AA Bronson (born Michael Tims in
Vancouver in 1946)
is an artist. He was a founding member of the artists' group
General Idea, was president and director of
Printed Matter, Inc
Printed Matter, Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit grant-supported bookstore, artist organization, and arts space which publishes and distributes artists' books. It is currently located at 231 11th Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of N ...
., and started the
NY Art Book Fair
The NY Art Book Fair is Printed Matter, Inc's annual event, historically held in September or October. The NY Art Book Fair is the world’s largest book fair for artists’ books and related publications, featuring over 370 exhibitors from 30 c ...
and the LA Art Book Fair.
Early life
Tims' father was an Air Force officer, and as a result, the family moved often; Tims spent his childhood in various places across Canada.
He was an avid reader as a child, and it was through his reading habits that he explored his interest in art, architecture, spirituality and the occult,
which would remain significant touchstones throughout his life and career, especially in his post-General Idea solo career.
He attended the University of Manitoba as an architecture student in the mid-1960s.
He met Ron Gabe (aka Felix Partz) at the University of Manitoba. While at architecture school, he came to be interested in and involved with theories of radical education and communes.
His interest in and experience with alternate methods of education began at the age of 12, where his primary school experimented with a form of self-directed learning. He, along with a group of fellow U of Manitoba students, dropped out to form a commune, whose activities included a free press (called "The Loving Couch Press") and a
free school
Free may refer to:
Concept
* Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything
* Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism
* Emancipate, to procure ...
(called "The School").
It was via his activities with the Loving Couch Press that Bronson came into contact with other underground presses. This, in turn, exposed him to the
Situationist International
The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
and
Fluxus, which would have a significant impact on the ideas and methods pursued as part of General Idea.
In the late 1960s, Bronson trained as a facilitator in group-process for
communes and cooperative communities while apprenticing with a psychologist at the University of Regina.
In his role as an apprentice, he travelled across Canada, including to
Simon Fraser University. At Simon Fraser, he met Brian Carpenter, who deepened his exposure to radical communication theories. He also encountered the InterMedia artist collective, and Slobodan Saia-Levy (aka Jorge Zontal).
In 1969, Bronson's involvement in communes and radical education theories and practices took him to Toronto, to investigate the Rochdale College experiment. It was through some of the members of
Rochdale College that Bronson deepened his friendships with Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal (each having arrived in Toronto for different reasons). They, along with several others, became involved in the countercultural performance and "happenings" scene that centered around Toronto's
Theatre Passe Muraille. Through Theatre Passe Muraille, Bronson apprenticed with
Coach House Press (he also did graphic design for Passe Muraille).
General Idea
The General Idea artists group, initially a loose collective of five to seven people, was founded in 1969 by Bronson,
Jorge Zontal and
Felix Partz, Partz's then-girlfriend Mimi Paige, and Granada Gazelle (a.k.a. Sharon Venne).
Among the group's various activities, The trio founded ''
FILE Megazine
''FILE Megazine'' (published 1972–1989) was a quarterly, then irregularly published art and culture magazine, written, edited and published primarily by members of General Idea (there were guest contributors throughout its run, and later on, some ...
'', a visual magazine, which they edited and published from 1972 until 1989. In 1974 they founded
Art Metropole
Art Metropole is an artist run centre that publishes, promotes, exhibits, archives and distributes artists' publications and other materials. Art Metropole was founded in 1974 by the Canadian artist collective General Idea as a division of Ar ...
, an international publisher, distributor and archive of artists' books, video and multiples, which they conceived as an extension of the self-mythologization of General Idea. AA Bronson was the director of Art Metropole from 1974 through 1984, and again from 1996 through 1998.
The three worked and lived together for 25 years, until their collaboration was terminated with the death of both Zontal and Partz in 1994.
General Idea continues to exhibit internationally in private galleries and museums, as well as undertaking countless temporary public art projects around the world.
Bronson has been working independently since that time. He is currently represented by
Esther Schipper, Berlin and
Maureen Paley, London.
Solo career
Bronson's solo artwork has dealt with trauma, loss, death and healing.
While caring for friends coping with their
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
-related illnesses, Bronson began to participate in Body Electric (and related) therapeutic massage and healing workshops and seminars in California (he partook in the first of such seminars in 1989). His initial motivation for this was to become a midwife to the dying. Over the course of the next eleven years, he would return to California to continue to take part in, and deepen his knowledge of, alternative healing and therapeutic bodywork practices.
After the deaths of Partz and Zontal, an aspect of Bronson's grief manifested as a creative crisis. His first works are, in fact, elegies both to his General Idea partners and his own identity as part of the group: a deathbed portrait of Felix Partz (''Felix, June 5, 1994'', 1994–99), a triptych of Zontal shortly before his death (''Jorge, February 3, 1994'', 2000) and a full-body nude self-portrait in the shape of a coffin (''AA Bronson, August 22, 2000'', 2000).
He began working professionally as a healer initially out of personal calling, and this professional identity as a healer was soon integrated into his artistic identity. Bronson has said that he approached his identity as a healer in the same way that General Idea approached their identities as artists: the word was so overused, it had lost any particular meaning and significance, and so he was free both to assume the 'drag' of a healer, and consequently, to invest the word with his own meaning. The first expression of his healing practice as an artistic performance emerged at a solo show at the Frederic Giroux gallery in Paris in 2003.
His healing practice garnered significant attention in the press due to his inclusion of an anal massage technique, a practice he learned through a teacher Bronson met during his extensive therapeutic massage schooling in California.
In 2004, Bronson began working at Printed Matter as its director. Through his involvement in Printed Matter, he founded the NY Art Book Fair in 2005 (which in turn birthed the LA Art Book Fair). The annual
NY Art Book Fair
The NY Art Book Fair is Printed Matter, Inc's annual event, historically held in September or October. The NY Art Book Fair is the world’s largest book fair for artists’ books and related publications, featuring over 370 exhibitors from 30 c ...
, which hosts over 200 independent presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, artists and publishers from twenty countries. Via his work at Printed Matter and at the Book Fairs, Bronson began to be introduced to a network of a younger generation of artists, with whom he began and continues to collaborate regularly.
A significant aspect of this collaboration took form in a series of site-specific "secret" performances entitled ''Invocation of the Queer Spirits'', conceived in collaboration with artist Peter Hobbs. They, along with a series of select collaborators, would collectively ritually invoke the spirits of the dead in various locales. The ritual has been performed in
Banff,
New Orleans,
Winnipeg,
Governor's Island, the
Fire Island Pines
Fire Island Pines (often referred to as ''The Pines'', simply ''Pines'', or ''FIP'') is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on Fire Island, a barrier island separated from the southern side ...
. These performances were always private. A book documenting this process (including its conception and photographic evidence of its remnants) was published by Creative Time in 2011. Since then, the ''Invocation of the Queer Spirits'' has been performed in
Berlin and
Paris, among other venues.
In 2009, Bronson enrolled as a Masters of Divinity candidate at
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. While at Union, he co-founded the Institute for Art, Religion and Social Justice with Kathryn Reklis.
In 2013, Bronson was invited to Berlin to be a resident as part of the
DAAD Berliner Kunstler program. After the course of the yearlong residency was over, he and his partner, Mark Jan Krayenhoff van de Leur, decided to remain in Berlin, where they both currently reside.
In 2021, he was one of the participants in
John Greyson's experimental short documentary film ''
International Dawn Chorus Day''.
Exhibitions
He had his first solo institutional exhibition outside of General Idea in 2000 at the
Vienna Secession in Austria, followed closely by a solo exhibition at the
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
in Chicago (2001), a solo exhibition at the
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge (2002), and another at
The Power Plant
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian non-collecting public contemporary art gallery located at the heart of Toronto, Ontario at the Harbourfront Centre. It is a registered Canadian charitable organization supported by its membe ...
in Toronto (2003) and the
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver (2004). He was featured in the Montreal and
Whitney Biennials (2000 and 2002). With his partner, Mark Jan Krayenhoff van de Leur, he was one of three finalists in a public competition for a monument to homosexuals persecuted by the Nazis, for the city of
Vienna, Austria.
In 2010, a Bronson aforementioned ''Felix, June 5, 1994'' appeared in the ''Hide/Seek'' exhibit at the United States'
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to:
*National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra
*National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred
*National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C.
*National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...
, but the artist sought to withdraw the work after
the censorship controversy. The Bronson piece was on loan to the show "from the
National Gallery of Canada.
Marc Mayer, the director of the Canadian museum, urged the National Portrait Gallery to respect Mr. Bronson's wishes and remove the work but did not formally demand its return," and the National Portrait Gallery ultimately declined to remove the work.
Bronson continues to exhibit regularly. Recent exhibitions of note include ''The Temptation of AA Bronson'' at
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art Rotterdam (2013), a kind of experimental solo show which mapped Bronson's various lifelong influences and current collaborations with younger artists. In 2015, he had twin shows at the
Salzburger and Grazer Kunstvereins, for which he, in collaboration with his partner Krayenhoff van de Leur and artist Adrian Hermanides, created a massive tent structure called ''Folly (Lana's Boudoir)'', which was subsequently featured in
Art Basel's ''Unlimited'' exhibition in 2016. He had a major solo exhibitions at Esther Schipper Berlin, Maureen Paley (London) and at Kunstwerke Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin) in 2018.
In 2019, he performed his ''Apology to Siksika Nation'' at the inaugura
Toronto Biennial of Art The manifold project deals with Bronson's great-grandfather,
John William Tims
John William Tims, was born in Oxford in England on 24 December 1857. He was a DD was Archdeacon of Calgary from 1898 to Crockford's Clerical Directory 1929/30 p 1294: London, OUP, 1929 1912.
Tims was educated at the Church Missionary Society Co ...
, and the consequences of his missionary work in
Siksika nation in the turn of the 20th century. The project also includes a eponymous publication.
Curating
Bronson has also curated exhibitions. In the late 1970s, he curated a series of exhibitions at A Space, Toronto, including an exhibition of the multiples of
Joseph Beuys. In 1984 he was co-curator of ''Evidence of the Avant-Garde...'', Art Metropole, Toronto, a survey of artists' books, multiples, and ephemera. In 1987 he curated ''From Sea to Shining Sea'' for the Power Plant, Toronto, a history of artist-directed activity in Canada from the post-war period to 1986. In 1991 he curated ''Learn to Read Art'', an exhibition of 287 artists' books and multiples from the permanent collection of Art Metropole presented at the
Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland. In the mid-nineties he curated a series of exhibitions for Art Metropole, including ''Intermedia'', a look at Canada's first artist-run center. More recently, as Director of Printed Matter, Inc., New York, he has curated exhibitions related to artists' publishing, notably "I will not make any more boring art", an exhibition of books, prints and ephemera from the
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax. His exhibition, again titled ''Learn to Read Art'', a history of Printed Matter Inc. with more than 300 publications, editions, and posters, was presented at the
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon (Seville, Spain), Badischer Kunstverein (Karlsruhe, Germany), and at
MoMA PS1 in 2009.
Bronson has been deeply involved with publishing, promoting publishing activity as a primary artistic form. In 1979 he co-edited ''Performance by Artists'' with
Peggy Gale for Art Metropole, Toronto. In 1983 they co-edited another resource publication, ''Museums by Artists'', Art Metropole. In 1987 the Power Plant catalogue ''Sea to Shining Sea'' attempted to construct a history since the post-war period of artist-initiated activity in Canada, including the formation of the artist-run centers. He also published artists' books for Art Metropole by
Jeff Wall
Jeffrey Wall, Order of Canada, OC, Royal Society of Canada, RSA (born September 29, 1946) is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Early in his career, he helped define the Van ...
,
Colin Campbell Colin may refer to:
* Colin (given name)
* Colin (surname)
* ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie
* Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse
* Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney ...
,
Lisa Steele,
Hamish Fulton,
Hans Haacke, and others, as well as conceiving the series Little Cockroach Press, of which he edited the first few issues. As director and president of Printed Matter, he has published many books, including titles by
Scott Treleaven,
Terence Koh,
Tauba Auerbach,
Martha Rosler and
Temporary Services Temporary Services is an art group of three people based in Chicago, Illinois, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), and Copenhagen, Denmark. Temporary Services has created art projects, public events, publications, and exhibitions since 1998.
On their ...
(Chicago).
Bronson has written widely, including texts for ''FILE Megazine'', and General Idea publications, as well as essays for art magazines and catalogues. He has published numerous artist books and projects under his own imprint, Media Guru. His own memoir, ''Negative Thoughts'', was published by the
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
, Chicago in 2001.
Collections and awards
Bronson's solo work is in the collections of the
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa),
The Whitney Museum (New York), the Jewish Museum (New York), the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Kingston), and private collections.
Bronson has been awarded the Skowhegan Award (2006), the
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (2002),
the Bell Award in Video Art (2001), and a Chalmers Fellowship (2003). Other awards include The
Gershon Iskowitz Prize (1988), The Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Toronto (1993), the Banff Centre for the Arts National Award (1993), and the Jean A. Chalmers Award for Visual Arts (1994). He is a member of the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
He has received honorary doctorates from NSCAD University, Halifax, Canada; Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; and McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada. In 2011, he was named a
Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et lettres
The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
(Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by Frédéric Mitterrand, Minister of Culture and Communications for France, at a ceremony held at the Residence of the Canadian ambassador to France in Paris. In 2014, ''The Temptation of AA Bronson'' won the AICA Netherlands award for best exhibition.
In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal.
References
External links
Composed: Identity, Politics, SexAn exhibition at The Jewish Museum, NY featuring AA Bronson.
AA Bronson artist talk on the history of Printed Matter
Concordia University Honorary Degree Citation November 2009, Concordia University Records Management and Archives
AA Bronson Studio Visiton Berlin Art Link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronson, AA
Living people
1946 births
Canadian performance artists
Canadian LGBT artists
Officers of the Order of Canada
Gay artists
Canadian mixed media artists
Canadian art curators
Artists from Vancouver
Artists from Ontario
Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Canadian conceptual artists
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Canadian contemporary artists
21st-century LGBT people