Research Archive

Fekner visits Fashion Moda in 1979 which leads to his installation of NO TV/READ which is simultaneously shown at P. S. 1 and Galerie S:t Petri -Archive of Experimental and Marginal Art in Lund, Sweden. In the window of Fashion Moda, Fekner creates an installation with a TV set, a stenciled logo and a statement in both English and Spanish in February 1980. Read the rest of this entry »

“As a painter, act as the eye of the community, for the community.”

“In the 70s, I made a conscious choice of changing the formal aesthetics I was taught in art school. No longer interested in working within the spatial restrictions of a white canvas, I embraced the outdoors, reducing the value of an art object to that of a shared visual experience for the general public. At the same time, the formal ‘blankness’ of a typical gallery, devoid of any distinctive character, no longer held interest for me.”

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In the summer of 1985 without a studio to work in, John Fekner turned a Sunday painter using his car as a traveling studio and setup shop at a few of his favorite locations alongside a highway in Queens and a parkway in the Bronx. Fekner said it was the best place to work outside without being disturbed; no phone calls, only the birds and the whizzing of cars and trucks. A favorite spot was under the Long Island Expressway at the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway exit where he previously spray painted Trees, Toxic, and RUA Vidiot?

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Fekner’s stencil Wheels Over Indian Trails greeted motorists and international travelers arriving in New York City at the Pulaski Bridge Queens Midtown Tunnel from 1979-1990. The message remained untouched for eleven years, until Earth Day 1990, when Mr. Fekner, feeling the piece had run its course, painted over it.

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Group Show @ PS1

That Was Then…This Is Now

June 22 – September 24 2008
Organized by P.S.1 Director Alanna Heiss

In 1983, David Wojnarowicz had seen my Toxic Junkie mural on the 2nd Street on the Loisaida of New York. He suggested working on some collaborations and we did a few in different media. David was unique, intense and extremely generous. He was a sharing and supportive artist in every aspect of the collaborative process; no matter what the final outcome might be; a painting, a painted found sculptural object, or a sound recording.

A Day With(Out) Art
Dec 1

1977-1979
Black and White+8mm 14 min. (collaboration with Fred Baca)

John Fekner began experimenting with video and audio, working with Fred Baca on Environmental Stencils 77-79, a grainy, grim, raw, b&w 8mm film/video that not only documents Fekner’s stencil projects, but is also a bleak portrait of New York City in ruins.

These 2 short conceptual videos are part of the Glitches series, made by John Fekner in 2002.

Once Upon A Time

Decay Glitches

The Charlotte Street Stencils were painted during the last week of July and the first week of August 1980. John Fekner stencils Broken Promises, Falsas Promesas, Decay, Broken Treaties, Last Hope and Save Our School on the walls and buildings of Charlotte Street in the South Bronx. The message of Fekner’s stencils focus on pointing out the deteriorating conditions and issues that have plagued the community since the 1960s. Fekner’s purpose is to call attention to inadequate housing, poor services and the deplorable social problems afflicting the neighborhood residents for the past two decades.

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