Anton Perich is a Croatian-American filmmaker, photographer and

video artist 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. ...

, born in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, in 1945. He has lived and worked in New York City since 1970.

Biography

From 1965 to 1970, Perich lived in Paris, France and became close to the group of poets and artist working in the

Lettrism Lettrism is a French avant-garde movement, established in Paris in the mid-1940s by Romanian immigrant Isidore Isou. In a body of work totaling hundreds of volumes, Isou and the Lettrists have applied their theories to all areas of art and culture ...

group: (

Isidore Isou Isidore Isou (; 29 January 1925 – 28 July 2007), born Isidor Goldstein, was a Romanian-born French poet, dramaturge, novelist, film director, economist, and visual artist who lived in the 20th century. He was the founder of Lettrism, an art ...

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), but also with the French film underground milieu (

Piero Heliczer Piero Heliczer (June 20, 1937 – July 22, 1993) was an Italian-American poet, publisher, actor and filmmaker associated with the New American Cinema. Life and career Heliczer was born in Rome to a German mother and a Polish father. His film ca ...

Michel Auder Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

Raphaël Bassan Raphaël Bassan (born 1948) is a French film critic and journalist, who has specialized in experimental film and the history of cinema. He has also made three short movies. Biography Bassan was born in Burgas, Bulgaria, of French nationality, ...

, Slobodan Pajic,

Pierre Clémenti Pierre André Clémenti (28 September 1942 – 27 December 1999) was a French actor. Life and career Born in Paris to an unknown father and Rose Clémenti, a Corsican concierge whose surname he took, Clémenti had a difficult childhood and took ...

). During that period, Perich changed his first name and became Antoine Perich, because Anton was not familiar a name in France. He was among the first activists to present, every week, programs of avant-garde and underground films at the

American Center The American Center is a high-rise tower in the Metro Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, built in 1975 as the corporate headquarters for the automaker American Motors Corporation (AMC), which was subsequently acquired by Chrysler Corporat ...

in Paris. He moved to New York in 1970, became friends with

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

and contributed as a photographer to Warhol's

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

. He also worked as a busboy at the legendary

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...

, where he photographed the scene as an ongoing art performance every night, along with exhibiting the photos on the walls. In 1977–78, he designed and built an electric painting machine, an early predecessor of the

inkjet printer Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper and plastic substrates. Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008, and range from small inexpensi ...

. The development of this machine rendered Perich a pioneer of electric-digital-

computer art Computer art is any art in which computers play a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, video game, website, algorithm, performance or gallery installation. Many tradit ...

. In 1978, he founded

NIGHT Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends ...

as an interactive "gallery space" for his photography and the nightly activities at places such as Studio 54. In 2006, he had a video retrospective at the Anthology Film Archives, in New York. In 2012, the Italian film production Minimal Cinema produced ''In the fabulous underground'', an unconventional art documentary and a portrait of Perich as an artist and as a man, directed by Claudio Romano and Mauro John Capece and produced by Betty L'Innocente. The film was screened at the contemporary art center of New Orleans on Saturday the 13th. His son, Tristan Perich, is a noted composer and visual artist.

Notes

References

Revisiting Max's, Sanctuary for the Hip, by Randy Kennedy September 05, 2010, Two coming exhibitions shed new light on the glory days of Max's Kansas City, an oasis for artists in the 1960s and '70s

External links

Perich's BiographyPerich's bio and worksPerich's Painting machinePerich's Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perich, Anton Living people 1945 births Yugoslav emigrants to the United States American photographers American filmmakers Yugoslav expatriates in France