JOHN FEKNER
John Fekner, American
Born in 1950
In the 1970s, John Fekner was “anonymously known” for his more than three hundred environmental/conceptual works consisting of dates, words, and symbols stenciled across New York’s five boroughs. His “Warning Signs” project aimed to highlight the dangerous and deteriorating conditions plaguing New York and its surrounding areas at the time. In the spring of 1977, Fekner began creating these signs with hand-cut cardboard stencils and spray paint, launching a relentless campaign addressing social and environmental issues. Starting in the industrial streets of Queens and on bridges over the East River, and later in the South Bronx in 1980, his messages appeared in areas desperately in need of construction, demolition, or renewal. By labeling structures and bringing attention to neglected issues, his goal was to draw awareness to accumulated despair and to push city officials, agencies, and local communities toward responsibility and action.
His early projects—Growth Decay, Industrial Fossil, Urban Decay, Decay/Abandoned, Instant This Instant That, and The Remains of Industry—were not meant to last but were successful when the underlying issue was removed or corrected. John Russell of The New York Times wrote, “John Fekner is an artist who works not only in New York but with New York.” He viewed the city’s most underprivileged areas as the raw material of his work, ever since he gained a studio space at P.S. 1 in Long Island City in 1976. Fekner described the vast, decrepit building as “an elderly person with an acute sense of life experience.” He later worked outdoors in Queens and the Bronx, instilling meaning and urgency into long-neglected sites. With a word or two (like “Decay” or “Broken Promises”), he introduced an element of street theater to blighted zones. Using a simple stenciled phrase like “Wheels Over Indian Trails” along the Pulaski Bridge near the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, he intertwined the present and the past, provoking reflection on the city’s historical landscape.
What might have been considered vandalism in other hands instead had a constructive impact: it made the residents of these desolate areas see more, feel more, think more, and emerge from their apathy.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As an artist, the concepts of memory, perception and transformation have remained an integral component of my creative explorations throughout my entire career. Combined with my love of poetry, I connected something that was extremely personal with a greater need to express and communicate directly in the outdoor environment.
It was at the time when I had a studio space at P.S. 1 from 1976-78 that my work took an ideology shift. I developed a philosophy of reducing the value of an art object to that of a shared visual experience for the public at large. The work evolved into a social aesthetic statement that attempted to interact, involve and connect with the urban populace across the five boroughs of New York.
The purpose was to create awareness about environmental issues that directly impacted the community in which the individual stencil was sited. I reconfigured Jasper Johns’s target motif to my own single word poetry. Depending on the chosen location, I would use text, symbols or icons within a site-specific outdoor installation. The work existed in its’ own isolation in situ as a target. This allowed the viewer to focus in on the actual experience of being at that particular location; whether it was a highway overpass, a toxic dump or an abandoned lot.
My latest works include non-permanent paintings and online projects using the web as a social workspace for music and video collaborations. The content of the work centers on issues of humanistic concern, environmental problems, media control and a society driven by greed, consumption and instant gratification.
I believe that new material is new thinking for any artist regardless of their age or field of specialization. No matter what the individual discipline, it is to an artist’s advantage to be progressive and challenge oneself by taking risks and explore beyond familiar territory. By immersing oneself in uncertainty, artists face new challenges and may discover innovative solutions in unexpected ways. JOHN FEKNER
« In stenciling messages directly onto our environment, we legitimately mark and identify the areas in our neighborhood in need of construction, destruction, and rebuilding. We draw attention to dangerous conditions through words and symbols, pointing out buildings and pollutants that can and must be removed.» John Fekner
Voir plus
SOLO EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATIONS
2005 Tawkin’ New Yawk City Walls Hillwood Art Museum, Long Island University, Brookville, NY (Curator, writer and participant) (Video screened)
1999 Traces” & “Melody in 1’s & 0’s DCA-Percent For Art Program, Bronx, NY
1994 Arts In Transit MTA Computer generated poster installed in NYC subway system
1992 Remnant Memory: Fragments, Fossils, Trophies, Plaques Exit Art, NYC
1990 Foreigners in the Library-Americans at the Beach LIU/C.W. Post, one act play
1989 Selections 1978-1988 Bjorn Olsson Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
1988 Slaves of Labor Spectacolor Piccadilly Circus, Artangel Trust, London, England Techno Plaques Willoughby Sharp Gallery, NYC
1986 Beton Puzzle stencil on Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany Selections-Dissections Moderna Musett, Stockholm, Sweden (Video screened) Concrete People 12 inch EP Record
1985 X Americana X Semaphore Gallery, NYC Idioblast Full-length Album 8 songs 12” record Cassette Gazette Audiocassette book, B-Sellers, Tokyo, Japan
1984 Enter Screenland Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden (with Don Leicht) In From The Cold Civilian Warfare, NYC
1983 2 4 5 7 9 11/Rock Steady 12 inch EP Record
1982 Nuke Freeze Disarmament Rally, June 12, 1982, Central Park, NYC
1981 Stencils for the Common Man Franklin Furnace, NY (performance and installation)
1980 No TV/Read Special project at Fashion Moda, South Bronx, NY & PS 1, LIC, NY William Patterson College, Wayne, NJ Galerie Ahlner, Stockholm,, Sweden The Metro Stencils/b> Toronto, Canada
1979 Wall Blood Series Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden No TV/Read Galerie S:t. Petri Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art, Lund, Sweden
1978 Paper Pulp Work Memorial Gallery, University of Rochester, NY
1977 Mementos of a Schoolbuilding PS 1, LIC, NY
1976 Barely Visible PortraitsLehman College Gallery, Bronx, NY
1974 Barely Visible Portraits Hundred Acres Gallery, NYC
GROUP EXHIBITIONS & SPECIAL PROJECTS
2012
He Was Simply A Guy Who Painted Messages In The Street Welling Court, Astoria, NY June 2012 EVERY EXIT IS AN ENTRANCE: 30 Years of Exit Art Exit Art, NY March 23 – May 19 2012 The Piers: Art and Sex along the New York Waterfront The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, NY Jonathan Weinberg, Curator April 3 – May 12, 2012 I STILL HAVE A DREAM Martin Luther Kings Jr’s Birthday January 16th, 2012 on Pal’s Lounge, Atlanta Georgia
2011
This Is What Democracy Looks Like The Gallatin Galleries, NYU, NY Keith Miller, Curator Oct 28- November 18, 2011
NO WAR LA VS WAR Sept 9-11, 2011, Organized by John Carr
Augmented Reality Advertising Takeover in Times Square July 24th, 2011 Public Ad Campaign & The Heavy Projects
For, Against & the Truth Organized by Stormie Mills, Linton & Kay Contemporary, Austrailia, Oct 20 to Nov 2, 2011
On Every Street Curated by Michael De Feo, Samuel Owen Gallery, Greenwich Town, CT Oct 06 to Nov 03, 2011
Trail Markers and Another 4 Years (Edit/Elect08) Street Art Festival Istanbul, Turkey, October 1, 2011, Curated by Roman Tschiedl and Pertev Emre Taştaban
I Have A Dream, I Have A Nightmare Friday the 13th May 13- June 18 2011
Vandalog and M.A.N.Y. present Up Close and Personal May 12th-15th 2011, 217 West 106th Street, Apartment 1A, New York, NY 10025, Curated by Michael Rushmore, Keith Schweitzer and Michael Glatzer
Art In The Streets Organized by Jeffrey Deitch, MoCA Los Angeles, April 17 to August 08, 2011
Pantheon: A history of art from the streets of New York City Former Donnell Library, NYC April 2-17, 2011
Madrid Street Advertising Takeover Spain, April 2011
2010
Mother Earth Will Survive (Your Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants) Welling Court Mural Project organized by Ad Hoc Art, Astoria NY
L’ART URBAIN Oct 16 – Dec 04, 2010, Addict Galerie, Paris
BLK River Festival 2010 September 10 – Oct 06, 2010, Vienna, Austria, curated by Sydney Ogidan
Power To the People 2010 Feature, Inc. NYC
2009
Kinder auf der Flucht-Parcels For The Promised Land KunstBüroBerlin, Berlin, Germany The Labyrinth Wall Exit Art, NYC This is Art Galleri Jonas Kleerup, Stockholm, Sweden Valdemar Gerdin, Curator
2008
That Was Then…This Is Now PS 1, LIC, NY, Alanna Heiss, Curator
The Last Book National Library of Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Organized by Luis Camnitzer)
Unzine The Croatian Academy Glyptotheque, Zagreb, Crotia (Organized by Rafaela Dražić) (catalog)
Paper Politics Dowd Gallery, SUNY Cortland, NY (traveling show-2006-08) Josh McPhee, Curator
In-Site The Sculptors Guild, Governors Island, NY, Jerelyn Hanrahan, Curator
Stencil Nation Revolution Cafe, San Francisco, CA
Video Synthesis QCC Art Gallery, The City University of New York, Queens, NY Curated by Ryan Seslow
2007
That 70s Show: New York City in the 70s powerHouse Arena, Brooklyn, NY
Behind the seen Ad Hoc Art, Brooklyn, NY, Michael De Feo, Curator
The Price of Nothing EFA Project Space, Hell’s Kitchen, NYCSeptember 14 – October 27, 2007 Curated by Jason Murison
Spaces Into Places Organized by Rachel Adams, Patricia Courson September 14-October 27, 2007
2006
The Downtown Show, Grey Art Gallery/Fales Library & Grey Art Gallery, NYU, NYC, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, The Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX
11 Spring Street, Wooster Collective, NYC
2005
Vintage East Village Hal Bromm Gallery, NY, Rick Prol, Curator
2004
Alternative Renderings American Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria, NY (Video screened)
I Dream Electric Sheep Ars Electronica, Eyebeam, NYC (Video screened)
2003
Open for Action: Political Book Art, organized by Richard Minsky and Sharon Gilbert September 25, 2003 – December 5, 2003,The Center for Book Arts, New York City
WTC Site Memorial Competition Exhibition
Yes Yes Y’all The Birth of Hip Hop” Deitch Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2002
NYC-A Self Portrait Le Case D’Arte Di Pasquale Leccese, Milan, Italy
2001
From the Ashes C.U.A.N.D.O., NYC
Extra Art: A Survey of Artists’ Ephemera 1960-1999 The California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, Steven Lieber, Curator, Book published by Smart Art Press
The LP Show Exit Art, NYC, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA
2000
The End: An Independent Vision of Contemporary Culture: 1982-2000 Exit Art, NYC
1999
Urban Mythologies: The Bronx represented since the 1960’s Bronx Museum of Art, NY, Lydia Yee, Curator
The Y2K Show Life Café, NYC Stefan Eins, Curator
1997
Raumbezogene Kunst Bonn Kunstverin, Germany
Today’s Printmaker:Artist and Wordsmith Hillwood Art Museum, Long Island University, Brookville, NY (curated by Anne Abeles)
1996
Demolitions & Other Works Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Video screened)
Mixing Messages-Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture” Cooper-Hewitt Museum & the American Institute of Graphic Arts, NYC
A Partial view of Fashion Moda Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY (essay by Susan Hoeltzel available here)
Cultural Economies-Histories from the Alternative Art Movement NYC, The Drawing Center, NYC Organized by Julie Ault (catalog)
1995
Monumental Propaganda Smithsonian International Gallery (Komar & Melamid , travels US & Russia 95-96)
The Message is the Medium” Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY (catalog)
Garbage Thread Waxing Space, NYC
1994
From Paper to Pixels Center for Creative Imaging, Camden, Maine
Labor & Leisure Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
The Lure of the Local University of Colorado at Boulder, Lucy Lippard, Curator
1993
In Transit The New Museum of Contemporary Art” NYC (Video screened)
All Words Suck Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden
1992
Dispossessed Installations Florida State University Museum, FL (catalog)
John Fekner / Rick Mills Prints and Paintings 1986-92, Hillwood Art Museum, LIU
1991
Computer Generations: Animation & Mixed Media Warwick Museum, RI (Video screened)
Earth Matters Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY
Word as Image: American Art 1960-1990 Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin, The Houston Contemporary Arts Center, TX, Oklahoma City Art Museum, Oklahoma. (catalogue by Russell Bowman)
1990
The Technological Muse Katonah Museum, NY (catalog) (Video screened)
Your House is Mine Bullet Space, NY (catalog & book)
Artist as Apolitical Sensor Hillwood Art Museum, LIU/C.W. Post, (curator)
About Round-Round About Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden
Illegal America Exit Art, NYC Jeanette Ingberman, Papo Colo, Curators
1989
Artistic Tendencies in Computer AnimationKoln Art Society, Germany (Video screened)
Against the Wall Helmond Museum, the Netherlands & Heidelberg & Weisbaden Museums, Germany
Word and Image Lehman College, Bronx, NY, Nina Castelli Sundell, Curator
Against the Wall An der Wand, Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Kunstverein Heidelberg, Gemeentemuseum Helmond Johannes Stahl, Curato
1988
Wings of Desire street installation included in Wim Wenders’ film shot in Berlin, Germany
Committed to Print Museum of Modern Art, NYC (catalogue) Deborah Wye, Curator
Intermedia Concerto Le Lieu Festival, Quebec City, Canada (performance) (Video screened)
Prix Ars Electronica Linz, Austria (book) (Video screened)
The Debt Exit Art, NYC
1987
Video Cultural International Toronto Video Festival, Canada (Award in Videotext)
NY-Berlin Exchange Storefront for Art & Architecture, NYC (Catalogue)
Meisterwerke der Computerkunst Linz, Austria (catalog) (Video screened)
Glasnost Maria Bonk Gallery, Koln, Germany
1986
State of the Art Animation Nightflight, USA Cable Network (Video screened)
Drawing in Situ Hillwood Art Museum, LIU/C.W. Post Campus (Catalogue)
Live on the Bounding Main Franklin Furnace, Staten Island Ferry, NY, (Performance)
Stadtsichten NGBK, Berlin, Germany (Video screened)
4 Americans Stockholm Mobile, Sweden (catalog)
Consensus: Today’s Art in an Overpopulated City Exit Art, NYC
Artist with Public Voice 911 Contemporary Arts Center, Seattle, Glenn Weiss, Curator
Television’s Impact on Contemporary Art Queens Museum, NYC (Catalogue) (Video screened)
1985
We are the Target Messages To The Public, Spectacolor, Times Square, NYC/
Brave New World Unstillingsbygninggene, Copenhagen, Denmark
Homeless at Home Storefront for Art & Architecture, NYC (85-86) Glenn Weiss, R. Cellini and K. Park, Curators, Traveled to National Headquarter of AIA, Washington, DC
Words in Action Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin
Future Histories:The Impact of Changing Technology Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA (catalog)
Micro Max Now Gallery, NYC
Fashion Moda Benefit Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC
1984
On the Wall/On the Air Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
Via Satellite American Haus, Koln, Germany
New Sculpture Anna Friebe Gallery, Koln, Germany
Climbing Hal Bromm Gallery, NY
Sign on a Truck Jenny Holzer Street Project, NYC
Festival D’Intervention Performance & LP Record, Quebec, Canada (Video screened)
Limbo PS. 1, Long Island City, NY, Carlo McCormick, Walter Robinson, Curators
Of the Streets Fashion Moda at the Aspen Art Museum, Colorado
City Squad Sound Installation at 8 BC, NYC
25,000 Sculptors from Across the USA Civilian Warfare, NYC
East Village Scene Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA Janet Cardon, Curator
Artist Call Hal Bromm Gallery, NY
For and Against Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Dominican Convent, Sparkill, NY
Neo York University of California at Santa Barbara, California
1983
Meta-Manhattan Whitney Museum Downtown, NYC
David Wojnarowicz Hal Bromm, NYC (painting collaboration)
The Terminal Show Harborside Industrial Center, Brooklyn, NY
Language, Drama, Source & Vision The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC
1984-A Preview Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC
Audio Art-Night Exercises Moderna Musett, Stockholm, Sweden
Urban Pulses Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, PA
Ansatzpunkte kritischer Kunst heute Bonner Kunstverin and Neue Gesellschaft fur Bildende Kunst, Berlin
Art & Social Change, U.S. A Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH, William Olander, Curator (catalogue)
Art & Nature Centro Internazionale Multimedia, Salerno, Italy (catalogue)
Wardline Pier Project organized by David Wojnarowicz & Mike Bidlo, NYC
When Words Become Works Minneapolis College of Art & Design, MN
Urban Activist Show Sparc, Venice, CA
Catchwords Caidoz, NYC
South Bronx Art Fashion Moda, Bronx, NY
The Black and White Show Kenkeleba Gallery, NYC, Lorraine O’Grady, Curator
A. More Store Jack Tilton Gallery, NYC, Group Show Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
Art et Ecologie Le Liu, Quebec, Canada
1982
The Atomic Salon Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC
From the Monkey to the Monitor Fashion Moda, Bronx, NY
Illegal America Frankin Furnace, NYC (book) Jeanette Ingberman, Papo Colo, Curators
Enthusiasm Group Material, NYC
New Work/New York The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC (catalog and traveled.)
Documenta 7 Fashion Moda Store, Kassel, Germany
Natural History Grace Borgenicht Gallery, NY Scott Cook, Curator (catalog)
A Decision of Arms Just Above Midtown Downtown, NY
Octopus El Museo Del Barrio, NY Papo Colo, Curator
Joint Forces: Artist, Community and Museum Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Urban Activist Art Sparc, Venice, California
Central Park Disarmament Rally Central Park, NY
1981
Pictures Lie The Kitchen, NYC Ingrid Sischy, Curator
Streetworks Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D. C.
Atlanta: An Emergency Exhibition Group Material, NYC
4 Locations Papier Mache Video Institute, New Haven, CT
Fashion Moda Show Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
The M5 Show Group Material (art exhibited on New York City Buses)
Coca Crystal Show, MCTV, NYC
10th Anniversary Exhibition Galerie S:t. Petri Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art, Lund, Sweden
Animals in the Arnsenal Central Park Zoo Birdhouse, Organized by City Wildlife Projects
Coney Island Show Coney Island, NY
1980
Graffiti Art Success For America Fashion Moda, South Bronx, NY, John ‘Crash’ Matos, Curator
Charlotte Street Stencils 5 locations in South Bronx, NYC
Demonstrate Gallery 345 Lafayette Gallery, NYC
Animals Living in Cities ABC No Rio, NYC
Mudd Video Mudd Club, NYC
Glenn O’Brien’s TV Party MCTV, NYC
Paper Work SUNY Stonybrook, NY
Public Policy Show 625 Broadway, NYC
65×12 The Drawing Center, NY
Some New Faces MCTV, NYC (video aired)
2 Nights from 4 Locations Papier Mache Video Institute, New Haven, CT
Events: Fashion Moda, Taller Boricua, Artists Invite at the New Museum, Catalog essay by Lynn Gumpert
1979
Temporary Sites Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C
Time Fuse Attitudes Balderup Institute of Art, Arild, Sweden, Lars Vilks & Leif Eriksson, Curators
Drawing Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC
Forgione Annual Old Westbury, NY
14 Painters Lehman College Art Gallery, Lehman College, Bronx, NY
Mini Utstalling Galleri Wallner, Malmo, Sweden
Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (catalog, R. Massie)
1978
The Detective Show Gorman Park, Sponsored by the Institute for Art & Urban Resources/P.S. 1 Jackson Heights, NY (curator & participant)
The Pool C.W. Post, Brookville, NY, Russell Maltz, Curator (catalog)
Drawings 55 Mercer, NYC
1977
Works & Projects of the 70s P.S. 1, LIC, NY (Traveled)
A Month of Sundays PS 1, LIC, NY
1976
Artists 76 Queens Museum, Queens, NY
Invitational 55 Mercer, NYC
1975
Selections American Federation of Arts 75-77, (traveling museum exhibition in the US)
A Change of View Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT (catalog)
1974
Contemporary Reflections 73-74 Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT (catalog)
1973
Queens Talent 73 Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY
VIDEO (WRITER, CAMERA, SOUND COMPOSER, GRAPHICS, EDITOR, PRODUCER)
2008
Another 4 Years (Edit08/Elect08) color, 1 min. (collaboration with Don Leicht)
Turn color, 3:08 min.
2006
Trail Markers black and white 3:52 min.
Untitled color+8mm 3:30 min.
2005
Rhapsody in Black black and white 3 min.
2002
Untitled black and white with soundtrack 1:25 min.
2001
Code color 1 min
1989
When the Future Collides with History color 5 min. (collaboration with Andrew Ruhren)
1988
The Last Days of Good & Evil color 2 min.
1986
Concrete People color 5:10 min.
1982
No TV color 5 min.
1981
Toxic Wastes from A to Z (Coming After You and Me) color 2 min.
1977
Environmental Stencils 77-79 black and white+8mm 14 min. (collaboration with Fred Baca)
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL GRANTS
1987
New York Foundation for the Arts
1984
New York State Council on the Arts
1981
Creative Artists Program Service
1978
National Endowment for the Arts
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Vassar Art Museum, NY
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Milwaukee Art Museum, WI
Helmond Museum, Netherlands
Malmo Museum, Sweden
Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
Getty Research Institute, CA
SELECTED LECTURES
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Brooklyn Museum, NY
Banff Centre for International Arts, Canada
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012
Under The Influence magazine Issue no. 10 No Seasons Paris, France John Fekner photos by Lyle Owerko
2011
100 Days of Resistance Vivienne Westwood, Damiani editore, Italy, ISBN 978 – 88 – 6208 -188- 7
Art in the Streets Jeffrey Deitch, Publisher: Skira Rizzoli (April 12, 2011)
Pantheon A History of Art from the Streets of NYC Daniel Feral Joyce Manalo (exhibition catalog) ISBN 978-0-615-51227-3 NY
Graffiti 365 Jay Edlin, Andrew ‘Zephyr’ Witten Publisher: Abrams Books, ISBN-10: 0810997444, ISBN-13: 978-0810997448
2010
Muralismo Morte The Rebirth Of Muralism In Contemporary Urban Art Jens Besser, From Here to Fame, ISBN-10: 9783937946290, ISBN-13: 978-3937946290
Street Knowledge King Adz, The Overlook Press/HarperCollins, ISBN-10: 9780007318698, ISBN-13: 978-0007318698
Trespass: A History Of Uncommissioned Urban Art Carlo McCormick, Marc Schiller, Sara Schiller, Ethel Seno, Taschen Books, ISBN-10: 3836509644, ISBN-13: 978-3836509640
2009
Street Art Johannes Stahl, Publisher: H.F. Ullmann, ISBN-10: 0841603502, ISBN-13: 978-0841603509
The wall and the city / Il muro e la città / Le mur et la ville Andrea Mubi Brighenti, Publisher: Impressum, ISBN 978-88-904295-0-7
Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today Josh MacPhee, Publisher: PM Press, ISBN-10: 1604860901, ISBN-13: 978-1604860900
2008
Street Art: The Graffiti Revolution, Cedar Lewisohn, Tate Museum, London, England
Do Not Give Way to Evil, Photographs of the South Bronx, 1979-1987 Lisa Kahane, powerHouse books
The Bronx Transformed, Through One Artist’s Lens David Gonzalez, NY Times, September 15, 2008
Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art, Russell Howze, Manic D Press, San Franciso, CA
2006
New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism from the Bicentennial to the Millennium by Robert Stern, David Fishman, Jacob Tilove, Monacelli Publishers, NYC
Something’s Burning, Art Briefs, Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper
Downtown: Legend, Myth and Institutionalized Caprice, Michael Carter, Tribes Magazine
The Downtown Book-New York Art Scene 1974-84, Marvin Taylor, Princeton University Press, NJ
David Wojnarowicz: A Definitive History of Five or Six Years on the Lower East Side by Giancarlo Ambrosino (Semiotext(e)/Native Agents #ISBN101584350350
2005
Art: Reviews; Random Acts Of Nature, and Youth by Helen A. Harrison, NY Times March 6 2005
Richard Artschwager: Up And Across Lisa Corrin, Melitta Kliege Judith Stein Dirk Luckow Richard Artschwager Ingrid Schaffner, Publisher: Verlag Fur Moderne Kunst Nurnberg, ISBN-10: 3933096634, ISBN-13: 978-3933096630
City Art: New York’s Percent For Art Program Eleanor Heartney, Publisher: Merrell Publishers, ISBN-10: 185894290X, ISBN-13: 978-1858942902
2004
East Village USA, Dan Cameron, Carlo McCormick, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC
Freddy Fresh Presents The Rap Records, Nerby Publs., LLC, Minneapolis, MN
Stencil Pirates, Josh MacPhee, Soft Skull, Brooklyn, NY
2002
Adventures in the Counterculture: From Hip Hop to High Times Steven Hager, High Times Books, NY ISBN 1893010147
Alternative Art New York 1965-1985, Julie Ault, University of Minnesota Press & The Drawing Center, NYC
Yes Yes Y’all: The Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade, Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn, Da Capo Press
2001
A Brush, a Mouse, a Canvas: Mixing Paint & Pixels, Matthew Mirapaul, NY Times June 13, 2001
1999
Way Up in the Bronx A Hardy Spirit Blooms, Holland Cotter, NY Times May 7th 1999
Billboard Art on the Road, Laura Steward & P. Diggs, Mass MoCA & MIT Press
Art Matters: How the Culture Wars Changed America Marianne Weems, Brian Wallis, Philip Yenawine, Publisher: NYU Press, ISBN-10: 9780814793510, ISBN-13: 978-0814793510
1997
The Lure of the Local: Place in a Multicentered Society, Lucy R. Lippard, New Press, NYC
1995
F.Y.I. The City, Jesse McKinley, NY Times May 21, 1995
Mapping The Terrain, New Genre Public Art, Suzanne Lacy, Bay Press, Seattle, WA 1995 ISBN 941920305
1993
New Visions, New Viewers, New Vehicles: Twentieth-Century Developments in North American Political Art P. Blum, Leonardo, Vol. 26, No. 5, Art and Social Consciousness: Special Issue, pp. 459-466 MIT Press
1992
John Fekner at Exit Art by Lois Nesbitt, Artforum International v. 30 (May 1992) p. 120
John Fekner at Exit Art, Nancy Princenthal, Art in America v. 80 (July 1992) p. 104
Artforum International v. 31 (October 1992) p. 85
1991
Review: The Technological Muse Joan Marter, Art Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2, Feminist Art Criticism
1990
Examining the Sensitivities of the Political Realm by Helen A. Harrison, Nov 4, 1990; NY Times
Engines, Factories and Art, Or the Machine as Muse Malcolm W. Browne NY Times Dec 28, 1990
Mixed Blessings: New art in a multicultural America Lucy R. Lippard, Pantheon Books, New York, 1990 ISBN 394577590
1989
Interview with John Fekner. In: Johannes Stahl (Ed.): An der Wand. Graffiti zwischen Anarchie und Galerie, Koeln 1989, p. 170-176)
1988
Art: ‘Committed to Print,’ on Political Themes, Roberta Smith February 5, 1988, NY Times
1987
De-Architecture, James Wines, Rizzoli International, NYC
1986
On the Wall 7 Artists who find bigger is better Helen A. Harrison, NY Times Mar 23, 1986
1985
Street Art, Allan Schwartzman, Dial Press-Doubleday, NYC
Art: Keith Sonnier, Media-Oriented Sculptor, Goes Own Way by Vivien Raynor NY Times Oct 4, 1985
Words and Images: A Persistent Paradox, Russell Bowman Art Journal, Vol. 45, No. 4,
John Fekner at Semaphore Gallery, Handy, E. Arts Magazine v. 60 (November 1985) p. 139
1984
John Fekner Review by Douglas Dreishpoon, Arts Magazine, v. 58 (May 1984) p. 6
The East Village Scene, McCormick, Carlo, (catalogue), Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Robinson, Walter and McCormick Carlo
Slouching Toward Avenue D, Art in America, Summer, pp. 140 & 157
Protest Art’ at the Thorpe Intermedia by Vivien Raynor NY Times Feb 19, 1984
David Wojnarowicz at Hal Bromm Gallery, Brooks Adams,Art in America v. 72 (May 1984) p. 166-7
Art After Modernism: Rethinking Representation Brian Wallis
1983
Ansatzpunkte kritischer Kunst heute by Margarethe Jochimsen, p. 36-39
Review: “Art and Social Change, U. S. A.”: An Exhibition Journal, Thalia Gouma-Peterson Art Journal, Vol. 43, No. 4, The Issue of Caricature (Winter, 1983), p. 402-408
1982
New Work New York at the New Museum by John Russell, NY Times March 19, 1982
Art: An Unnatural ‘Natural History’ by Viviven Raynor, NY Times Jun 25, 1982
Words and Wordworks, Clive Phillpot, Art Journal, Vol. 42, No. 2, (Special project)
Documenta 7: A Dictionary of Received Ideas Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, October, Vol. 22, (Autumn, 1982), pp. 104-126 The MIT Press
1981
Take the A Train Elizabeth Hess, Village Voice, November 12, 1980
1978
Artful Dodger, Gerald Marzorati Soho Weekly News, May18-24, 1978 NY
1977
The Rise of the Alternative Space by Phil Patton, Art in America, Summer
Montezuma and the PS 1 Kids by Grace Glueck, NY Times April 15th, 1977
1974
John Fekner at Hundred Acres by John Gruen, Soho Weekly NY
INDIVIDUAL BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
1985
Cassette Gazette, Tokyo, Japan: B-Sellers, ISBN-4-938198-14-2.
1983
Beauty’s Only Screen Deep, Wedge Press, NY Wedge Pamphlet 10
1982
Queensites[signed and numbered] Wedgepress & Cheese Bjärred, Sweden ISBN 13: 9789185752324 ISBN 10: 9185752320
1979
Stencil Projects: Lund & New York 1978-1979, 800 copies Edition Sellem Galerie S:t Petri Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art, Lund, Sweden
2005 Tawkin’ New Yawk City Walls Hillwood Art Museum, Long Island University, Brookville, NY (Curator, writer and participant) (Video screened)
1999 Traces” & “Melody in 1’s & 0’s DCA-Percent For Art Program, Bronx, NY
1994 Arts In Transit MTA Computer generated poster installed in NYC subway system
1992 Remnant Memory: Fragments, Fossils, Trophies, Plaques Exit Art, NYC
1990 Foreigners in the Library-Americans at the Beach LIU/C.W. Post, one act play
1989 Selections 1978-1988 Bjorn Olsson Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
1988 Slaves of Labor Spectacolor Piccadilly Circus, Artangel Trust, London, England Techno Plaques Willoughby Sharp Gallery, NYC
1986 Beton Puzzle stencil on Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany Selections-Dissections Moderna Musett, Stockholm, Sweden (Video screened) Concrete People 12 inch EP Record
1985 X Americana X Semaphore Gallery, NYC Idioblast Full-length Album 8 songs 12” record Cassette Gazette Audiocassette book, B-Sellers, Tokyo, Japan
1984 Enter Screenland Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden (with Don Leicht) In From The Cold Civilian Warfare, NYC
1983 2 4 5 7 9 11/Rock Steady 12 inch EP Record
1982 Nuke Freeze Disarmament Rally, June 12, 1982, Central Park, NYC
1981 Stencils for the Common Man Franklin Furnace, NY (performance and installation)
1980 No TV/Read Special project at Fashion Moda, South Bronx, NY & PS 1, LIC, NY William Patterson College, Wayne, NJ Galerie Ahlner, Stockholm,, Sweden The Metro Stencils/b> Toronto, Canada
1979 Wall Blood Series Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden No TV/Read Galerie S:t. Petri Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art, Lund, Sweden
1978 Paper Pulp Work Memorial Gallery, University of Rochester, NY
1977 Mementos of a Schoolbuilding PS 1, LIC, NY
1976 Barely Visible PortraitsLehman College Gallery, Bronx, NY
1974 Barely Visible Portraits Hundred Acres Gallery, NYC
GROUP EXHIBITIONS & SPECIAL PROJECTS
2012
He Was Simply A Guy Who Painted Messages In The Street Welling Court, Astoria, NY June 2012 EVERY EXIT IS AN ENTRANCE: 30 Years of Exit Art Exit Art, NY March 23 – May 19 2012 The Piers: Art and Sex along the New York Waterfront The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, NY Jonathan Weinberg, Curator April 3 – May 12, 2012 I STILL HAVE A DREAM Martin Luther Kings Jr’s Birthday January 16th, 2012 on Pal’s Lounge, Atlanta Georgia
2011
This Is What Democracy Looks Like The Gallatin Galleries, NYU, NY Keith Miller, Curator Oct 28- November 18, 2011
NO WAR LA VS WAR Sept 9-11, 2011, Organized by John Carr
Augmented Reality Advertising Takeover in Times Square July 24th, 2011 Public Ad Campaign & The Heavy Projects
For, Against & the Truth Organized by Stormie Mills, Linton & Kay Contemporary, Austrailia, Oct 20 to Nov 2, 2011
On Every Street Curated by Michael De Feo, Samuel Owen Gallery, Greenwich Town, CT Oct 06 to Nov 03, 2011
Trail Markers and Another 4 Years (Edit/Elect08) Street Art Festival Istanbul, Turkey, October 1, 2011, Curated by Roman Tschiedl and Pertev Emre Taştaban
I Have A Dream, I Have A Nightmare Friday the 13th May 13- June 18 2011
Vandalog and M.A.N.Y. present Up Close and Personal May 12th-15th 2011, 217 West 106th Street, Apartment 1A, New York, NY 10025, Curated by Michael Rushmore, Keith Schweitzer and Michael Glatzer
Art In The Streets Organized by Jeffrey Deitch, MoCA Los Angeles, April 17 to August 08, 2011
Pantheon: A history of art from the streets of New York City Former Donnell Library, NYC April 2-17, 2011
Madrid Street Advertising Takeover Spain, April 2011
2010
Mother Earth Will Survive (Your Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants) Welling Court Mural Project organized by Ad Hoc Art, Astoria NY
L’ART URBAIN Oct 16 – Dec 04, 2010, Addict Galerie, Paris
BLK River Festival 2010 September 10 – Oct 06, 2010, Vienna, Austria, curated by Sydney Ogidan
Power To the People 2010 Feature, Inc. NYC
2009
Kinder auf der Flucht-Parcels For The Promised Land KunstBüroBerlin, Berlin, Germany The Labyrinth Wall Exit Art, NYC This is Art Galleri Jonas Kleerup, Stockholm, Sweden Valdemar Gerdin, Curator
2008
That Was Then…This Is Now PS 1, LIC, NY, Alanna Heiss, Curator
The Last Book National Library of Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Organized by Luis Camnitzer)
Unzine The Croatian Academy Glyptotheque, Zagreb, Crotia (Organized by Rafaela Dražić) (catalog)
Paper Politics Dowd Gallery, SUNY Cortland, NY (traveling show-2006-08) Josh McPhee, Curator
In-Site The Sculptors Guild, Governors Island, NY, Jerelyn Hanrahan, Curator
Stencil Nation Revolution Cafe, San Francisco, CA
Video Synthesis QCC Art Gallery, The City University of New York, Queens, NY Curated by Ryan Seslow
2007
That 70s Show: New York City in the 70s powerHouse Arena, Brooklyn, NY
Behind the seen Ad Hoc Art, Brooklyn, NY, Michael De Feo, Curator
The Price of Nothing EFA Project Space, Hell’s Kitchen, NYCSeptember 14 – October 27, 2007 Curated by Jason Murison
Spaces Into Places Organized by Rachel Adams, Patricia Courson September 14-October 27, 2007
2006
The Downtown Show, Grey Art Gallery/Fales Library & Grey Art Gallery, NYU, NYC, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, The Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX
11 Spring Street, Wooster Collective, NYC
2005
Vintage East Village Hal Bromm Gallery, NY, Rick Prol, Curator
2004
Alternative Renderings American Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria, NY (Video screened)
I Dream Electric Sheep Ars Electronica, Eyebeam, NYC (Video screened)
2003
Open for Action: Political Book Art, organized by Richard Minsky and Sharon Gilbert September 25, 2003 – December 5, 2003,The Center for Book Arts, New York City
WTC Site Memorial Competition Exhibition
Yes Yes Y’all The Birth of Hip Hop” Deitch Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2002
NYC-A Self Portrait Le Case D’Arte Di Pasquale Leccese, Milan, Italy
2001
From the Ashes C.U.A.N.D.O., NYC
Extra Art: A Survey of Artists’ Ephemera 1960-1999 The California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, Steven Lieber, Curator, Book published by Smart Art Press
The LP Show Exit Art, NYC, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA
2000
The End: An Independent Vision of Contemporary Culture: 1982-2000 Exit Art, NYC
1999
Urban Mythologies: The Bronx represented since the 1960’s Bronx Museum of Art, NY, Lydia Yee, Curator
The Y2K Show Life Café, NYC Stefan Eins, Curator
1997
Raumbezogene Kunst Bonn Kunstverin, Germany
Today’s Printmaker:Artist and Wordsmith Hillwood Art Museum, Long Island University, Brookville, NY (curated by Anne Abeles)
1996
Demolitions & Other Works Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Video screened)
Mixing Messages-Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture” Cooper-Hewitt Museum & the American Institute of Graphic Arts, NYC
A Partial view of Fashion Moda Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY (essay by Susan Hoeltzel available here)
Cultural Economies-Histories from the Alternative Art Movement NYC, The Drawing Center, NYC Organized by Julie Ault (catalog)
1995
Monumental Propaganda Smithsonian International Gallery (Komar & Melamid , travels US & Russia 95-96)
The Message is the Medium” Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY (catalog)
Garbage Thread Waxing Space, NYC
1994
From Paper to Pixels Center for Creative Imaging, Camden, Maine
Labor & Leisure Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
The Lure of the Local University of Colorado at Boulder, Lucy Lippard, Curator
1993
In Transit The New Museum of Contemporary Art” NYC (Video screened)
All Words Suck Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden
1992
Dispossessed Installations Florida State University Museum, FL (catalog)
John Fekner / Rick Mills Prints and Paintings 1986-92, Hillwood Art Museum, LIU
1991
Computer Generations: Animation & Mixed Media Warwick Museum, RI (Video screened)
Earth Matters Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY
Word as Image: American Art 1960-1990 Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin, The Houston Contemporary Arts Center, TX, Oklahoma City Art Museum, Oklahoma. (catalogue by Russell Bowman)
1990
The Technological Muse Katonah Museum, NY (catalog) (Video screened)
Your House is Mine Bullet Space, NY (catalog & book)
Artist as Apolitical Sensor Hillwood Art Museum, LIU/C.W. Post, (curator)
About Round-Round About Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden
Illegal America Exit Art, NYC Jeanette Ingberman, Papo Colo, Curators
1989
Artistic Tendencies in Computer AnimationKoln Art Society, Germany (Video screened)
Against the Wall Helmond Museum, the Netherlands & Heidelberg & Weisbaden Museums, Germany
Word and Image Lehman College, Bronx, NY, Nina Castelli Sundell, Curator
Against the Wall An der Wand, Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Kunstverein Heidelberg, Gemeentemuseum Helmond Johannes Stahl, Curato
1988
Wings of Desire street installation included in Wim Wenders’ film shot in Berlin, Germany
Committed to Print Museum of Modern Art, NYC (catalogue) Deborah Wye, Curator
Intermedia Concerto Le Lieu Festival, Quebec City, Canada (performance) (Video screened)
Prix Ars Electronica Linz, Austria (book) (Video screened)
The Debt Exit Art, NYC
1987
Video Cultural International Toronto Video Festival, Canada (Award in Videotext)
NY-Berlin Exchange Storefront for Art & Architecture, NYC (Catalogue)
Meisterwerke der Computerkunst Linz, Austria (catalog) (Video screened)
Glasnost Maria Bonk Gallery, Koln, Germany
1986
State of the Art Animation Nightflight, USA Cable Network (Video screened)
Drawing in Situ Hillwood Art Museum, LIU/C.W. Post Campus (Catalogue)
Live on the Bounding Main Franklin Furnace, Staten Island Ferry, NY, (Performance)
Stadtsichten NGBK, Berlin, Germany (Video screened)
4 Americans Stockholm Mobile, Sweden (catalog)
Consensus: Today’s Art in an Overpopulated City Exit Art, NYC
Artist with Public Voice 911 Contemporary Arts Center, Seattle, Glenn Weiss, Curator
Television’s Impact on Contemporary Art Queens Museum, NYC (Catalogue) (Video screened)
1985
We are the Target Messages To The Public, Spectacolor, Times Square, NYC/
Brave New World Unstillingsbygninggene, Copenhagen, Denmark
Homeless at Home Storefront for Art & Architecture, NYC (85-86) Glenn Weiss, R. Cellini and K. Park, Curators, Traveled to National Headquarter of AIA, Washington, DC
Words in Action Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin
Future Histories:The Impact of Changing Technology Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA (catalog)
Micro Max Now Gallery, NYC
Fashion Moda Benefit Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC
1984
On the Wall/On the Air Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
Via Satellite American Haus, Koln, Germany
New Sculpture Anna Friebe Gallery, Koln, Germany
Climbing Hal Bromm Gallery, NY
Sign on a Truck Jenny Holzer Street Project, NYC
Festival D’Intervention Performance & LP Record, Quebec, Canada (Video screened)
Limbo PS. 1, Long Island City, NY, Carlo McCormick, Walter Robinson, Curators
Of the Streets Fashion Moda at the Aspen Art Museum, Colorado
City Squad Sound Installation at 8 BC, NYC
25,000 Sculptors from Across the USA Civilian Warfare, NYC
East Village Scene Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA Janet Cardon, Curator
Artist Call Hal Bromm Gallery, NY
For and Against Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Dominican Convent, Sparkill, NY
Neo York University of California at Santa Barbara, California
1983
Meta-Manhattan Whitney Museum Downtown, NYC
David Wojnarowicz Hal Bromm, NYC (painting collaboration)
The Terminal Show Harborside Industrial Center, Brooklyn, NY
Language, Drama, Source & Vision The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC
1984-A Preview Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC
Audio Art-Night Exercises Moderna Musett, Stockholm, Sweden
Urban Pulses Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, PA
Ansatzpunkte kritischer Kunst heute Bonner Kunstverin and Neue Gesellschaft fur Bildende Kunst, Berlin
Art & Social Change, U.S. A Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH, William Olander, Curator (catalogue)
Art & Nature Centro Internazionale Multimedia, Salerno, Italy (catalogue)
Wardline Pier Project organized by David Wojnarowicz & Mike Bidlo, NYC
When Words Become Works Minneapolis College of Art & Design, MN
Urban Activist Show Sparc, Venice, CA
Catchwords Caidoz, NYC
South Bronx Art Fashion Moda, Bronx, NY
The Black and White Show Kenkeleba Gallery, NYC, Lorraine O’Grady, Curator
A. More Store Jack Tilton Gallery, NYC, Group Show Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
Art et Ecologie Le Liu, Quebec, Canada
1982
The Atomic Salon Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC
From the Monkey to the Monitor Fashion Moda, Bronx, NY
Illegal America Frankin Furnace, NYC (book) Jeanette Ingberman, Papo Colo, Curators
Enthusiasm Group Material, NYC
New Work/New York The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC (catalog and traveled.)
Documenta 7 Fashion Moda Store, Kassel, Germany
Natural History Grace Borgenicht Gallery, NY Scott Cook, Curator (catalog)
A Decision of Arms Just Above Midtown Downtown, NY
Octopus El Museo Del Barrio, NY Papo Colo, Curator
Joint Forces: Artist, Community and Museum Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Urban Activist Art Sparc, Venice, California
Central Park Disarmament Rally Central Park, NY
1981
Pictures Lie The Kitchen, NYC Ingrid Sischy, Curator
Streetworks Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D. C.
Atlanta: An Emergency Exhibition Group Material, NYC
4 Locations Papier Mache Video Institute, New Haven, CT
Fashion Moda Show Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
The M5 Show Group Material (art exhibited on New York City Buses)
Coca Crystal Show, MCTV, NYC
10th Anniversary Exhibition Galerie S:t. Petri Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art, Lund, Sweden
Animals in the Arnsenal Central Park Zoo Birdhouse, Organized by City Wildlife Projects
Coney Island Show Coney Island, NY
1980
Graffiti Art Success For America Fashion Moda, South Bronx, NY, John ‘Crash’ Matos, Curator
Charlotte Street Stencils 5 locations in South Bronx, NYC
Demonstrate Gallery 345 Lafayette Gallery, NYC
Animals Living in Cities ABC No Rio, NYC
Mudd Video Mudd Club, NYC
Glenn O’Brien’s TV Party MCTV, NYC
Paper Work SUNY Stonybrook, NY
Public Policy Show 625 Broadway, NYC
65×12 The Drawing Center, NY
Some New Faces MCTV, NYC (video aired)
2 Nights from 4 Locations Papier Mache Video Institute, New Haven, CT
Events: Fashion Moda, Taller Boricua, Artists Invite at the New Museum, Catalog essay by Lynn Gumpert
1979
Temporary Sites Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C
Time Fuse Attitudes Balderup Institute of Art, Arild, Sweden, Lars Vilks & Leif Eriksson, Curators
Drawing Hal Bromm Gallery, NYC
Forgione Annual Old Westbury, NY
14 Painters Lehman College Art Gallery, Lehman College, Bronx, NY
Mini Utstalling Galleri Wallner, Malmo, Sweden
Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (catalog, R. Massie)
1978
The Detective Show Gorman Park, Sponsored by the Institute for Art & Urban Resources/P.S. 1 Jackson Heights, NY (curator & participant)
The Pool C.W. Post, Brookville, NY, Russell Maltz, Curator (catalog)
Drawings 55 Mercer, NYC
1977
Works & Projects of the 70s P.S. 1, LIC, NY (Traveled)
A Month of Sundays PS 1, LIC, NY
1976
Artists 76 Queens Museum, Queens, NY
Invitational 55 Mercer, NYC
1975
Selections American Federation of Arts 75-77, (traveling museum exhibition in the US)
A Change of View Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT (catalog)
1974
Contemporary Reflections 73-74 Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT (catalog)
1973
Queens Talent 73 Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY
VIDEO (WRITER, CAMERA, SOUND COMPOSER, GRAPHICS, EDITOR, PRODUCER)
2008
Another 4 Years (Edit08/Elect08) color, 1 min. (collaboration with Don Leicht)
Turn color, 3:08 min.
2006
Trail Markers black and white 3:52 min.
Untitled color+8mm 3:30 min.
2005
Rhapsody in Black black and white 3 min.
2002
Untitled black and white with soundtrack 1:25 min.
2001
Code color 1 min
1989
When the Future Collides with History color 5 min. (collaboration with Andrew Ruhren)
1988
The Last Days of Good & Evil color 2 min.
1986
Concrete People color 5:10 min.
1982
No TV color 5 min.
1981
Toxic Wastes from A to Z (Coming After You and Me) color 2 min.
1977
Environmental Stencils 77-79 black and white+8mm 14 min. (collaboration with Fred Baca)
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL GRANTS
1987
New York Foundation for the Arts
1984
New York State Council on the Arts
1981
Creative Artists Program Service
1978
National Endowment for the Arts
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Vassar Art Museum, NY
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Milwaukee Art Museum, WI
Helmond Museum, Netherlands
Malmo Museum, Sweden
Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
Getty Research Institute, CA
SELECTED LECTURES
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Brooklyn Museum, NY
Banff Centre for International Arts, Canada
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012
Under The Influence magazine Issue no. 10 No Seasons Paris, France John Fekner photos by Lyle Owerko
2011
100 Days of Resistance Vivienne Westwood, Damiani editore, Italy, ISBN 978 – 88 – 6208 -188- 7
Art in the Streets Jeffrey Deitch, Publisher: Skira Rizzoli (April 12, 2011)
Pantheon A History of Art from the Streets of NYC Daniel Feral Joyce Manalo (exhibition catalog) ISBN 978-0-615-51227-3 NY
Graffiti 365 Jay Edlin, Andrew ‘Zephyr’ Witten Publisher: Abrams Books, ISBN-10: 0810997444, ISBN-13: 978-0810997448
2010
Muralismo Morte The Rebirth Of Muralism In Contemporary Urban Art Jens Besser, From Here to Fame, ISBN-10: 9783937946290, ISBN-13: 978-3937946290
Street Knowledge King Adz, The Overlook Press/HarperCollins, ISBN-10: 9780007318698, ISBN-13: 978-0007318698
Trespass: A History Of Uncommissioned Urban Art Carlo McCormick, Marc Schiller, Sara Schiller, Ethel Seno, Taschen Books, ISBN-10: 3836509644, ISBN-13: 978-3836509640
2009
Street Art Johannes Stahl, Publisher: H.F. Ullmann, ISBN-10: 0841603502, ISBN-13: 978-0841603509
The wall and the city / Il muro e la città / Le mur et la ville Andrea Mubi Brighenti, Publisher: Impressum, ISBN 978-88-904295-0-7
Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today Josh MacPhee, Publisher: PM Press, ISBN-10: 1604860901, ISBN-13: 978-1604860900
2008
Street Art: The Graffiti Revolution, Cedar Lewisohn, Tate Museum, London, England
Do Not Give Way to Evil, Photographs of the South Bronx, 1979-1987 Lisa Kahane, powerHouse books
The Bronx Transformed, Through One Artist’s Lens David Gonzalez, NY Times, September 15, 2008
Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art, Russell Howze, Manic D Press, San Franciso, CA
2006
New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism from the Bicentennial to the Millennium by Robert Stern, David Fishman, Jacob Tilove, Monacelli Publishers, NYC
Something’s Burning, Art Briefs, Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper
Downtown: Legend, Myth and Institutionalized Caprice, Michael Carter, Tribes Magazine
The Downtown Book-New York Art Scene 1974-84, Marvin Taylor, Princeton University Press, NJ
David Wojnarowicz: A Definitive History of Five or Six Years on the Lower East Side by Giancarlo Ambrosino (Semiotext(e)/Native Agents #ISBN101584350350
2005
Art: Reviews; Random Acts Of Nature, and Youth by Helen A. Harrison, NY Times March 6 2005
Richard Artschwager: Up And Across Lisa Corrin, Melitta Kliege Judith Stein Dirk Luckow Richard Artschwager Ingrid Schaffner, Publisher: Verlag Fur Moderne Kunst Nurnberg, ISBN-10: 3933096634, ISBN-13: 978-3933096630
City Art: New York’s Percent For Art Program Eleanor Heartney, Publisher: Merrell Publishers, ISBN-10: 185894290X, ISBN-13: 978-1858942902
2004
East Village USA, Dan Cameron, Carlo McCormick, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC
Freddy Fresh Presents The Rap Records, Nerby Publs., LLC, Minneapolis, MN
Stencil Pirates, Josh MacPhee, Soft Skull, Brooklyn, NY
2002
Adventures in the Counterculture: From Hip Hop to High Times Steven Hager, High Times Books, NY ISBN 1893010147
Alternative Art New York 1965-1985, Julie Ault, University of Minnesota Press & The Drawing Center, NYC
Yes Yes Y’all: The Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade, Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn, Da Capo Press
2001
A Brush, a Mouse, a Canvas: Mixing Paint & Pixels, Matthew Mirapaul, NY Times June 13, 2001
1999
Way Up in the Bronx A Hardy Spirit Blooms, Holland Cotter, NY Times May 7th 1999
Billboard Art on the Road, Laura Steward & P. Diggs, Mass MoCA & MIT Press
Art Matters: How the Culture Wars Changed America Marianne Weems, Brian Wallis, Philip Yenawine, Publisher: NYU Press, ISBN-10: 9780814793510, ISBN-13: 978-0814793510
1997
The Lure of the Local: Place in a Multicentered Society, Lucy R. Lippard, New Press, NYC
1995
F.Y.I. The City, Jesse McKinley, NY Times May 21, 1995
Mapping The Terrain, New Genre Public Art, Suzanne Lacy, Bay Press, Seattle, WA 1995 ISBN 941920305
1993
New Visions, New Viewers, New Vehicles: Twentieth-Century Developments in North American Political Art P. Blum, Leonardo, Vol. 26, No. 5, Art and Social Consciousness: Special Issue, pp. 459-466 MIT Press
1992
John Fekner at Exit Art by Lois Nesbitt, Artforum International v. 30 (May 1992) p. 120
John Fekner at Exit Art, Nancy Princenthal, Art in America v. 80 (July 1992) p. 104
Artforum International v. 31 (October 1992) p. 85
1991
Review: The Technological Muse Joan Marter, Art Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2, Feminist Art Criticism
1990
Examining the Sensitivities of the Political Realm by Helen A. Harrison, Nov 4, 1990; NY Times
Engines, Factories and Art, Or the Machine as Muse Malcolm W. Browne NY Times Dec 28, 1990
Mixed Blessings: New art in a multicultural America Lucy R. Lippard, Pantheon Books, New York, 1990 ISBN 394577590
1989
Interview with John Fekner. In: Johannes Stahl (Ed.): An der Wand. Graffiti zwischen Anarchie und Galerie, Koeln 1989, p. 170-176)
1988
Art: ‘Committed to Print,’ on Political Themes, Roberta Smith February 5, 1988, NY Times
1987
De-Architecture, James Wines, Rizzoli International, NYC
1986
On the Wall 7 Artists who find bigger is better Helen A. Harrison, NY Times Mar 23, 1986
1985
Street Art, Allan Schwartzman, Dial Press-Doubleday, NYC
Art: Keith Sonnier, Media-Oriented Sculptor, Goes Own Way by Vivien Raynor NY Times Oct 4, 1985
Words and Images: A Persistent Paradox, Russell Bowman Art Journal, Vol. 45, No. 4,
John Fekner at Semaphore Gallery, Handy, E. Arts Magazine v. 60 (November 1985) p. 139
1984
John Fekner Review by Douglas Dreishpoon, Arts Magazine, v. 58 (May 1984) p. 6
The East Village Scene, McCormick, Carlo, (catalogue), Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Robinson, Walter and McCormick Carlo
Slouching Toward Avenue D, Art in America, Summer, pp. 140 & 157
Protest Art’ at the Thorpe Intermedia by Vivien Raynor NY Times Feb 19, 1984
David Wojnarowicz at Hal Bromm Gallery, Brooks Adams,Art in America v. 72 (May 1984) p. 166-7
Art After Modernism: Rethinking Representation Brian Wallis
1983
Ansatzpunkte kritischer Kunst heute by Margarethe Jochimsen, p. 36-39
Review: “Art and Social Change, U. S. A.”: An Exhibition Journal, Thalia Gouma-Peterson Art Journal, Vol. 43, No. 4, The Issue of Caricature (Winter, 1983), p. 402-408
1982
New Work New York at the New Museum by John Russell, NY Times March 19, 1982
Art: An Unnatural ‘Natural History’ by Viviven Raynor, NY Times Jun 25, 1982
Words and Wordworks, Clive Phillpot, Art Journal, Vol. 42, No. 2, (Special project)
Documenta 7: A Dictionary of Received Ideas Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, October, Vol. 22, (Autumn, 1982), pp. 104-126 The MIT Press
1981
Take the A Train Elizabeth Hess, Village Voice, November 12, 1980
1978
Artful Dodger, Gerald Marzorati Soho Weekly News, May18-24, 1978 NY
1977
The Rise of the Alternative Space by Phil Patton, Art in America, Summer
Montezuma and the PS 1 Kids by Grace Glueck, NY Times April 15th, 1977
1974
John Fekner at Hundred Acres by John Gruen, Soho Weekly NY
INDIVIDUAL BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
1985
Cassette Gazette, Tokyo, Japan: B-Sellers, ISBN-4-938198-14-2.
1983
Beauty’s Only Screen Deep, Wedge Press, NY Wedge Pamphlet 10
1982
Queensites[signed and numbered] Wedgepress & Cheese Bjärred, Sweden ISBN 13: 9789185752324 ISBN 10: 9185752320
1979
Stencil Projects: Lund & New York 1978-1979, 800 copies Edition Sellem Galerie S:t Petri Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art, Lund, Sweden