetrap and Box, June 5, 1985
AREA Nightclub, Malcolm McLaren’s Swamp Thing, Double-Sided Card with Attached Condom on Back, October 31, 1985
AREA Nightclub, Grace Jones Invites You to Celebrate Richard Bernstein’s Book Megastar, Folded Card, December 21, 1984
AREA Nightclub, Malcolm McClaren’s Madame Butterfly and The Butterfly Ball, Invitation Card with Fan included, October 24, 1984
AREA Nightclub, Muscle and Sweat- Steroids- For Animal Use Only, Card with Pill Attached, June 25, 1986
AREA Nightclub, Larry Fuente, Acid Flashback, Card and Tab in Plastic Envelope, February 19, 1986
AREA Nightclub, Randy Schindler and Hamptons Newspaper Magazine, Sunglasses with Invitation Tag, May 16, 1985
AREA Nightclub, Body Map, Card with Alcohol Prep Pad and Two Temporary Tattoos, May 9, 1985
AREA Nightclub, Party for Marc Jacobs and his Fall:Winter 85′ Sketch Book Collection, Card with Envelope, April 24, 1985
AREA, Halloween Invite, Silk Screen Bandana sent in Orange Envelope, October 31, 1984
AREA, Art + Commerce, Invite for Exhibition with Leibovitz & Mapplethorpe, Printed on Dollar Bill, June 6, 1984
AREA Nightclub, Malcolm McClaren’s Madame Butterfly and The Butterfly Ball, Invitation Card with Fan included, October 24, 1984
AREA Nightclub, Fred Schneider & The Shake Society invite you to Celebrate the Release of Their Record “Monster,” Satirical 4-Page Folded Newspaper, October 29, 1984
AREA Nightclub, Impulse Magazine, Death Issue, Plastic Bag Invite, January 25, 1985
AREA Nightclub, Let There Be Religion- Holy Communion Corpus Christi, Card with Actual Communion Wafer, August 6, 1984
AREA Nightclub, American Highway, Postcard, August 20, 1986
AREA Nightclub, Announcement for the Opening of AREA, Advertisement on the Back Page of Details Magazine, September, 1983
Would you like to support Flashbak?
Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.
