Terry Fox (artist)

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Terry Alan Fox (May 10, 1943^[1] – 14 October 2008)^[2] was an American Conceptual artist known for his work in performance art, video, and sound. 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.^[3] Fox was active in San Francisco and in Europe, living in Europe in the latter portion of his life.^[4]

Early Life[edit]

Fox was in 1943 born in Seattle, Washington.^[2] At the age of seventeen in 1960, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease.^[5][6] His Hodgkin’s Disease was later referencing the cycles of illness and wellness in several artworks.^[5] He studied art at Cornish College of the Arts (1961) at night, while working at Boeing Aircraft.^[6][7] He continued his studies at Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma (1962).^[8][6]

Work[edit]

In 1963, Fox relocated to San Francisco where he painted until 1967. The paintings were inspired by Arthur Rimbaud. He was working at the the post office at this time in preparation for traveling abroad.^[1] In 1966 he created a series of "black mirror paintings"; these were made by spraying opaque black paint on clear glass, effectively producing a mirror surface. The black paint facing the wall was hand etched with faint words and scratches, and were shown with the "shiny side out". On occasion a spray of blue paint would be applied to the scratched areas such that viewers would see themselves reflected in the black mirrors, and in certain lighting conditions would see the faint blue scratches and words.^[9]

In 1967 Fox moved to Amsterdam where he continued painting; then moved on to create his first "actions". These performative works were inspired by the Fluxus movement. The following year he relocated to Paris where he began to produce process-oriented sculptures, "street actions", as well as two dimensional works on paper such as drawings and frottages from various surfaces.^[1] Fox collaborated with the painter William T. Wiley on the process piece, Dust Exchange, which he considered to be his first work of sculpture.^[9]

He then traveled back to San Francisco in 1969 where he produced a series of public conceptual art events titled Pubic Theater.^[1]

The following year Reese Palley Gallery presented the first solo exhibition of his work, which included Fox's first sound art works.^[1][9] Also in 1970, Fox collaborated on a performance, entitle Isolation Unit, with the German artist, Joseph Beuys. This was presented at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (where Beuys was teaching at that time); a sound work was produced in conjunction with the performance in the form of an EP record.^[1]

In 1971, Fox was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts which he used to purchase a Portapak analogue videotape recorder and sound equipment.^[1] He was largely self taught in video art.^[6]

He was in remission of Hodgkin's Disease by 1972.^[6] That year he was invited to participate in Documenta 5, in Kassel, for which he presented works based on the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth involving drawing, sculpture and performance.^[1]

Fox was an important figure in post-minimal sculpture, conceptual art, performance, and video art 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.^[3] 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).^[6][10] In 1980, he moved to Europe permanently and eventually settled in Liège, Belgium.^[6]

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.^[4]

He died in Cologne, Germany on 14 October 2008.

Fox has been included in numerous international solo and group exhibitions including the documenta 5, Kassel, 1975 Whitney Biennial and 1984 Venice Biennale. 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, Kassel in 2003.

Works[edit]

Performance work[edit]

Filmography[edit]

Discography[edit]

• 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[edit]

• 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. ISBN 0-295-95879-0
• Albright, Thomas. Art of the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945 - 1980. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. ISBN 0-520-05193-9, ISBN 978-0-520-05193-5
• 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, Bern Schulz; ‘’Terry Fox: Works with Sound’’. Kehrer; 2003, ISBN 3-933257-04-2
• Phillips, Glenn, ed. California Video: Artists and Histories. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute and J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008, ISBN 978-0-89236-922-5

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Recalling Terry Fox a project of the Terry Fox Association
• Selected videos are distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix, New York
• Artist Biography of Terry Fox at Electronic Arts Intermix [1].
• Terry Fox's 1970s performances and video works from Performance Anthology: Source book of California Performance Art, 1981
• Selected videos are distributed by Montevideo/Netherlands Media Art Institute, Amsterdam
• Works by Terry Fox in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Works by Terry Fox in the collection of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
• Terry Fox biography on Media Art Net
• Prints by Terry Fox at Crown Point Press, San Francisco