Art News. Vasari Codex

candle obituary schedule Jun 11, 2025 visibility 23 link 10 artists, 1 gallery

gunther uecker zero artist dead

Günther Uecker, the German postwar artist known for hammering nails into canvases to create abstract works, died at age 95. His death was announced by his New York gallery, Lévy Gorvy Dayan, after he had been hospitalized in Düsseldorf. Uecker was a core member of the avant-garde ZERO group, founded in 1957 by Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, and his nail-based abstractions—applied to surfaces from canvases to lightboxes and TV sets—defined his practice from the 1950s onward. He participated in major exhibitions including Documenta and MoMA's 1965 "The Responsive Eye," and continued working daily in his Düsseldorf studio into his 90s.

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candle obituary schedule Nov 5, 2025 visibility 20 link 6 artists, 4 galleries

raquelin mendieta ana mendieta estate administrator dead

Raquelín Mendieta, the longtime administrator of the estate of her sister, artist Ana Mendieta, died on October 24 in Miami at age 79 due to a long illness. Raquelín took charge of Ana's legacy after the artist's death in 1985, organizing a retrospective at the New Museum in 1987 and partnering with Galerie Lelong in 1991 to establish a market for Ana's work. Under her stewardship, Ana's art was acquired by major museums like the Whitney Museum and included in over 600 group shows and 55 solo exhibitions, including 16 museum retrospectives.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 25 link 2 artists, 1 gallery

Katherine El-Salahi, anti-apartheid activist, anthropologist and publisher, 1945–2026

Katherine El-Salahi, an anti-apartheid activist, anthropologist, and publisher, has died at age 81. Born Katherine Levine, she studied at Cambridge and SOAS before joining the clandestine group London Recruits in 1970, carrying out leaflet bomb propaganda and running guns into South Africa. She later became instrumental in the career of her husband, Sudanese painter Ibrahim El-Salahi, organizing his landmark 2013 retrospective at Tate Modern, building his archive, and securing gallery representation with Vigo Gallery.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 22, 2026 visibility 26 link 21 artists, 4 galleries

Remembering Desmond Morris, James Hayward, and Flo Oy Wong

This week's obituaries mark the passing of several significant figures in the visual arts. They include British surrealist painter and zoologist Desmond Morris, known for his 'biomorph' paintings and experiments with chimpanzee art; West Coast monochrome abstractionist James Hayward, who developed a cult following for his thickly painted canvases; and Chinese American artist Flo Oy Wong, a foundational storyteller of Oakland's Chinatown and the Asian American experience. Also remembered are assemblage artist Aldwyth, Ethiopian painter and educator Behailu Bezabih, Anglo-Irish conservator and designer Alec Cobbe, Bangladeshi art director Tarun Ghosh, and New Mexico painter Michael Hurd.

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candle obituary schedule Jun 12, 2025 visibility 23 link 10 artists, 1 gallery

gunther uecker german artist died

German artist Günther Uecker, renowned for his spiritual approach to art and innovative use of nails as a sculptural material, died on Tuesday at age 95 in a Düsseldorf hospital. His family confirmed the death to German news agency dpa, though no cause was given. Uecker was a key member of the Zero Group, which sought to reset art to a "zero base," and his work ranged from nail-covered surfaces to pianos, chairs, and television sets. He also designed a prayer room for Berlin's Reichstag and participated in major exhibitions including Documenta 4 and the Venice Biennale.

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candle obituary schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 10 link 7 artists, 2 galleries

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Author of Uncategorizable Abstractions, Dies at 84

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, an activist, educator, and artist known for her monumental lampblack paintings that expanded the possibilities of abstraction, died on May 10 in Mérida, Mexico, at age 84. Despite a six-decade career, she was long considered an "artist's artist" before gaining international acclaim in recent years, with major exhibitions at Mnuchin Gallery, Marianne Boesky Gallery, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and inclusion in the 2024 Whitney Biennial and the 2025 group show "Paris Noir" at the Centre Pompidou.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 31 link 17 artists, 1 gallery

Remembering Raghu Rai, Jack Thornell, and Jarvis Rockwell

Hyperallergic's weekly 'In Memoriam' column honors eight recently deceased figures from the art world, including Indian photojournalist Raghu Rai (1942–2026), Argentine abstract painter Ides Kihlen (1917–2026), Israeli painter and activist Yair Garbuz (1945–2026), British photographer Mark Gerson (1921–2026), Japanese art collector Kurt Gitter (1937–2026), Danish antiquities dealer Ittai Gradel (1965–2026), indigo textile artist Leigh Magar (1968–2026), and Kenyan muralist Patrick Mukabi (1967–2026). Each entry summarizes their life, career highlights, and contributions to visual art and photography.

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candle obituary schedule May 15, 2025 visibility 20 link 10 artists

koyo kouoh remembered

Koyo Kouoh, the acclaimed Cameroonian-born curator and director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town, has died at age 57 after a battle with cancer. Tributes pour in from artists Robin Rhode and Julie Mehretu, curator Azu Nwagbogu, and colleagues like Mandla Sibeko, who mourn the loss of a towering figure in African and global contemporary art. Kouoh was also set to serve as artistic director of the 2026 Venice Biennale, making her the first African woman to hold that role.

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candle obituary schedule May 14, 2025 visibility 12 link 9 artists

yasunao tone fluxus dead

Yasunao Tone, a composer, theorist, and artist associated with the Fluxus movement, has died at age 90. Artists Space, which hosted his first US retrospective in 2023, announced his passing due to age-related complications. Tone was known for experimental music that used unorthodox methods such as altering instruments with ice, scratching CDs to create white noise, and producing graphic scores that resembled abstract artworks. He co-founded Group Ongaku in 1961, collaborated with key figures like Nam June Paik, George Maciunas, and Yoko Ono, and later explored digital corruption of audio files and AI. His work influenced experimental music and sound art, with a 2023 profile in AnOther Magazine stating he "changed music forever."

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candle obituary schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 12 link 13 artists, 1 gallery

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Painter and Civil Rights Luminary, Dies at 84

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, a painter, educator, and Civil Rights activist, died on May 10 at age 84 in Mérida, Mexico. Known for her monumental canvases and inventive “lampblack” works, she moved fluidly between abstraction and figuration, using layers of black pigment to assert Blackness and presence. Her career included studies at Howard University and Columbia University, activism with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and connections to the Black Arts Movement.

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candle obituary schedule May 11, 2026 visibility 17 link 16 artists, 1 gallery

Bruno Bischofberger, gallerist to Warhol and Basquiat, 1940–2026

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss gallerist who founded his eponymous gallery in 1963, has died at age 86. He was best known for his decades-long relationship with Andy Warhol, securing right of first refusal on all of Warhol's new works after purchasing eleven early paintings in 1968. Bischofberger also represented Jean-Michel Basquiat internationally from 1982 and gave solo exhibitions to a generation of major artists including Julian Schnabel, David Salle, George Condo, and Francesco Clemente. In 2013, his gallery relocated to a former factory in Männedorf, Switzerland, redeveloped by his daughter and son-in-law.

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candle obituary schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 17 link 10 artists

napoleon jones henderson africobra artist dead

Napoleon Jones-Henderson, a key member of the AfriCOBRA collective known for creating art during the Black Power era, died in Boston on December 6 at age 82 after battling cancer. Jones-Henderson was part of the Chicago-based group founded in 1968 by artists including Jeff Donaldson, Wadsworth Jarrell, and Barbara Jones-Hogu, which synthesized African styles with Black American expressions. Despite the group's historical significance, their work was largely overlooked by major museums until recent years, with Jones-Henderson receiving his first major survey at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston in 2022.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 30, 2026 visibility 25 link 14 artists, 1 gallery

Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026), A Black Radical Imagination

The article is a personal tribute by curator Erin Christovale to the late artist Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026), chronicling their decade-long friendship and collaboration. Christovale recounts how she first encountered Jenkins's video work at the William Grant Still Arts Center in Los Angeles, and how a conversation with Otolith Group's Kodwo Eshun led to her curating Jenkins's work. She describes key moments including Jenkins's video "Planet X" (2006) about Hurricane Katrina, his 1979 work "Two-Zone Transfer" featuring Kerry James Marshall in blackface masks, and the 2021 retrospective "Ulysses Jenkins: Without Your Interpretation" co-curated with Meg Onli at the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, which later traveled to the Hammer Museum and Julia Stoschek Foundation.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 24, 2026 visibility 29 link 9 artists, 3 galleries

Remembering James Hayward, LA’s Adored Cowboy Painter

Abstract painter James Hayward, known for his monochromatic oil and wax impasto works, died last week at age 82. A legendary figure in the LA art scene, Hayward was equally celebrated for his magnetic personality, ribald humor, and storytelling. He rose to prominence in 1977 when included in the group show "Less is More" at Sidney Janis Gallery in New York, and was admired by art-world giants such as Dave Hickey, Chris Burden, Nancy Rubins, Ed Moses, and Mike Kelley. Hayward also taught at colleges across the country, including a guest seminar at the University of Southern California, and was a longtime supporter of the LA contemporary art magazine Artillery.

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candle obituary schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 22 link 2 artists

È morto Paolo Masi. La lunga ricerca dell’artista fiorentino sulla trasformazione dei materiali poveri

Paolo Masi, the Florentine artist known for his lifelong exploration of poor materials and their transformation, died in Florence on Wednesday, May 6, just days before his 93rd birthday. His career spanned from informal experiments in the 1950s through a rigorous investigation of materials in the 1960s, including his first solo show at the Strozzina in 1960. He joined the aesthetic research group Centro F/Uno alongside Baldi, Lecci, and Nannucci, and later co-founded the collective spaces Zona (1974) and Base (1998) with Mario Mariotti and Maurizio Nannucci. Masi participated in the Venice Biennale (1978) and the Rome Quadriennale (1986), and his works are held by major museums and foundations internationally. His later years saw significant retrospectives at the Museo MAGA in Gallarate (2018) and at Le Murate in Florence (2018), as well as a 2023 solo show at Florence's Galleria Frittelli, which remembered him as an extraordinary artist and dear friend.

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candle obituary schedule Jan 5, 2026 visibility 16 link 10 artists

Remembering Erik Bulatov, the Soviet artist who reframed propaganda

Erik Bulatov, the Soviet-born artist known for overlaying Communist Party slogans onto luminous landscapes, died in Paris on 9 November. A key figure in the underground art movement of the 1970s and 80s, he was part of the Sretensky Group alongside Ilya Kabakov and others, navigating state censorship by illustrating children's books. His most famous work, *Glory to the CPSU* (1975), sold for $2.1m in 2008, and in 2025 he was ranked the most expensive living Russian artist by The Art Newspaper Russia.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 23, 2025 visibility 16 link 6 artists, 3 galleries

Guy Ullens, collector and patron of Chinese contemporary art, has died, aged 90

Baron Guy Ullens de Schooten, the Belgian art collector and philanthropist who co-founded Beijing's Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in 2007 with his wife Myriam, died on 19 April at age 90. Ullens began collecting Chinese contemporary art in the 1980s and 1990s, amassing a renowned collection of around 1,500 works by artists including Huang Yong Ping, Qiu Zhijie, and Cao Fei. UCCA opened in Beijing's 798 art district with an exhibition on the 1985 New Wave movement, becoming one of China's earliest private institutions and a major force in defining the country's contemporary art scene. In 2017, the Ullenses transferred UCCA to a group of Chinese patrons, and it has since expanded to multiple locations.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 23, 2026 visibility 16 link 7 artists

Remembering Napoleon Jones-Henderson, an AfriCOBRA Founding Member Who Imbued Art and Life with Exuberant Energy

Napoleon Jones-Henderson, a founding member of the influential African American artist collective AfriCOBRA, has died. Born in Chicago in 1943, he studied at the Sorbonne and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was mentored by Bauhaus textile artist Else Regensteiner. In 1969, he co-founded AfriCOBRA, becoming known as "the weaver" of the group for his vibrant textile works that incorporated metallic threads and found objects. He later moved to Boston, taught at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and maintained a prolific studio practice in Roxbury for over 50 years, creating works focused on empowerment, Pan-Africanism, and racial justice.

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candle obituary schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 18 link 1 artist

Stephanie Chernikowski, 84, Dies; Photographed the ‘Rough Magic’ of Punk

Stephanie Chernikowski, a photographer who documented the raw energy of New York City's punk scene in the 1970s, has died at age 84. She captured iconic images of bands like the Ramones, Blondie, and the Patti Smith Group performing at legendary clubs such as CBGB, preserving the "rough magic" of that era.

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candle obituary schedule May 14, 2026 visibility 9 link 2 artists

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, painter and activist, 1942–2026

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, the American painter, professor, and civil rights activist, has died at age 84. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, she was a co-founder of the Non-Violent Action Group while a student at Howard University, later earning an MFA from Columbia University. Known for monumental abstract works on soot-black surfaces, she developed her signature technique through the Lampblack series (1960s–70s) and continued evolving her practice through series such as Whales Fucking (1970s–80s) and Panthers In My Father’s Palace (1980s–90s). In 1985, she became the first African American woman to receive tenure in the Department of Art Practice at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught for nearly three decades and served as chair from 1999 until her retirement in 2006.

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