AA Bronson
Encyclopedia
AA Bronson, OC
, (born Michael Tims in Vancouver
in 1946) is an artist
, magazine
publisher
and curator
who co-founded the artists' group General Idea
.
and Felix Partz
. The three worked and lived together for 25 years, until their collaboration was terminated with the death of both Zontal and Partz in 1994. General Idea exhibited internationally in private galleries and museums in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia, as well as undertaking countless temporary public art projects around the world.
AA Bronson has been working independently since that time.
, an international publisher, distributor and archive of artists' books, video and multiples, which they conceived as a 'work' by General Idea. AA Bronson was the director of Art Metropole from 1974 through 1984, and again from 1996 through 1998.
in Austria, followed closely by a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Chicago (2001), a solo exhibition at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge (2002), and another at The Power Plant
in Toronto (2003) and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
, Vancouver (2004). He was featured in the Montreal and Whitney Biennials (2000 and 2002). With his partner, Mark Jan Krayenhoff van der Leur, he was one of three finalists in a public competition for a monument to homosexuals persecuted by the Nazis, for the city of Vienna, Austria. His work was also featured in a major exhibition of the publications and multiples of General Idea at Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, curated by Barbara Fischer (2005).
In 2009, he created an installation entitled "Through the Looking Glass", ( Produced and Published by mfc-michèle didier). This Works comprises twelve pieces, referring to each of the twelve chapters of Lewis Carroll's 1871 sequel to "Alice in Wonderland".
. In 1984 he was co-curator of Evidence of the Avant-Grade..., Art Metropole, Toronto, a survey of artists' books, multiples, and ephemera. In 1987 he curated From Sea to Shining Sea for the Power Plant, Toronto, a history of artist-directed activity in Canada from the post-war period to 1986. In 1991 he curated Learn to Read Art, an exhibition of 287 artists' books and multiples from the permanent collection of Art Metropole presented at the Art Basel
, Basel, Switzerland. In the mid-nineties he curated a series of exhibitions for Art Metropole, including Intermedia, a look at Canada's first artist-run center. More recently, as Director of Printed Matter, Inc., New York, he has curated exhibitions related to artists' publishing, notably "I will not make any more boring art", an exhibition of books, prints and ephemera from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University
, Halifax. His exhibition, again titled "Learn to read Art", a history of Printed Matter Inc. with more than 300 publications, editions, and posters, was presented at MoMA PS1 in 2009.
Bronson has been deeply involved with publishing, promoting publishing activity as a primary artistic form. In 1979 he co-edited Performance by Artists with Peggy Gale for Art Metropole, Toronto. In 1983 they co-edited another resource publication, Museums by Artists, Art Metropole. In 1987 the Power Plant catalogue Sea to Shining Sea attempted to construct a history since the post-war period of artist-initiated activity in Canada, including the formation of the artist-run centers. He also published artists' books for Art Metropole by Jeff Wall, Colin Campbell, Lisa Steele, Hamish Fulton, Hans Haacke, and others, as well as conceiving the series Little Cockroach Press, of which he edited the first few issues. As Director and President of Printed Matter, he has published many books, including titles by Scott Treleaven
, Terence Koh
, and Temporary Services
(Chicago).
AA Bronson has written widely, including texts for FILE Megazine, and General Idea publications, as well as essays for art magazines and catalogues. His own memoir, Negative Thoughts, was published by the MCA Chicago in 2001. His book "Queer Spirits", a collaboration with Peter Hobbs, was published by Creative Time in 2011.
AA Bronson's solo work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada
(Ottawa), The Whitney Museum (New York), the Jewish Museum (New York), the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
(Kingston), and private collections.
AA Bronson has been awarded the Skowhegan Award (2006), the 2002 Governor General's Visual Arts and Media Award, the Bell Award in Video Art (2001), and a Chalmers Fellowship (2003). Other awards include The Gershon Iskowitz Prize (1988), The Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Toronto (1993), the Banff Centre for the Arts National Award (1993), and the Jean A. Chalmers Award for Visual Arts (1994). He is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
.
In 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Fine Arts, by NSCAD University, Halifax, Canada. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. In 2011, he was named a Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by Frédéric Mitterand, Minister of Culture and Communications for France, at a ceremony held at the home of the Canadian ambassador to France in Paris.
, Bronson lamented the loss of a number of bookstores in New York City dedicated to art books, but expressed hope that the NY Art Book Fair will help New York reclaim its reputation as a destination for art books.
, but the artist sought to withdraw the work after the censorship controversy. The work was "Felix, June 5, 1994," a photograph showing the body of Bronson’s partner shortly after the man died of AIDS
. The David Wojnarowicz
piece at the center of the NPG controversy also dealt with AIDS. The Bronson piece was on loan to the show "from the National Gallery of Canada
. ... Marc Mayer
, the director of the Canadian museum, urged the National Portrait Gallery to respect Mr. Bronson’s wishes and remove the work but did not formally demand its return," and the NPG ultimately declined to remove the work.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, (born Michael Tims in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
in 1946) is an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
publisher
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
and curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
who co-founded the artists' group General Idea
General Idea
General Idea was a collective of three Canadian artists, Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson, who were active from 1967 to 1994.As pioneers of early conceptual and media-based art, their collaboration became a model for artist-initiated activities and continues to be a prominent influence on...
.
General Idea
The General Idea artists group was founded in 1969 by Bronson, Jorge ZontalJorge Zontal
Slobodan Saia-Levy , publicly known as Jorge Zontal, was a Canadian artist and cofounder of the artistic collective General Idea with Felix Partz and AA Bronson....
and Felix Partz
Felix Partz
Ronald Gabe , publicly known as Felix Partz, was a Canadian artist and cofounder of the artistic collective General Idea with Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson....
. The three worked and lived together for 25 years, until their collaboration was terminated with the death of both Zontal and Partz in 1994. General Idea exhibited internationally in private galleries and museums in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia, as well as undertaking countless temporary public art projects around the world.
AA Bronson has been working independently since that time.
Magazines
The trio founded FILE Megazine, a visual magazine, which they edited and published from 1972 until 1989. In 1974 they founded Art MetropoleArt Metropole
Art Metropole was founded in 1974 by the Canadian artists' group General Idea as a not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the laws of the province of Ontario. It is located in Toronto, Canada....
, an international publisher, distributor and archive of artists' books, video and multiples, which they conceived as a 'work' by General Idea. AA Bronson was the director of Art Metropole from 1974 through 1984, and again from 1996 through 1998.
Artwork
AA Bronson's solo artwork deals with trauma, loss, death and healing. He had his first solo institutional exhibition outside of General Idea in 2000 at the Vienna SecessionVienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
in Austria, followed closely by a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
in Chicago (2001), a solo exhibition at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge (2002), and another at The Power Plant
The Power Plant
The Power Plant is one of Canada’s leading public galleries devoted to contemporary art, located in Toronto, Ontario at Harbourfront Centre. As a non-collecting art gallery, The Power Plant has presented new and recent work by numerous Canadian artists along with their international peers.Over its...
in Toronto (2003) and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the campus of the University of British Columbia....
, Vancouver (2004). He was featured in the Montreal and Whitney Biennials (2000 and 2002). With his partner, Mark Jan Krayenhoff van der Leur, he was one of three finalists in a public competition for a monument to homosexuals persecuted by the Nazis, for the city of Vienna, Austria. His work was also featured in a major exhibition of the publications and multiples of General Idea at Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto, curated by Barbara Fischer (2005).
In 2009, he created an installation entitled "Through the Looking Glass", ( Produced and Published by mfc-michèle didier). This Works comprises twelve pieces, referring to each of the twelve chapters of Lewis Carroll's 1871 sequel to "Alice in Wonderland".
Curation
AA Bronson has also curated exhibitions. In the late 1970s, he curated a series of exhibitions at A Space, Toronto, including an exhibition of the multiples of Joseph BeuysJoseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
. In 1984 he was co-curator of Evidence of the Avant-Grade..., Art Metropole, Toronto, a survey of artists' books, multiples, and ephemera. In 1987 he curated From Sea to Shining Sea for the Power Plant, Toronto, a history of artist-directed activity in Canada from the post-war period to 1986. In 1991 he curated Learn to Read Art, an exhibition of 287 artists' books and multiples from the permanent collection of Art Metropole presented at the Art Basel
Art Basel
Art Basel is an international contemporary art fair held each June in Basel, Switzerland. Similar to the Venice Biennale, it has been called "the Olympics of the art world". Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa...
, Basel, Switzerland. In the mid-nineties he curated a series of exhibitions for Art Metropole, including Intermedia, a look at Canada's first artist-run center. More recently, as Director of Printed Matter, Inc., New York, he has curated exhibitions related to artists' publishing, notably "I will not make any more boring art", an exhibition of books, prints and ephemera from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University
NSCAD University also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, is a post-secondary art school located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada....
, Halifax. His exhibition, again titled "Learn to read Art", a history of Printed Matter Inc. with more than 300 publications, editions, and posters, was presented at MoMA PS1 in 2009.
Bronson has been deeply involved with publishing, promoting publishing activity as a primary artistic form. In 1979 he co-edited Performance by Artists with Peggy Gale for Art Metropole, Toronto. In 1983 they co-edited another resource publication, Museums by Artists, Art Metropole. In 1987 the Power Plant catalogue Sea to Shining Sea attempted to construct a history since the post-war period of artist-initiated activity in Canada, including the formation of the artist-run centers. He also published artists' books for Art Metropole by Jeff Wall, Colin Campbell, Lisa Steele, Hamish Fulton, Hans Haacke, and others, as well as conceiving the series Little Cockroach Press, of which he edited the first few issues. As Director and President of Printed Matter, he has published many books, including titles by Scott Treleaven
Scott Treleaven
Scott Treleaven is a Canadian artist whose work employs a variety of media including collage, film, video, drawing, photography and installation.-Artwork:...
, Terence Koh
Terence Koh
Terence Koh is a Canadian artist. Koh creates handmade books and zines, prints, photographs, sculptures, performances, and installations. Much of his diverse work involves queer, punk, and pornographic sensibilities. Koh has also worked under the alias "asianpunkboy", though it appears that name...
, and Temporary Services
Temporary Services
Temporary Services is an artist collective of three people based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. They have been collaborating on art projects, public events, publications, and exhibitions since 1998....
(Chicago).
AA Bronson has written widely, including texts for FILE Megazine, and General Idea publications, as well as essays for art magazines and catalogues. His own memoir, Negative Thoughts, was published by the MCA Chicago in 2001. His book "Queer Spirits", a collaboration with Peter Hobbs, was published by Creative Time in 2011.
AA Bronson's solo work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
(Ottawa), The Whitney Museum (New York), the Jewish Museum (New York), the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Agnes Etherington Art Centre
The Agnes Etherington Art Centre is in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and is operated by Queen's University. The centre holds 12-15 exhibitions annually, as well as artists' talks and performances, public lectures, symposia, workshops, and school and family programs...
(Kingston), and private collections.
AA Bronson has been awarded the Skowhegan Award (2006), the 2002 Governor General's Visual Arts and Media Award, the Bell Award in Video Art (2001), and a Chalmers Fellowship (2003). Other awards include The Gershon Iskowitz Prize (1988), The Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Toronto (1993), the Banff Centre for the Arts National Award (1993), and the Jean A. Chalmers Award for Visual Arts (1994). He is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is a Canadian arts-related institution founded in 1880, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was a member and president of the Academy...
.
In 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Fine Arts, by NSCAD University, Halifax, Canada. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. In 2011, he was named a Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by Frédéric Mitterand, Minister of Culture and Communications for France, at a ceremony held at the home of the Canadian ambassador to France in Paris.
NY Art Book Fair
As President of Printed Matter, Inc. (2004-2010), Bronson invented and directed the annual New York Art Book Fair, which hosts over 200 independent presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, artists and publishers from twenty countries. In an article in ArtforumArtforum
Artforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art.-Publication:The magazine is published ten times a year, September through May, along with an annual summer issue...
, Bronson lamented the loss of a number of bookstores in New York City dedicated to art books, but expressed hope that the NY Art Book Fair will help New York reclaim its reputation as a destination for art books.
National Portrait Gallery controversy
In 2010, a Bronson work appeared in the "Hide/Seek" exhibit at the United States' National Portrait GalleryNational Portrait Gallery (United States)
The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in Washington, D.C., administered by the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous individual Americans.-Building:...
, but the artist sought to withdraw the work after the censorship controversy. The work was "Felix, June 5, 1994," a photograph showing the body of Bronson’s partner shortly after the man died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. The David Wojnarowicz
David Wojnarowicz
David Wojnarowicz was a painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City art world of the 1980s.-Biography:...
piece at the center of the NPG controversy also dealt with AIDS. The Bronson piece was on loan to the show "from the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
. ... Marc Mayer
Marc Mayer
Marc Mayer is a Canadian arts manager and curator, who was named the director of the National Gallery of Canada on December 8, 2008....
, the director of the Canadian museum, urged the National Portrait Gallery to respect Mr. Bronson’s wishes and remove the work but did not formally demand its return," and the NPG ultimately declined to remove the work.