Jump to content

Terry Fugate-Wilcox: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
corrected link
Citation bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
5,426,894 edits
Alter: author. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by AManWithNoPlan | #UCB_CommandLine
 
(275 intermediate revisions by 54 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|American painter}}
{{unsourced}}
'''Fugate-Wilcox''' ([[1944]]- ) known both as "Tery" and as "Terry" Fugate-Wilcox, an American Conceptual artist, painter, sculptor and Actual Artist; born in [[Kalamazoo, Michigan]]. Among other works, he created the Jean Freeman Gallery, widely accepted as the conceptual artwork that ended conceptual art. In 1971, Terry Fugate-Wilcox donated an "r" to the Irish cause, becoming Tery Fugate Wilcox. (Shortly after, Brian O'Doherty became "Patrick Ireland" in support of the same cause.) After winning a public vote, on the art to be chosen for their neighborhood, Fugate-Wilcox was commissioned to create the sculpture ''3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece'' ([[1974]]) in J. Hood Wright Park, in the [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]] area of [[New York City]]. The sculpture is composed of several stacked and bolted plates of [[magnesium]] and [[aluminum]], which Fugate-Wilcox estimates will fuse together at or around the year [[3000]].


{{Infobox artist
[[image:DiffusionSculpture.jpg|200px|right]]
| name = Tery Fugate-Wilcox
| image = File:City-layers.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 1972 sculpture ''3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece'' in [[NYC Parks]]' J. Hood Wright Park.
| birth_name = Raymond Terry Fugate
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|11|20}}
| birth_place = [[Kalamazoo, Michigan]], U.S.
| spouse = {{marriage|Valerie Monroe Shakespeare|November 1, 1963|2011|end=d.}}
| nationality = American
| known_for = [[Minimalist]] and [[Actual Art]] painter, sculptor; [[Performance art]]
| training =
| movement =
| notable_works =
| patrons = [[National Gallery of Australia]], [[Public Art Fund]], [[Prudential Financial|Prudential]], [[Lower Manhattan Cultural Council]], [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|NYC Parks]]
| awards =
}}


'''Tery Fugate-Wilcox''' (born 1944) (also known as Ter'''r'''y Fugate-Wilcox before the 1980s when he "donated a surplus ''r'' to charity"), is a [[minimalist]] and natural-process postminimalist ([[Actual Art]])-ist painter and sculptor best known for three monumental art works in [[New York City]] and surrounding region: the [[Lower Manhattan Cultural Council|LMCC]]-sponsored ''Holland Tunnel Wall'' (dismantled circa 1989), the 3-storey ''Self-Watering Tetrahedrons'' fountain located in [[Prudential Financial|Prudential]]'s ''Gateway 4'' lobby until 1998, and the permanently installed 36-foot-tall ''3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece'' in [[J. Hood Wright Park]] overlooking the ''[[George Washington Bridge]]''. The latter is the subject of a New York City official historical sign.<ref name="NYC Historical Signs Project: Wright Park: ''3000 AD Diffusion Piece''">NYC Parks, [http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/j-hood-wright-park/highlights/11938few%20photos%20here] ''[[NYC Parks]]''.</ref> The artist is an [[National Endowment for the Arts|NEA]]-laureate with creations in the collections of the [[Smithsonian Institution]], the [[National Gallery of Australia]], [[NYC Parks]], and several museums. His art at times led to tangles with the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], the [[New York City Department of Buildings]], and magazine "[[Art in America]]". He was co-organizer of the [[Fulcrum Gallery]] (AKA Fvlcrvm Gallery, AKA Shakespeare's Fvlcrvm) located in the basement of the [[Guggenheim Museum SoHo|SoHo Branch of the Guggenheim Museum]] until both sites closed in 2002 in part due to the [[economic effects arising from the September 11 attacks]] on [[SoHo, Manhattan|SoHo]] and [[TriBeCa]].
Fugate-Wilcox also created the [[public sculpture]] ''Weathering Concrete Triangle'' ([[1984]]) at the corner of [[Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)|Seventh Avenue]] and [[Waverly Place (Manhattan)|Waverly Place]] in [[Manhattan]]. the work caused a sensation, when it became "criminal art" & the owner of the property, Valerie Monroe Shakespeare was prosecuted in criminal court. She prevailed, as the case was summarily dismissed by the judge, only to find herself facing a million-dollar lawsuit by the same agency of the City of New York. Eventually, the City gave up the suit & the sculpture was moved to the home of a private collector in New Jersey. The following articles covered the conflict:
Revenaugh, Mickey."Seventh Avenue", Washington Market Review, August 24,1984, p.4, illust.
Revenaugh, Mickey."Art vs. Security" Washington Market Review, Aug 22,1984, p.6
Anderson, Susan & David Bird ."Sculpture& 7th Ave. South," Day by Day, NYTimes, 8/8/84,illust.
Bollinger, Ann V. "Woman & Village Square Off in Battle Over Triangle", NY Post,3- 21-’87 illust.
Herzfeld, John. "Tangled Triangle," Art News, December, 1987, p.29, illust.
“New York City vs. Valerie Shakespeare over Criminal Art” CBS News December, 1987
"Woman in Million Dollar Lawsuit for Art" Channel 11 News, NYC December, 1987


==Early life==
[[image:Villagebst.jpg|200px|left]]
According to his own autobiography, ''It's the Artists' Life for Me!'', he was born with the name Raymond Terry Fugate in [[Kalamazoo, Michigan]], and he never met his father (who was [[Killed in action|KIA]] during [[World War II]]). At age sixteen, Raymond was formally adopted by his stepfather, Dale Wilcox, becoming Raymond Terry Fugate-Wilcox.
He attended military schools and some college. His autobiography also says that he married in 1963 to Valerie Monroe Shakespeare who convinced him to drop ''Raymond'' from his name; changing his name to ''Terry Fugate-Wilcox''. Fugate-Wilcox and wife moved to [[New York City]] in December 1968.


==Work==
Founder of Actual Art movement,[[Actual Art]] Fugate-Wilcox created 40-foot-tall "Self-Watering Tetrahedrons" at Prudential, Newark, New Jersey, 5 various sized tetrahedrons, in a family grouping, that were imbedded with copper, brass, bronze, steel & iron, just under the surface of the concrete. As water from the built-in fountain flowed over the sculptures, the colors of blue, turquoise, green, ochre & reddish browns migrated up to create patterns on the surface. The work sat in a reflecting pool in the main lobby of Gateway 4, of the Prudential, in Newark New Jersey, until 1996, when Prudential sold the building, the fountain was dismantled by the artist & sold to a private collector.


===Diffusing metal sculptures===
[[image:Prudentialpiece.jpg|200px|right]]
Consistent with the artist's enthusiasm for the [[Actual Art]] concept that time and natural process should be able to change art's appearance, the most recognizable Fugate-Wilcox pieces involve same-sized flat rectangular slabs of chemically sensitive metals which are physically [[Bolt (fastener)|bolt]]ed together—with the intent that, over time (an estimated year indicated in the piece's title) the slabs would chemically bond together through diffusion or other means into one solid mass. Such pieces include the [[National Gallery of Australia]]'s ''2,500 A.D. ([[copper|Cu]] & [[zinc|Zn]])'', and ''Cu & [[carbon|C]] (3500 ad)'', and also ''Blue steel & brass (2500 ad)'' <ref name='NatGalAus collections'>{{cite web|url=http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=30145|title=FUGATE-WILCOX, Tery 2500AD (Cu &Zn)|publisher=National Gallery of Australia|author=National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010|accessdate=2014-09-12}}</ref> New York City's prominent 1974 outdoor sculpture, ''3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece'' is such a work: in theory, the piece's various [[aluminum]] and [[magnesium]] slabs will join themselves into one continuous alloy block around the year 3000.<ref name="NYC Historical Signs Project: Wright Park: ''3000 AD Diffusion Piece''"/> (The [[geo-coordinates]] of the site of the ''3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece'' are: 40.847283,-73.94205.)


===Other sculpture===
Current project: San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project, 68,000 tons of concrete spanning the San Andreas Fault near Palm Springs, CA. The work is sponsored by the Actual Art Foundation, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501c-3 organization, founded by Valerie Monroe Shakespeare, in 1982[[Actual Art]]. The San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project is supported entirely by donations from art patrons with a desire to establish a deeper more meaningful dialogue with the earth.
Fugate-Wilcox concrete sculptures typically consist of flat slabs of concrete in the elemental [[polygon]]al shapes so often favored by minimalist artists. Fugate-Wilcox peppers the exposed surfaces of the still-wet concrete with metallic powder or other substances likely to [[oxidize]] or otherwise chemically change with the passage of time, thus changing the surface colors.<ref>[Seeman, Helene."Art at Gateway Center, 2nd Annual Sculpture Exhibit," Newark, Cat, 7/1991, illust.]</ref> The artist's ''Weathering Triangle'' outdoor sculpture in New York City was meant to feature the changing colors brought about by chemical reactions over time; however, Smithsonian photos <ref name="Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums: ''Weathering Concrete Triangle'', (sculpture)">Smithsonian (ref# IAS 87870227), [http://collections.si.edu/search/tag/tagDoc.htm?recordID=siris_ari_307093&hlterm=tery%2Bfugate-wilcox] ''[[Smithsonian]]''.</ref> show that in fact the surface was usually just covered-over by unauthorized [[Poster#Event posters|event posters]] and [[graffiti]]. (The piece was also a long-time "litigating triangle" as [[New York City Department of Buildings|NY Buildings]] repeatedly fought to challenge in court the ''Triangle'''s erection without permits.)


Some Fugate-Wilcox flat steel creations have involved changes created by blast effects from explosives. The warping and [[spalling]] resulting from contact with detonating explosives is used for artistic effect. Fugate-Wilcox also designs [[lightning]]-modified art. Some of the artist's creations use furnace-burnt or otherwise deweaponized handguns obtained from municipal [[gun buyback program]]s.
The artist is using the energy in the San Andreas Fault to create a work of art near Palm Springs, in the Indio Hills on land owned by the Artist & will be visible from the tram overlooking the area. He is using the force of plate tectonics, (the movement of the continents causing earthquakes & volcanoes, creates mountain ranges, & opens up rifts beneath the sea).


Some sculptures have used bundles of vertically installed [[Lumber#Dimensional lumber|2 by 4 lumber]] which would gradually fan-out slightly from their original rigidly compact vertical formation due to the swelling and warping effects of humidity. According to a 1983 ''[[New York Times]]'' article, a Fugate-Wilcox warping wood piece called ''Weathering Wood'' took advantage of variations in humidity to flex and "flower out" when dry, and then "close back up" when the environment became more humid.<ref>[Glueck, Grace. "Art, A Huge Exhibition at Brooklyn Terminal", [[The New York Times]] 9/30/1983, illust.]</ref>
The San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project begins as a solid one-piece, one-acre, block of concrete, placed across the fault. The sculpture will break into two “golden rectangles" shifting past each other at an average rate of 2-3 inches a year. The acre of concrete will weigh 65,000 tons & will loom 20 feet high, 188 feet wide & 232 feet long on the floor the desert. The sculpture will employ low-exothermic air-entrained concrete which has been tested as one of the most durable construction materials known to man. The concrete, seemingly impossible to violate will be torn apart by the power in the Earth, like a piece of tissue paper.


A future sculptural design for which the artist acquired land and started a nonprofit organization to raise funds is his ''San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project'': a proposed {{convert|1|acre|m2|adj=on}} monolith of [[concrete]] ({{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=mid|deep}}) meant to straddle both sides of the [[San Andreas Fault]] so that over time the Earth's own [[Plate tectonics|plate-tectonic forces]] will crack the block into two [[golden rectangle]]s that will continue to move past each other in opposite directions.<ref>[Frankenstein, Alfred."Crack in the World", San Francisco Examiner, Jan. 1, 1976, p.27, illust.]</ref><ref>[Walker, Michael. "Tectonics, The Crack-up", Los Angeles Times Magazine, Dec. 3, 1995, illust]</ref><ref>[Smith, Howard & B. Van Der Horst Scenes "A Slab in Time", Village Voice,6-30-'75, p.16, illust.]</ref> The artist's intent would be to use "the Earth itself, as a tool to make the movement of massive continents visible on a scale that can be understood in human terms".<ref>[Savitt, Mark, "Terry Fugate-Wilcox", Arts Magazine, Dec. 1975, p.10, illust]</ref><ref>[Bartelme, Margaret. "The San Andreas Fault", Art Week, Vol. 6-45, Vol. 7-1, 11/27/'75 & 1/3/’76, Illust.]</ref>
Tery Fugate-Wilcox is using the earth as a tool to make the earth’s energy visible on a scale that can be understood in human terms and vision. The natural forces of the 43-mile deep crack in the earth will divide the massive block, revealing the powerful forces of nature in a positive context, using nature to carve the sculpture. In about 63,000,000 years the west half of the sculpture, (as well as the western half of Clifornia) will be in Alaska.


===Paintings===
The project will become a centre for education & information about plate tectonics, earth sciences & environmental concerns. A gallery about the project will be maintained at the site as well as in downtown Palm Springs. The project will be available for use to raise monies for other related causes. There will be access to the top of the sculpture, as it will be allowed for events and fund raising. (chipping golf-balls off the top at say a $1,000 a pop). The site will also be maintained in the spirit of a park. Much has happened in the past to disrupt the surrounding desert and the project intends to restore the desert.
Consistent with the artist's "[[Actual Art]]" philosophy, Fugate-Wilcox's abstract paintings often include in their creation, certain natural processes like weathering, rainfall evidence, or oxidation over time; sometimes the natural processes will (on purpose) cause additional colors to appear upon a once-monochromatic surface.


A notable example seen by millions of [[New York City]] motorists (during the decade or so it was installed) was the outdoor mural titled ''Holland Tunnel Wall'' —a painting larger than the entire facade of the neighboring [[Our Lady of Vilnius Church (New York City)|national parish church ''Our Lady of Vilnius'']]. located on the multistory parking tower on the northwest corner of [[Varick Street|Varick]] and [[Broome Street|Broome]] directly in view of vehicles entering the [[Holland Tunnel]]. This mural (formerly the site of a megabillboard now gone because the whole building was demolished in November 2015) at first appeared all white until, over time, it became ever more colorful as layers of water-soluble paint weathered away by rain revealed the artist's pigmented underlayers. The artist's intention was to use paints that were incompatible with each other, so that as the work weathered, different colors would emerge.<ref name="ReferenceA">[Parker, Kevin. "Wall Art, Bridge Art", Place Magazine, September 1981]</ref> The first layer was red epoxy paint; the second layer, yellow latex; the third layer was blue oil-based alkyd; the fourth layer was green-pigmented shellac, and the fifth (final) layer was [[whitewas]]h of white water-soluble casein paint.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> (The [[geo-coordinates]] of the former site of the ''Holland Tunnel Wall'' mural are: 40.724455, -74.006305.)
Tery’s work is in the collections of: City of New York, Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art NYC, National Gallery of Australia, Albright-Knox Museum, Indianapolis Museum of Art, J. Patrick Lannan Foundation, Damson Oil Co., American Council for the Arts, University of Hartford, National Shopping Centers, Western Michigan University, Detroit Institute of Art, Chicago Institute of Art, & several major sculpture installations in NYC, Newark N.J & around the world. His work has been in forty one-person shows, most recently at Shakespeare's Fvlcrvm in SoHo & at Art House, Candlewood Lake Art Center, in Connecticut. His work is in the collections of over 200 art patrons internationally & is a NEA laureate & is listed in Marquis Who's Who, 2008. Tery Fugate-Wilcox is the author of a new book; "It's the Artist's Life for Me!" written with Valerie Monroe Shakespeare, his wife & life partner.

===Performance art===
In an art prank which "[[Art in America]]" called "the conceptual artwork that ended [[conceptual art]]",<ref>''Ripping off the Art Magazines'', "Ripping Off the Art Magazines", Nancy Foote, ''Art in America'', March, 1972</ref> in 1970 Fugate-Wilcox and wife picked a nonexistent address on 57th Street (then the center of the New York art world) and created the fictitious Jean Freeman Gallery.<ref name=fineartpub>''Fine Art Publicity: The Complete Guide for Galleries and Artists'', Susan Abbott, Allworth Communications, Inc., 2005, {{ISBN|1-58115-401-1}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=dIVqN97ho6wC&dq=%22jean+freeman+gallery%22&pg=PA29 Google Books] - citing How to Succeed (By Really Trying), Paul Gardner, ARTnews</ref> Like other significant galleries, the (secretly non-existent) Jean Freeman Gallery advertised in "[[Art in America]]"—but the advertising bills, mailed to the fake address, went unpaid. At the end of the 1970 art season, Fugate-Wilcox published an announcement from the Jean Freeman Gallery saying: "26 West 57th Street does not exist".<ref>''Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972'', Lucy R Lippard, University of California Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0-520-21013-1}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=2NnA9EdcWigC&dq=%22fugate-Wilcox%22&pg=PA223 Google Books]</ref> An early 1971 ''[[New York Times]]'' article by Grace Glueck called "The Non Gallery of No Art" announced in public the story of Jean Freeman Gallery. In a televised appearance with Fugate-Wilcox on the "[[Today (NBC program)|Today]]" show, "Art in America"'s [[Brian O'Doherty]] announced that the magazine would "donate" the costs of the unpaid advertising bills, and then discussed on-air the non-gallery as a conceptual artwork with Fugate-Wilcox and the show host.<ref>[Foote, Nancy. "Ripping Off the Art Magazines", Art in America, March, 1972, pg 49]</ref>

In 1971, Terry Fugate-Wilcox donated a "surplus letter ''R''" from his first name during a fundraiser for the [[Irish republicanism|Irish independence]] cause, thus going from ''Terry'' to ''Tery'' (still pronounced like "Terry"). Shortly afterward, "Art in America"'s [[Brian O'Doherty]] changed his name to "[[Patrick Ireland]]" in support of the same cause.

Also in 1971, Tery and his wife, Valerie submitted nude passport photos. Although the photos were taken from the shoulders up, the couple was refused passports and sparked an investigation by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]]'s new investigative branch called the Internal Security Commission.<ref>[Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Testimony of Frances G. Knight U.S. Congress 1972]</ref>

At one point, Fugate-Wilcox and his wife, Valerie, found a lawyer willing to help them file for a "Conceptual Divorce" in which Mrs. Fugate-Wilcox would reclaim her maiden name to become Valerie Shakespeare; thereafter, couple would continue as before.<ref>[Smith, Howard. Scenes: "Terry Fugate-Wilcox: the Art of Divorce”, The Village Voice, Sep 17,1970]</ref>

== Gallery ==

<gallery caption="Various archive photos and artist conception composite images" widths="150px" heights="150px" perrow="4">
File:"Weathering Wall" at the entrance to the Holland Tunnel (montage of various stages, by Tery Fugate-Wilcox).jpg|In-process photos of the application of various paint-layers on the ''Holland Tunnel Wall'' weathering mural.
File:Villagepce.jpg|Artist's conception image of the ''Weathering Triangle'' showing color changes caused by weather-induced [[oxidation]] of metal powders embedded in the sculpture's cement surface.
File:Tery_triangle_posterized-2.jpg|Smithsonian archive photo shows the unintended reality of ''Weathering Triangle'' as installed in [[Greenwich Village]] – covered over with unauthorized event posters and graffiti [[Graffiti#Tag|tags]].
File:Tery_triangle_posterized.jpg|Another Smithsonian archive photo of Fugate-Wilcox's ''Weathering Triangle''.
File:Tery fugate wilcox si.png|Smithsonian archive photo of the artist's monumental ''3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece'' covered with graffiti in New York City.
File:Tery fugate wilcox si detail.png|Detail view showing the extent at one time of the graffiti vandalism.
File:Tery_Fugate-Wilcox_art_01.jpg|The same sculpture, after [[graffiti abatement]] care. (Photo by [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]])
File:PruPce.jpg|Artist's conception of the Prudential lobby fountain, ''Self-watering Tetrahedrons''.
<!-- Deleted image removed: File:MGM-13 Mace missile nosecones in Battery Park (Terry Fugate-Wilcox art project, 1972).jpg|A 1971 [[Battery Park]] art show with the artist's 15-unit installation titled ''Mace'', made of colorfully painted [[MGM-13 Mace]] missile [[nosecone]]s with soluble metallic paint overlay. Touching by passersby was intended to wear away the outer paint layer and reveal the hidden colors. -->
File:Notxt.jpg|Artist's conception of the planned ''[[San Andreas Fault]] Sculpture Project'' showing the one-acre slab as it might look after having been (purposefully) cracked into two offset halves by [[tectonics|tectonic]] forces.
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Image:SANA MODEL NOLYRS copy copy.jpg|200px|center]]
==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/manhattan/uppermanhattan/washingtonheights/jhoodwrightpark/ NYC Bridge and Tunnel Club's photo page for J. Hood Wright Park with two recent color photos of ''3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece''.]
* [http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=30147&PICTAUS=True National Gallery of Australia photo/info page of a small Fugate-Wilcox piece in their collection.]
* [http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=30145&PICTAUS=True National Gallery of Australia photo/info page of a larger Fugate-Wilcox piece in their collection.]
* [http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID:siris_ari_307082 Smithsonian archive info on ''Three Thousand A.D. Diffusion Piece''.]
* {{YouTube|HRC27kmZfF8|TFM clip of Fugate-Wilcox}} at Fvlcrvm Gallery explaining [[Actual Art]] (Content note: has nudity and vulgar language ).
* [http://data.free103point9.org/r/av/55/5a/69_20130704.mp3 Mp3 audio of a WGXC radio two-hour talk with the artist recalling the old SoHo art scene (intro "music" plays until 5:15 into the piece)]
<!-- these are all dead links
* [http://www.actualartfoundation.org Actual Art Foundation]
* [http://www.shakespearesfvlcrvm.com Shakespeare's Fvlcrvm]
* [http://www.teryfugate-wilcox.web.officelive.com Fugate-Wilcox]
* [http://www.sanandreasfaultsculpture.info San Andreas Fault Sculpture]
* [http://www.valeriemonroeshakespeare.info Valerie Monroe Shakespeare]
* [http://www.artistslife.books.officelive.com It's the Artist's Life for me, life story and memoirs] -->


{{Authority control}}
* ''[http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/03042005 Beyond Time]'': an episode of the [[WNYC]] radio show ''Radio Lab'' that profiles Fugate-Wilcox and the sculpture ''3000 AD Diffusion Piece''.
* ''[[http://www.actualartfoundation.org]]'': Actual Art Foundation.org
* ''[[http://www.shakespearesfvlcrvm.com]]'': Shakespeare's Fvlcrvm.com
* ''[[http://www.sanandreasfaultsculpture.info]]'': San Andreas Fault Sculpture.info
* ''[[http://www.fugate-wilcox.info]]'': Fugate-Wilcox.info
* ''[[http://www.valeriemonroeshakespeare.info]]'': Valerie Monroe Shakespeare.info
* ''[[http://www.its-the-artists-life-for-me.info]]'': It's the Artist's Life for me.info
* ''[http://nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11938]: [A description of ''3000 AD Diffusion Piece''] from the [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]].
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fugate-Wilcox}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Fugate-Wilcox}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American painters]]
[[Category:20th-century American sculptors]]
[[Category:People from Kalamazoo, Michigan]]
[[Category:Minimalist artists]]
[[Category:American performance artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American sculptors]]

Latest revision as of 15:18, 25 March 2023

Tery Fugate-Wilcox
1972 sculpture 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece in NYC Parks' J. Hood Wright Park.
Born
Raymond Terry Fugate

(1944-11-20) November 20, 1944 (age 80)
Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Known forMinimalist and Actual Art painter, sculptor; Performance art
Spouse
Valerie Monroe Shakespeare
​
​
(m. 1963; died 2011)​
Patron(s)National Gallery of Australia, Public Art Fund, Prudential, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NYC Parks

Tery Fugate-Wilcox (born 1944) (also known as Terry Fugate-Wilcox before the 1980s when he "donated a surplus r to charity"), is a minimalist and natural-process postminimalist (Actual Art)-ist painter and sculptor best known for three monumental art works in New York City and surrounding region: the LMCC-sponsored Holland Tunnel Wall (dismantled circa 1989), the 3-storey Self-Watering Tetrahedrons fountain located in Prudential's Gateway 4 lobby until 1998, and the permanently installed 36-foot-tall 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece in J. Hood Wright Park overlooking the George Washington Bridge. The latter is the subject of a New York City official historical sign.[1] The artist is an NEA-laureate with creations in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Australia, NYC Parks, and several museums. His art at times led to tangles with the House Un-American Activities Committee, the New York City Department of Buildings, and magazine "Art in America". He was co-organizer of the Fulcrum Gallery (AKA Fvlcrvm Gallery, AKA Shakespeare's Fvlcrvm) located in the basement of the SoHo Branch of the Guggenheim Museum until both sites closed in 2002 in part due to the economic effects arising from the September 11 attacks on SoHo and TriBeCa.

Early life

[edit]

According to his own autobiography, It's the Artists' Life for Me!, he was born with the name Raymond Terry Fugate in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and he never met his father (who was KIA during World War II). At age sixteen, Raymond was formally adopted by his stepfather, Dale Wilcox, becoming Raymond Terry Fugate-Wilcox. He attended military schools and some college. His autobiography also says that he married in 1963 to Valerie Monroe Shakespeare who convinced him to drop Raymond from his name; changing his name to Terry Fugate-Wilcox. Fugate-Wilcox and wife moved to New York City in December 1968.

Work

[edit]

Diffusing metal sculptures

[edit]

Consistent with the artist's enthusiasm for the Actual Art concept that time and natural process should be able to change art's appearance, the most recognizable Fugate-Wilcox pieces involve same-sized flat rectangular slabs of chemically sensitive metals which are physically bolted together—with the intent that, over time (an estimated year indicated in the piece's title) the slabs would chemically bond together through diffusion or other means into one solid mass. Such pieces include the National Gallery of Australia's 2,500 A.D. (Cu & Zn), and Cu & C (3500 ad), and also Blue steel & brass (2500 ad) [2] New York City's prominent 1974 outdoor sculpture, 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece is such a work: in theory, the piece's various aluminum and magnesium slabs will join themselves into one continuous alloy block around the year 3000.[1] (The geo-coordinates of the site of the 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece are: 40.847283,-73.94205.)

Other sculpture

[edit]

Fugate-Wilcox concrete sculptures typically consist of flat slabs of concrete in the elemental polygonal shapes so often favored by minimalist artists. Fugate-Wilcox peppers the exposed surfaces of the still-wet concrete with metallic powder or other substances likely to oxidize or otherwise chemically change with the passage of time, thus changing the surface colors.[3] The artist's Weathering Triangle outdoor sculpture in New York City was meant to feature the changing colors brought about by chemical reactions over time; however, Smithsonian photos [4] show that in fact the surface was usually just covered-over by unauthorized event posters and graffiti. (The piece was also a long-time "litigating triangle" as NY Buildings repeatedly fought to challenge in court the Triangle's erection without permits.)

Some Fugate-Wilcox flat steel creations have involved changes created by blast effects from explosives. The warping and spalling resulting from contact with detonating explosives is used for artistic effect. Fugate-Wilcox also designs lightning-modified art. Some of the artist's creations use furnace-burnt or otherwise deweaponized handguns obtained from municipal gun buyback programs.

Some sculptures have used bundles of vertically installed 2 by 4 lumber which would gradually fan-out slightly from their original rigidly compact vertical formation due to the swelling and warping effects of humidity. According to a 1983 New York Times article, a Fugate-Wilcox warping wood piece called Weathering Wood took advantage of variations in humidity to flex and "flower out" when dry, and then "close back up" when the environment became more humid.[5]

A future sculptural design for which the artist acquired land and started a nonprofit organization to raise funds is his San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project: a proposed 1-acre (4,000 m2) monolith of concrete (20 ft deep (6.1 m)) meant to straddle both sides of the San Andreas Fault so that over time the Earth's own plate-tectonic forces will crack the block into two golden rectangles that will continue to move past each other in opposite directions.[6][7][8] The artist's intent would be to use "the Earth itself, as a tool to make the movement of massive continents visible on a scale that can be understood in human terms".[9][10]

Paintings

[edit]

Consistent with the artist's "Actual Art" philosophy, Fugate-Wilcox's abstract paintings often include in their creation, certain natural processes like weathering, rainfall evidence, or oxidation over time; sometimes the natural processes will (on purpose) cause additional colors to appear upon a once-monochromatic surface.

A notable example seen by millions of New York City motorists (during the decade or so it was installed) was the outdoor mural titled Holland Tunnel Wall —a painting larger than the entire facade of the neighboring national parish church Our Lady of Vilnius. located on the multistory parking tower on the northwest corner of Varick and Broome directly in view of vehicles entering the Holland Tunnel. This mural (formerly the site of a megabillboard now gone because the whole building was demolished in November 2015) at first appeared all white until, over time, it became ever more colorful as layers of water-soluble paint weathered away by rain revealed the artist's pigmented underlayers. The artist's intention was to use paints that were incompatible with each other, so that as the work weathered, different colors would emerge.[11] The first layer was red epoxy paint; the second layer, yellow latex; the third layer was blue oil-based alkyd; the fourth layer was green-pigmented shellac, and the fifth (final) layer was whitewash of white water-soluble casein paint.[11] (The geo-coordinates of the former site of the Holland Tunnel Wall mural are: 40.724455, -74.006305.)

Performance art

[edit]

In an art prank which "Art in America" called "the conceptual artwork that ended conceptual art",[12] in 1970 Fugate-Wilcox and wife picked a nonexistent address on 57th Street (then the center of the New York art world) and created the fictitious Jean Freeman Gallery.[13] Like other significant galleries, the (secretly non-existent) Jean Freeman Gallery advertised in "Art in America"—but the advertising bills, mailed to the fake address, went unpaid. At the end of the 1970 art season, Fugate-Wilcox published an announcement from the Jean Freeman Gallery saying: "26 West 57th Street does not exist".[14] An early 1971 New York Times article by Grace Glueck called "The Non Gallery of No Art" announced in public the story of Jean Freeman Gallery. In a televised appearance with Fugate-Wilcox on the "Today" show, "Art in America"'s Brian O'Doherty announced that the magazine would "donate" the costs of the unpaid advertising bills, and then discussed on-air the non-gallery as a conceptual artwork with Fugate-Wilcox and the show host.[15]

In 1971, Terry Fugate-Wilcox donated a "surplus letter R" from his first name during a fundraiser for the Irish independence cause, thus going from Terry to Tery (still pronounced like "Terry"). Shortly afterward, "Art in America"'s Brian O'Doherty changed his name to "Patrick Ireland" in support of the same cause.

Also in 1971, Tery and his wife, Valerie submitted nude passport photos. Although the photos were taken from the shoulders up, the couple was refused passports and sparked an investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee's new investigative branch called the Internal Security Commission.[16]

At one point, Fugate-Wilcox and his wife, Valerie, found a lawyer willing to help them file for a "Conceptual Divorce" in which Mrs. Fugate-Wilcox would reclaim her maiden name to become Valerie Shakespeare; thereafter, couple would continue as before.[17]

[edit]
  • Various archive photos and artist conception composite images
  • In-process photos of the application of various paint-layers on the Holland Tunnel Wall weathering mural.
    In-process photos of the application of various paint-layers on the Holland Tunnel Wall weathering mural.
  • Artist's conception image of the Weathering Triangle showing color changes caused by weather-induced oxidation of metal powders embedded in the sculpture's cement surface.
    Artist's conception image of the Weathering Triangle showing color changes caused by weather-induced oxidation of metal powders embedded in the sculpture's cement surface.
  • Smithsonian archive photo shows the unintended reality of Weathering Triangle as installed in Greenwich Village – covered over with unauthorized event posters and graffiti tags.
    Smithsonian archive photo shows the unintended reality of Weathering Triangle as installed in Greenwich Village – covered over with unauthorized event posters and graffiti tags.
  • Another Smithsonian archive photo of Fugate-Wilcox's Weathering Triangle.
    Another Smithsonian archive photo of Fugate-Wilcox's Weathering Triangle.
  • Smithsonian archive photo of the artist's monumental 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece covered with graffiti in New York City.
    Smithsonian archive photo of the artist's monumental 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece covered with graffiti in New York City.
  • Detail view showing the extent at one time of the graffiti vandalism.
    Detail view showing the extent at one time of the graffiti vandalism.
  • The same sculpture, after graffiti abatement care. (Photo by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation)
    The same sculpture, after graffiti abatement care. (Photo by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation)
  • Artist's conception of the Prudential lobby fountain, Self-watering Tetrahedrons.
    Artist's conception of the Prudential lobby fountain, Self-watering Tetrahedrons.
  • Artist's conception of the planned San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project showing the one-acre slab as it might look after having been (purposefully) cracked into two offset halves by tectonic forces.
    Artist's conception of the planned San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project showing the one-acre slab as it might look after having been (purposefully) cracked into two offset halves by tectonic forces.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b NYC Parks, [1] NYC Parks.
  2. ^ National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010. "FUGATE-WILCOX, Tery 2500AD (Cu &Zn)". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 2014-09-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ [Seeman, Helene."Art at Gateway Center, 2nd Annual Sculpture Exhibit," Newark, Cat, 7/1991, illust.]
  4. ^ Smithsonian (ref# IAS 87870227), [2] Smithsonian.
  5. ^ [Glueck, Grace. "Art, A Huge Exhibition at Brooklyn Terminal", The New York Times 9/30/1983, illust.]
  6. ^ [Frankenstein, Alfred."Crack in the World", San Francisco Examiner, Jan. 1, 1976, p.27, illust.]
  7. ^ [Walker, Michael. "Tectonics, The Crack-up", Los Angeles Times Magazine, Dec. 3, 1995, illust]
  8. ^ [Smith, Howard & B. Van Der Horst Scenes "A Slab in Time", Village Voice,6-30-'75, p.16, illust.]
  9. ^ [Savitt, Mark, "Terry Fugate-Wilcox", Arts Magazine, Dec. 1975, p.10, illust]
  10. ^ [Bartelme, Margaret. "The San Andreas Fault", Art Week, Vol. 6-45, Vol. 7-1, 11/27/'75 & 1/3/’76, Illust.]
  11. ^ a b [Parker, Kevin. "Wall Art, Bridge Art", Place Magazine, September 1981]
  12. ^ Ripping off the Art Magazines, "Ripping Off the Art Magazines", Nancy Foote, Art in America, March, 1972
  13. ^ Fine Art Publicity: The Complete Guide for Galleries and Artists, Susan Abbott, Allworth Communications, Inc., 2005, ISBN 1-58115-401-1 Google Books - citing How to Succeed (By Really Trying), Paul Gardner, ARTnews
  14. ^ Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972, Lucy R Lippard, University of California Press, 1997, ISBN 0-520-21013-1 Google Books
  15. ^ [Foote, Nancy. "Ripping Off the Art Magazines", Art in America, March, 1972, pg 49]
  16. ^ [Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Testimony of Frances G. Knight U.S. Congress 1972]
  17. ^ [Smith, Howard. Scenes: "Terry Fugate-Wilcox: the Art of Divorce”, The Village Voice, Sep 17,1970]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Terry_Fugate-Wilcox&oldid=1146547894"