Source: Blouin Art info
The performance artist and designer Vito Acconci has passed away. yesterday.
He was 77 years old.
Details of are still emerging, but it is believed that the cause of his death was a stroke. The news was first broken on Instagram by writer, curator, and collector, Kenny Schachter, a friend of the artist who has shown his work.
Acconci was born January 24, 1940, in Bronx, New York. He first came to prominence in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s as part of the underground art scene in lower Manhattan. He is perhaps best known for his provocative performance work from this period, such as his infamous 1971 piece, “Seedbed,” in which he laid under a concealed wooden stage at Sonnebend Gallery and masturbated while uttering sexual fantasies about the visitors walking above him.
The artist continued to work steadily up until his death. Last year, a survey of his influential works from the 1970s, titled “VITO ACCONCI: WHERE WE ARE NOW (WHO ARE WE ANYWAY?),” was shown at MoMA PS1.
for publications on Acconci see www.ftn-books.com
