Terry Fugate-Wilcox
Encyclopedia
Tery Fugate-Wilcox is an American artist, painter and sculptor, founder of the Actual Art
movement.
to Alberta Alaria Fugate, (Italian/German) & Ray Fugate, (Sioux/French).
Ray Fugate, of the Blue Fugates in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky was killed on Okinawa in World War II
, shortly after his son was born. Raymond Terry was left with his maternal grandparents until he was six, when his mother, remarried with a baby daughter returned to retrieve him. At age sixteen, Raymond was formally adopted by his stepfather, Dale Wilcox, becoming Raymond Terry Fugate-Wilcox.
He attended Barbour Hall junior military academy, situated within Nazareth convent, in Kalamazoo, Michigan
; then Howe Military School
, Howe Indiana & Ferris State University
, Big Rapids, Michigan
. In 1963, Fugate-Wilcox married Valerie Monroe Shakespeare who convinced him to drop "Raymond", changing his name to Terry Fugate-Wilcox & left college to pursue a career as an artist.(See "It's the Artist's Life for me!" a memoir by Tery Fugate-Wilcox & Valerie Monroe Shakespeare.
While in Kalamazoo, Fugate-Wilcox exhibited his work at Western Michigan University
, Kalamazoo, MI; University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Chicago
, IL; Grand Rapids Art Museum
, Grand Rapids, MI and Kalamazoo Art Center, Kalamazoo, MI [1967]; Battle Creek Art Center, Battle Creek, MI [1966] and at the Detroit Institute of Arts
Competition, Detroit, MI [1965].
, (the title referred to the unpaid advertising bills - "all forgiven" left from the creation of the artwork).
Brian O'Doherty publicly announced Art in America
s donation on the Today Show, NBC
, on which he appeared with Tery Fugate-Wilcox and anchor, Frank McGee, to discuss the Conceptual artwork. The Jean Freeman Gallery was exposed, before its completion, by Grace Glueck in a New York Times piece "The Non Gallery of No Art" (24 January 1971). The nonexistent gallery continued until the end of the 1970 art season, when Fugate-Wilcox published an announcement from the Jean Freeman Gallery saying: "26 West 57th Street does not exist". John Perrault announced that he "...knew it all along." and many wrote letters to the gallery saying, "There is a rumor you don't exist. Is that true?"
In 1971, Tery Fugate-Wilcox donated an "r" to the Irish cause, changing his name, yet again, to Tery Fugate-Wilcox. (Shortly after, Brian O'Doherty, then publisher of Art in America
became "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 Internal Security Commission, the new investigative branch for House Un-American Activities Committee
, and considerable controversy.
In 1973, Fugate Wilcox and his wife, Valerie found a lawyer willing to help them file for a "Conceptual Divorce". Although the divorce was never actually finalized and they were never separated, Valerie took back her maiden name, to become Valerie Shakespeare again, and they celebrated with a huge "Divorce Reception" complete with a chocolate frosted devil's food wedding cake, with the bride and groom climbing down off the top tier.
In 1976, they combined with a group of artists, tired of fixing up illegal lofts only to have the landlord double the rent. They bought an old warehouse building on Worth Street, in what would eventually become Tribeca
, and created the ultimate studio loft: (5000 square feet, 18 feet (5.5 m) ceiling, 2500 square feet (232.3 m²) terrace and private garage).
.
For an early show in Battery Park, Fugate-Wilcox painted 15 nosecones from the defunct nuclear "Mace" cruise missiles, in bright colors of red, blue, yellow or green. Each was then coated with a thin overlay of silver paint and spectators were encouraged to touch the sculptures, thus wearing off the silver, to reveal the colors beneath.
He later expanded the idea of "Touch" sculptures to include metal works, plated with layers of copper, silver and gold; then sculptures and "paintings" of gold, silver or copper leaf, left unburnished, or "fluffy", so that colors beneath the leaf would emerge, only after the leaf was worn off by the touch of spectators.
In "Spanish Harlem" an uptown area of New York City,a public vote, initiated by Doris Freedman, director of the Municipal Arts Society, (later changed to Public Art Fund
) in which artists were commissioned to make models of their proposed work, which were then displayed in local schools, banks & on an "Art Bus", allowed citizens, including children, to vote on the public art
to be chosen for their neighborhood. Fugate-Wilcox won the vote and was commissioned to create the sculpture 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece (1974) in J. Hood Wright Park, in the 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, by a process known as diffusion
at or around the year 3000 AD.
Fugate-Wilcox also created the public sculpture Weathering Triangle (1984) at the corner of Seventh Avenue
and Waverly Place in Manhattan
. Although the work had been approved by the New York City Landmarks Commission, as a temporary work of art, the local Community Board of Greenwich Village
had a long-standing ban on art and caused a sensation, when the work became "criminal art", (Buildings Department violations are prosecuted in criminal court in New York City). As owner of the property, Valerie Shakespeare was prosecuted several times for failure to obtain a Building Permit, despite the fact that the Buildings Department had told her the sculpture required no permit.
The nature of a Buildings Department violation is such that, as long as the violation exists, the violator can continually be brought back to criminal court, no matter how many times the case is dismissed. Finally, her lawyer from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
, demanded a trial to stop what he termed "harassment". At trial, the case was summarily dismissed, "with prejudice", (meaning the case cannot be prosecuted again) by the judge, for failure to make a prima facia case, that is, failure to prove the sculpture required a building permit.
In the meantime, the City of New York obtained a default judgement on a million-dollar lawsuit against Ms. Shakespeare. With the help of Kaye and Scholer, (through Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
) the City eventually gave up the suit and the sculpture was moved to the home of a private collector in New Jersey.
Fugate-Wilcox installed a "Warping Wood" sculpture in the Brooklyn
Terminal Exhibition, that ran from September through November 1983. The work, consisting of plain two-by-fours resting on end, upright, in a stepped base, also made of two-by-fours, took advantage of variations in humidity to warp and "flower out" when dry & "close back up" when the environment became more humid.
Fugate-Wilcox contributed a similar piece, "Weathering Wood", to an outdoor sculpture exhibition at Saunder's Farm, in Garrison
, New York
in [2007], where sculptures shared the bucolic pastures with several dozen cows. Surprisingly, over 400 visitors came to the opening of the show, which could only be accessed by a long winding dirt road.
In 1989, Fugate-Wilcox created the 40 feet (12.2 m) sculpture for Prudential
, consisting of 5 various sized tetrahedrons, in a family grouping. Particles of copper, brass, bronze, steel & iron, were embedded just under the surface, as the wet concrete was applied, in the manner of a fresco
.
The work sat in the center of a reflecting pool and as water from the built-in fountain flowed over the sculptures, the colors of blue, turquoise, green, ochre and reddish browns migrated up to create patterns on the surface. The work was in the main lobby of Gateway 4, of the Prudential
, in Newark
, New Jersey
, until 1998, when Prudential
sold the building, the fountain was dismantled by the artist and sold to a private collector.
In addition to various public sculptures, Tery Fugate-Wilcox was commissioned to create art pieces on several walls of buildings in NYC. The most notable of these was the "Holland Tunnel Wall" at the New York entrance to the Holland Tunnel. The huge, 60 feet (18.3 m) by 80 feet (24.4 m) billboard space was donated by the owner of the building & the work was painted by riggers of the Apollo painting Company, who donated their services, as well, to the sponsor of the work, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. The first layer was red epoxy paint; the second layer, yellow latex; the third layer, blue oil-based alkyd; the fourth layer, green pigmented shellac & the fifth, final layer was whitewash of white, water-soluble casein paint. All of the paint was also donated by the manufacturers, under the auspices of the LMCC.
The artist's intention was to use paints that were incompatible with each other, so that as the work weathered, all the different colors would emerge, in natural patterns. The work was in place for over ten years. When the sub-structure of the plywood billboard eventually gave way to the effects of weathering & had to be dismantled, the artist was able to reclaim many of the weathered plywood panels which, in turn became individual works of art.
Another wall piece was the Weathering Wall, (1981) facing Houston Street, on the corner of Lafayette Street in NYC. Sponsored by the Public Art Fund
, the white wall was embedded with narrow, 3 inch by 3 foot (0.9144 m) bars of copper, brass, bronze. iron & steel. As the wall weathered, the rain would carry corrosion particles down from the bars, creating patterns of color beneath each bar. Fugate-Wilcox also designed the interior of the loft building, known as "Weathering Heights" after the wall sculpture. Included in his designs were a fluorescent light chandelier in the lobby, unique fluorescent wall fixtures on each floor and a new elevator with floors designated by Roman numerals.
Sculpture Project, which will use plate tectonics
to create a work of art on desert land owned by the artist in the Indio Hills near Palm Springs
, California
.
The work will comprise a 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) monolith of highly durable low-exothermic air-entrained
concrete
(20 ft (6.1 m), 188 ft (57.3 m), 232 ft (70.7 m), and weighing 65,000 tons) spanning the fault and anchored to the bedrock on either side of it.
As the fault moves [some 2–3 in (50.8–76.2 mm) a year] it is intended that the block will break into two golden rectangles that will continue to move past each other, with the stated intent of "using the Earth
itself, as a tool to make the movement of massive continents visible on a scale that can be understood in human terms".
Intended to be visible from the tram overlooking the area, the Project is to be a centre for education and information about plate tectonics
, earth sciences and environmental concerns
. A gallery about the Project will be maintained at the site and in Palm Springs
, and the Project will be available for use to raise monies for other related charitable causes, with access to the top for events and fundraising. The site will also be maintained in the spirit of a public park, and the Project intends to restore the surrounding desert, subject to past disruptions, to its former natural beauty.
The work is sponsored by the Actual Art
Foundation, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)-3 organization, founded in 1982. The Project is supported entirely by donations from art patrons "with a desire to establish a deeper more meaningful dialogue with the Earth
".
; Museum of Modern Art
, New York
; National Gallery of Australia
; the Smithsonian Collection.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
, Buffalo, New York
; 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 Art Institute; and several major sculpture installations in New York City
, Newark
, New Jersey
and around the world. His work has been in forty one-person shows, most recently at Shakespeare's Fvlcrvm in SoHo
and at Art House, Candlewood Lake
Art Center, in Connecticut
. His work is in the collections of over 200 art patrons internationally; he is a NEA
laureate and 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.
Actual Art
Actual Art is a genre of art that was first named by critic Alfred Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle in a review of Helene Aylon’s work. The name was chosen because the art was "real", but the term "Realism" was already in use to describe a different genre...
movement.
Life and work
Born Raymond Terry Fugate in Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
to Alberta Alaria Fugate, (Italian/German) & Ray Fugate, (Sioux/French).
Ray Fugate, of the Blue Fugates in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky was killed on Okinawa in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, shortly after his son was born. Raymond Terry was left with his maternal grandparents until he was six, when his mother, remarried with a baby daughter returned to retrieve him. At age sixteen, Raymond was formally adopted by his stepfather, Dale Wilcox, becoming Raymond Terry Fugate-Wilcox.
He attended Barbour Hall junior military academy, situated within Nazareth convent, in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
; then Howe Military School
Howe Military School
The Howe School is a private, co-educational, and college preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Northeast Indiana. The school enrolls students in grades 7-12....
, Howe Indiana & Ferris State University
Ferris State University
Ferris State University is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1884 as the Big Rapids Industrial School by Woodbridge Nathan Ferris, an educator from New England who later served as governor of the State of Michigan and finally in the US Senate where...
, Big Rapids, Michigan
Big Rapids, Michigan
Big Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,849. It is the county seat of Mecosta County. The city is located within Big Rapids Township, but is politically independent.-Geography:...
. In 1963, Fugate-Wilcox married Valerie Monroe Shakespeare who convinced him to drop "Raymond", changing his name to Terry Fugate-Wilcox & left college to pursue a career as an artist.(See "It's the Artist's Life for me!" a memoir by Tery Fugate-Wilcox & Valerie Monroe Shakespeare.
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
, Kalamazoo, MI; University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, IL; Grand Rapids Art Museum
Grand Rapids Art Museum
The Grand Rapids Art Museum is an art museum located in Grand Rapids, Michigan with collections ranging from Renaissance to Modern Art and special collections on 19th and 20th century European and American art, including such modern art works as Richard Diebenkorn’s 1963 Ingleside...
, Grand Rapids, MI and Kalamazoo Art Center, Kalamazoo, MI [1967]; Battle Creek Art Center, Battle Creek, MI [1966] and at the Detroit Institute of Arts
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
Competition, Detroit, MI [1965].
Conceptual Art Period
In 1968, Fugate-Wilcox and his wife Valerie Shakespeare moved to New York City, when Conceptual Art was at its peak. In reaction to his frustration about the state of the art world, Fugate-Wilcox picked a non-existent address on 57th Street, then the center of art in New York, and created the fictitious Jean Freeman Gallery. "Things had become so ridiculous, that I knew I had to do something to expose the political structure of the art scene." It was called "the conceptual artwork that ended conceptual art" by Nancy Foote in an article, "Ripping off the Art Magazines", Art in AmericaArt in America
Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...
, (the title referred to the unpaid advertising bills - "all forgiven" left from the creation of the artwork).
Brian O'Doherty publicly announced Art in America
Art in America
Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...
s donation on the Today Show, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, on which he appeared with Tery Fugate-Wilcox and anchor, Frank McGee, to discuss the Conceptual artwork. The Jean Freeman Gallery was exposed, before its completion, by Grace Glueck in a New York Times piece "The Non Gallery of No Art" (24 January 1971). The nonexistent gallery continued until the end of the 1970 art season, when Fugate-Wilcox published an announcement from the Jean Freeman Gallery saying: "26 West 57th Street does not exist". John Perrault announced that he "...knew it all along." and many wrote letters to the gallery saying, "There is a rumor you don't exist. Is that true?"
In 1971, Tery Fugate-Wilcox donated an "r" to the Irish cause, changing his name, yet again, to Tery Fugate-Wilcox. (Shortly after, Brian O'Doherty, then publisher of Art in America
Art in America
Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...
became "Patrick Ireland
Patrick Ireland
Patrick Ireland was the alter ego of Brian O'Doherty an Irish sculptor, conceptual artist, author, and installation artist. He was born in County Roscommon in 1928 and lives and works in the United States. O'Doherty began signing his work under the name Patrick Ireland in reaction to the Bloody...
" 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 Internal Security Commission, the new investigative branch for House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
, and considerable controversy.
In 1973, Fugate Wilcox and his wife, Valerie found a lawyer willing to help them file for a "Conceptual Divorce". Although the divorce was never actually finalized and they were never separated, Valerie took back her maiden name, to become Valerie Shakespeare again, and they celebrated with a huge "Divorce Reception" complete with a chocolate frosted devil's food wedding cake, with the bride and groom climbing down off the top tier.
In 1976, they combined with a group of artists, tired of fixing up illegal lofts only to have the landlord double the rent. They bought an old warehouse building on Worth Street, in what would eventually become Tribeca
TriBeCa
Tribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. Its name is an acronym based on the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street...
, and created the ultimate studio loft: (5000 square feet, 18 feet (5.5 m) ceiling, 2500 square feet (232.3 m²) terrace and private garage).
Actual Art
Tery Fugate-Wilcox found his artistic voice in a genre that eventually became known as Actual ArtActual Art
Actual Art is a genre of art that was first named by critic Alfred Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle in a review of Helene Aylon’s work. The name was chosen because the art was "real", but the term "Realism" was already in use to describe a different genre...
.
Public Art Fund
The Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman , a Director of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and the President of the Municipal Art Society. They have organized highly visible artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in...
) in which artists were commissioned to make models of their proposed work, which were then displayed in local schools, banks & on an "Art Bus", allowed citizens, including children, to vote on the public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
to be chosen for their neighborhood. Fugate-Wilcox won the vote and was commissioned to create the sculpture 3000 A.D. Diffusion Piece (1974) in J. Hood Wright Park, in the Washington Heights
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
area of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The sculpture is composed of several stacked and bolted plates of magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
and aluminum, which Fugate-Wilcox estimates will fuse together, by a process known as diffusion
Diffusion
Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is the thermal motion of all particles at temperatures above absolute zero. The rate of this movement is a function of temperature, viscosity of the fluid and the size of the particles...
at or around the year 3000 AD.
Fugate-Wilcox also created the public sculpture Weathering Triangle (1984) at the corner of Seventh Avenue
Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue, known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park, is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park....
and Waverly Place in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Although the work had been approved by the New York City Landmarks Commission, as a temporary work of art, the local Community Board of Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
had a long-standing ban on art and caused a sensation, when the work became "criminal art", (Buildings Department violations are prosecuted in criminal court in New York City). As owner of the property, Valerie Shakespeare was prosecuted several times for failure to obtain a Building Permit, despite the fact that the Buildings Department had told her the sculpture required no permit.
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is both a generic term for legal service organizations located throughout the United States and the proper name of the organization in New York City. Founded in 1969, that organization is the oldest VLA in the country.-Programs:Chicago-based lawyers for the Creative...
, demanded a trial to stop what he termed "harassment". At trial, the case was summarily dismissed, "with prejudice", (meaning the case cannot be prosecuted again) by the judge, for failure to make a prima facia case, that is, failure to prove the sculpture required a building permit.
In the meantime, the City of New York obtained a default judgement on a million-dollar lawsuit against Ms. Shakespeare. With the help of Kaye and Scholer, (through Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is both a generic term for legal service organizations located throughout the United States and the proper name of the organization in New York City. Founded in 1969, that organization is the oldest VLA in the country.-Programs:Chicago-based lawyers for the Creative...
) the City eventually gave up the suit and the sculpture was moved to the home of a private collector in New Jersey.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
Terminal Exhibition, that ran from September through November 1983. The work, consisting of plain two-by-fours resting on end, upright, in a stepped base, also made of two-by-fours, took advantage of variations in humidity to warp and "flower out" when dry & "close back up" when the environment became more humid.
Fugate-Wilcox contributed a similar piece, "Weathering Wood", to an outdoor sculpture exhibition at Saunder's Farm, in Garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in [2007], where sculptures shared the bucolic pastures with several dozen cows. Surprisingly, over 400 visitors came to the opening of the show, which could only be accessed by a long winding dirt road.
Prudential Financial
The Prudential Insurance Company of America , also known as Prudential Financial, Inc., is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the...
, consisting of 5 various sized tetrahedrons, in a family grouping. Particles of copper, brass, bronze, steel & iron, were embedded just under the surface, as the wet concrete was applied, in the manner of a fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
.
The work sat in the center of a reflecting pool and as water from the built-in fountain flowed over the sculptures, the colors of blue, turquoise, green, ochre and reddish browns migrated up to create patterns on the surface. The work was in the main lobby of Gateway 4, of the Prudential
Prudential Financial
The Prudential Insurance Company of America , also known as Prudential Financial, Inc., is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the...
, in Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, until 1998, when Prudential
Prudential Financial
The Prudential Insurance Company of America , also known as Prudential Financial, Inc., is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the...
sold the building, the fountain was dismantled by the artist and sold to a private collector.
Weathering Wall Artworks
The artist's intention was to use paints that were incompatible with each other, so that as the work weathered, all the different colors would emerge, in natural patterns. The work was in place for over ten years. When the sub-structure of the plywood billboard eventually gave way to the effects of weathering & had to be dismantled, the artist was able to reclaim many of the weathered plywood panels which, in turn became individual works of art.
Public Art Fund
The Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman , a Director of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and the President of the Municipal Art Society. They have organized highly visible artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in...
, the white wall was embedded with narrow, 3 inch by 3 foot (0.9144 m) bars of copper, brass, bronze. iron & steel. As the wall weathered, the rain would carry corrosion particles down from the bars, creating patterns of color beneath each bar. Fugate-Wilcox also designed the interior of the loft building, known as "Weathering Heights" after the wall sculpture. Included in his designs were a fluorescent light chandelier in the lobby, unique fluorescent wall fixtures on each floor and a new elevator with floors designated by Roman numerals.
San Andreas Fault Sculpture Project
Fugate-Wilcox's current project is the San Andreas FaultSan Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
Sculpture Project, which will use plate tectonics
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
to create a work of art on desert land owned by the artist in the Indio Hills near Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The work will comprise a 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) monolith of highly durable low-exothermic air-entrained
Air entrainment
-Air entrainment in concrete:Air entrainment is the intentional creation of tiny air bubbles in concrete. The bubbles are introduced into the concrete by the addition to the mix of an air entraining agent, a surfactant...
concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
(20 ft (6.1 m), 188 ft (57.3 m), 232 ft (70.7 m), and weighing 65,000 tons) spanning the fault and anchored to the bedrock on either side of it.
As the fault moves [some 2–3 in (50.8–76.2 mm) a year] it is intended that the block will break into two golden rectangles that will continue to move past each other, with the stated intent of "using the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
itself, as a tool to make the movement of massive continents visible on a scale that can be understood in human terms".
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
, earth sciences and environmental concerns
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. A gallery about the Project will be maintained at the site and in Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, and the Project will be available for use to raise monies for other related charitable causes, with access to the top for events and fundraising. The site will also be maintained in the spirit of a public park, and the Project intends to restore the surrounding desert, subject to past disruptions, to its former natural beauty.
The work is sponsored by the Actual Art
Actual Art
Actual Art is a genre of art that was first named by critic Alfred Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle in a review of Helene Aylon’s work. The name was chosen because the art was "real", but the term "Realism" was already in use to describe a different genre...
Foundation, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)-3 organization, founded in 1982. The Project is supported entirely by donations from art patrons "with a desire to establish a deeper more meaningful dialogue with the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
".
Collections
Fugate-Wilcox' work is in the collections of: the City of New York; Guggenheim MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
; Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
; National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
; the Smithsonian Collection.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is an art museum located in Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York. The gallery is a major showplace for modern art and contemporary art. It is located directly across the street from Buffalo State College.-History:...
, Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
; Indianapolis Museum of Art
Indianapolis Museum of Art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is an encyclopedic art museum located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum, which underwent a $74 million expansion in 2005, is located on a campus on the near northwest area outside downtown Indianapolis, northwest of Crown Hill Cemetery.The...
; J. Patrick Lannan Foundation; Damson Oil Co.; American Council for the Arts; University of Hartford
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford is a private, independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The degree programs at the University of Hartford hold the highest levels of accreditation available in the US, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...
; National Shopping Centers; Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
; Detroit Institute of Art; Chicago Art Institute; and several major sculpture installations in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and around the world. His work has been in forty one-person shows, most recently at Shakespeare's Fvlcrvm in SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
and at Art House, Candlewood Lake
Candlewood Lake
Candlewood Lake, 8.4 sq mi , is located in Fairfield and Litchfield counties of western Connecticut, in the northeastern United States. It is the largest lake in Connecticut...
Art Center, in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. His work is in the collections of over 200 art patrons internationally; he is a NEA
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
laureate and is listed in Marquis Who's Who
Marquis Who's Who
Marquis Who's Who, a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc., is the American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies...
, 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.
External 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
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRC27kmZfF8 Video on YouTube, by Richard Courier with TFW explaining Actual ArtActual ArtActual Art is a genre of art that was first named by critic Alfred Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle in a review of Helene Aylon’s work. The name was chosen because the art was "real", but the term "Realism" was already in use to describe a different genre...
, at Fvlcrvm Gallery.