Tim Rollins (June 10, 1955 – December 22, 2017) was an American artist who together with the art collaborative K.O.S. formed the art-group Tim Rollins and K.O.S (Kids of Survival).

Biography

Timothy William Rollins was born on June 10, 1955, in Pittsfield, Maine. He was a day student at the

Maine Central Institute Maine Central Institute (MCI) is an independent high school in Pittsfield, Maine, United States that was established in 1866. The school enrolls approximately 430 students and is a nonsectarian institution. The school has both boarding and da ...

before studying

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

. He then earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York (1975–77). After graduate studies in art education and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(1977 and 1979), Rollins began teaching art for middle school students in a

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

public school. In 1984, he launched the "Art and Knowledge Workshop" in the Bronx together with a group of at-risk students who called themselves K.O.S. (Kids of Survival). Since the founding of the Art & Knowledge Workshop in 1982, Tim Rollins & K.O.S. have produced allegorical paintings, sculptures and drawings by mining the vast wealth of printed matter - from the popular to the arcane, from the minor to the canonical, from legal documents to comic books (areas in no way mutually exclusive in Rollins & K.O.S.'s view) - which are themselves understood as political allegories. The group has exhibited worldwide, having participated in two

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

s (1985, 1991),

Documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

(1987), the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

(1988), the

Carnegie International The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896 in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established th ...

(1988) and in solo exhibitions at the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...

, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1988); Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts (1988);

Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Ménil, Dominique de Menil and an h ...

, New York, New York (1989); Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut (1990); Museum für Gegenwärtskunst Basel, Switzerland (1990); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California (1990); and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (1992). Their work can be seen in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Tate Gallery, London. In February 2009, a retrospective survey of the group's work opened at The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History Sk ...

. Rollins died in December 2017, aged 62. The current members of K.O.S. at that time included Angel Abreu (b. 1974), Jorge Abreu (b. 1979), Robert Branch (b. 1977), Ala Ebtekar (b. 1978), Ricardo Nelson Savinon (b. 1971) and Noe Sosa (b. 1992).

References

External links

ArtNews obituary, Tim Rollins ArtistMuseum of Modern Art, NYLehmann Maupin GalleryTate Gallery, LondonHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenMuseum of Contemporary Art, LATim Rollins and K.O.S.
at

Xavier Hufkens Xavier Hufkens gallery is a contemporary art gallery founded by Belgian art dealer Xavier Hufkens (b. 1965). The gallery has three locations in Brussels and represents an international roster of some forty emerging, mid-career and established art ...

, Brussels {{DEFAULTSORT:Rollins, Tim 1955 births 2017 deaths University of Maine alumni School of Visual Arts alumni New York University alumni Artists from New York City Maine Central Institute alumni