Terry Alan Fox (1943 – 14 October 2008)
was an American
Conceptual artist
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional Aesthetics, aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes ca ...
known for his work in
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
,
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
, and
sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' b ...
. He was of the first generation conceptual artists and he was a central participant in the West Coast performance art, video and Conceptual Art movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Fox was active in San Francisco and in Europe, living in Europe in the latter portion of his life.
Biography
Fox was in 1943 born in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
.
At the age of seventeen in 1960, he was diagnosed with
Hodgkin’s Disease
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition w ...
.
His Hodgkin’s Disease was later referencing the cycles of illness and wellness in several artworks.
He studied art at
Cornish College of the Arts
Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914.
History
Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of ...
(1961), while working at
Boeing Aircraft
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
.
He continued his studies at
Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma
The Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma is a public tertiary academy of art in Rome, Italy. It was founded in the sixteenth century, but the present institution dates from the time of the unification of Italy and the capture of Rome by the Kingdom ...
(1962).
Fox was largely self taught in video art.
He was in remission of Hodgkin's Disease by 1972.
Fox was an important figure in post-minimal sculpture, conceptual art, performance, and
video art
Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...
on the West Coast. Before permanently moving to Europe, he was based in San Francisco in the late 1960s and 1970s and was associated with the underground art scene.
Fox moved often and lived in the following cities - Rome (1962), San Francisco (1963–1966, late 1968–1978), Paris (1967–early 1968, 1972), Naples (1983–1984), New York City (1978–1979).
In 1980, he moved to Europe permanently and eventually settled in
Liège, Belgium.
His seminal series of works (environments, performances, sculptures, drawings) produced over an eight-year period was based on the theme of the configuration of the
Chartres Labyrinth.
He died in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
on 14 October 2008.
Fox has been included in numerous international solo and group exhibitions including the
documenta 5, Kassel, 1975
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 ...
and 1984
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 ...
. He had two major exhibitions in
Berkeley, his first solo museum show curated by Brenda Richardson in 1973, and one in 1985 organized around the body of works owned by the Berkeley Art Museum organized by
Constance Lewallen. His retrospective solo exhibition was organized by the Kunsthalle
Fridericianum
The Fridericianum is a museum in Kassel, Germany. Built in 1779, it is one of the oldest public museums in Europe. , Kassel in 2003.
Works
Performance work
Filmography
Discography
*''Berlino\Rallentando.'' LP record. Eindhoven, The Netherlands: Het Appollohuis, 1989.
*''Isolation Unit'' (Terry Fox: Pipes; Joseph Beuys: Seeds). (Extended play record, produced by the artists), 1970. Edition 500.
*''Linkage.'' LP record with text by Martin Kunz. Lucerne, Switzerland: Kunstmuseum, 1982.
*''Mag Magazine #3: Joan La Barbara/Terry Fox.'' Audiocassette edition. Vienna, Austria: Galerie Grita Insam, 1979.
*''Revolutions per Minute.'' One cut on record of artists' sound works. New York: Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, 1982.
*''The Labyrinth Scored for the Purrs of 11 Different Cats.'' Audiocassette. Eindhoven, The Netherlands: Het Appollohuis, 1989.
Bibliography
*Richardson, Brenda. ‘’Terry Fox’’. Berkeley: University Art Museum, University of California, 1973.
* Foley, Suzanne. ''Space Time Sound, Conceptual Art in the San Francisco Bay Area: The 1970s''. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1981.
* Albright, Thomas. ''Art of the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945 - 1980''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. ,
* University of Massachusetts Amherst, University Gallery. ''In site: five conceptual artists from the Bay Area: Terry Fox, Howard Fried, David Ireland, Paul Kos, Tom Marioni: University Gallery, Fine Arts Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst, February 2 March 17, 1990.'' Amherst: University Gallery, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1990.
* Fox, Terry, Eva Schmidt,
Matthias Osterwold
Matthias Osterwold (born 1950) is a German culture manager.
Life
Born in Hamburg, Osterwold studied sociology, economics and urban research in Hamburg as well as musicology in Berlin. In 1983, he was one of the founders of the "Freunde Guter Mu ...
, Bern Schulz; ‘’Terry Fox: Works with Sound’’.
Kehrer; 2003,
* Phillips, Glenn, ed. ''California Video: Artists and Histories''. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute and J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008,
References
External links
Recalling Terry Foxa project of the Terry Fox Association
are distributed by
Electronic Arts Intermix
Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is a nonprofit arts organization that is a resource for video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first develope ...
, New York
Artist Biographyof Terry Fox at
Electronic Arts Intermix
Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is a nonprofit arts organization that is a resource for video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first develope ...
br>
Terry Fox's 1970s performances and video worksfrom ''Performance Anthology: Source book of California Performance Art'', 1981
Selected videosare distributed by Montevideo/Netherlands Media Art Institute, Amsterdam
Worksby Terry Fox in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Worksby Terry Fox in the collection of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Terry Fox biography on Media Art NetPrints by Terry Fox at Crown Point Press, San Francisco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Terry
1943 births
2008 deaths
American sound artists
American conceptual artists
American performance artists
20th-century American artists
21st-century American artists
Artists from Seattle
Cornish College of the Arts alumni
Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma alumni
American experimental filmmakers