Artists Space

Terry Fox
All These Different Things Are Sculpture

March 1 – May 11, 2024

Artists Space is pleased to present Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture, an exhibition of photography, sound, video, ephemera, and acoustic elements by Conceptualist Terry Fox (1943–2008), the artist’s first solo institutional presentation in New York since 1980.

Black-and-white film photograph of a figure bent over, knees on the ground, his left hand reaches up to touch his face which looks downward. His hands and clothing are covered in a dusting of flour. In the background viewers sit on the concrete floor.
Terry Fox, Yield, University Art Museum, Berkeley, California, September 4, 1973. Photo: Larry Fox. Courtesy Marilyn Bogerd. [Black-and-white film photograph of a figure bent over, knees on the ground, his left hand reaches up to touch his face which looks downward. His hands and clothing are covered in a dusting of flour. In the background viewers sit on the concrete floor.]

“Even to enter the door is to punctuate the space.”

– Terry Fox

In the 1960s and ’70s, Terry Fox was part of an American-European avant-garde that actively sought new forms of artistic expression. Employing an actionist and process-oriented approach to art making, Fox created extreme physical and psychological performance experiences that used his own body to explore the often-invisible aspects of human existence and endurance. Extending far beyond a single medium, Fox moved effortlessly between the accidental and ephemeral while focusing on a heightened awareness of perception and the subtextual aspects of social life.

All These Different Things Are Sculpture comprises Fox’s videos and sound works as well as performance documentation primarily from the late ’60s to the early ’90s, with glimpses of later works appearing throughout, to collectively highlight the artist’s subversive understanding of attunement to both one’s interior state and external surroundings. Moving geographically from San Francisco to New York, two key sites for Fox’s experimental activities before his relocation to Europe in 1980, the exhibition begins in the late 1960s with Fox’s involvement in the Bay Area Conceptualist movement, his association with the artist-run space the Museum of Conceptual Art (MOCA) in San Francisco, and his relationships with figures such as Tom Marioni, Bonnie Sherk, and others.

Fox’s arsenal of materials included everything from fermented flour, yeast, and water—the ingredients used to make bread—to dead fish to nature’s four elements (earth, air, water, and fire) to his own breath. With this rich panoply of unconventional mediums, he highlighted the transitory nature of existence while extending the boundaries of body art. He carried over this approach to his sound art, understanding sonic and physical space as inherently sculptural materials. All These Different Things Are Sculpture will prominently feature audio, video, and recordings of solo performances and collaborations that capture Fox’s acoustic use of everyday elements to foreground the vibrations emitted by purring cats, traffic on Canal Street in New York’s Chinatown, metal doors and rosined piano wires, and foghorns.

Living with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (a form of cancer affecting the lymphatic system) led Fox to address the physical and emotional cycles of illness and wellness in works like Levitation (1970), where the artist fasted and then lay for six hours atop a square of dirt surrounded by elemental fluids in order to be able to rise into the air—a metaphor for transfiguration. Fox called the actions in Levitation his “strongest piece of sculpture because the whole room was energized,” a key example of his attempts to expand the limits of gesture and the body and the possibilities of sculpture.

In 1972, after undergoing major surgery, Fox began making art inspired by the Chartres labyrinth in France, an intricate pattern on the pavement of the cathedral floor that represents life’s journey as a winding path of 552 steps. Among the resulting works was Yield (1973), a set of continuous trancelike actions that took place over three days in an elaborate built environment. While viewers watched from a balcony, Fox ritualistically performed such activities as creating skeletal outlines on the floor in flour, blowing smoke, and baking bread.

A color image of the corner of a gallery space. On the left wall there is a line of nine polaroid photographs, evenly spaced and hung about five feet from the light wooden floor. The right wall features a frame from a video being played from a projector. The black and white film frame shows the interior of an industrial space, the exposed ceiling rafters and brick wall.
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak. [A color image of the corner of a gallery space. On the left wall there is a line of nine polaroid photographs, evenly spaced and hung about five feet from the light wooden floor. The right wall features a frame from a video being played from a projector. The black and white film frame shows the interior of an industrial space, the exposed ceiling rafters and brick wall.]
A color image of the corner of a gallery space. A row of four small speakers, evenly spaced and held on small wooden shelves, span the left wall. On the right wall, a collection of six framed black and white photographs are arranged in a grid. Each frame is black, with three on the top and three on the bottom.
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak [A color image of the corner of a gallery space. A row of four small speakers, evenly spaced and held on small wooden shelves, span the left wall. On the right wall, a collection of six framed black and white photographs are arranged in a grid. Each frame is black, with three on the top and three on the bottom.]
A color image of the white wall of the gallery space. In the center, a projected image of two hands tying rope around the body of a fish. The black and white projected image is flanked by two sets of six black and white framed photographs. Each frame is black, with three on the top and three on the bottom.
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak. [A color image of the white wall of the gallery space. In the center, a projected image of two hands tying rope around the body of a fish. The black and white projected image is flanked by two sets of six black and white framed photographs. Each frame is black, with three on the top and three on the bottom.]
A color image of the corner of a gallery space. On the left white wall, a collection of six framed black and white photographs are arranged in a grid. Each frame is black, with three on the top and three on the bottom. On the right wall are four paper-based items hung in a row. The right-most item is an enlarged map, next to it are three smaller pieces of paper with handwritten notes and drawings.
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak. [A color image of the corner of a gallery space. On the left white wall, a collection of six framed black and white photographs are arranged in a grid. Each frame is black, with three on the top and three on the bottom. On the right wall are four paper-based items hung in a row. The right-most item is an enlarged map, next to it are three smaller pieces of paper with handwritten notes and drawings.]
A color image of a freestanding white wall that emerges from the left side of the frame into the gallery space. On the wall, there is a row of six items including two handwritten documents, a drawing, a map, a mounted TV screen displaying a black and white image of a cloth and a small white shelf that holds a plexi box. In the background, a black and white projected image of a fork and spoon is visible on a back wall.
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak. [A color image of a freestanding white wall that emerges from the left side of the frame into the gallery space. On the wall, there is a row of six items including two handwritten documents, a drawing, a map, a mounted TV screen displaying a black and white image of a cloth and a small white shelf that holds a plexi box. In the background, a black and white projected image of a fork and spoon is visible on a back wall.]
A color image of a free-standing white wall that emerges from the right side of the frame into the gallery space. On the wall, there are three small TV screens, each with a set of black headphones hung on a hook below the screen. The screens on the left and in the middle display color images while the screen on the right displays a black and white image of a man prostrate on the floor. In the background, a black and white image of liquid being poured from a bottle into a bowl is projected onto a white wall. To the right of the projection, three black frames containing black and white photographs are hung above a floating vitrine.
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak. [A color image of a free-standing white wall that emerges from the right side of the frame into the gallery space. On the wall, there are three small TV screens, each with a set of black headphones hung on a hook below the screen. The screens on the left and in the middle display color images while the screen on the right displays a black and white image of a man prostrate on the floor. In the background, a black and white image of liquid being poured from a bottle into a bowl is projected onto a white wall. To the right of the projection, three black frames containing black and white photographs are hung above a floating vitrine.]
A color image of a gallery space. A freestanding white wall runs perpendicular into an existing white wall. On the right side, projected onto the existing wall, is a black and white image of a spoon resting next to a bowl of water. To the left of the projected image is a single black frame containing a black and white photograph, hung above a small floating vitrine. Installed in a single row on the freestanding wall, is a series of seven black and white photographs housed in black frames. Behind the freestanding walls, a sliver of window that faces the street outside is visible. Contained within the four transom windows are black and white enlargements of a white man smoking and blowing smoke rings.
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak [A color image of a gallery space. A freestanding white wall runs perpendicular into an existing white wall. On the right side, projected onto the existing wall, is a black and white image of a spoon resting next to a bowl of water. To the left of the projected image is a single black frame containing a black and white photograph, hung above a small floating vitrine. Installed in a single row on the freestanding wall, is a series of seven black and white photographs housed in black frames. Behind the freestanding walls, a sliver of window that faces the street outside is visible. Contained within the four transom windows are black and white enlargements of a white man smoking and blowing smoke rings.]
A color image that depicts a bird
Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture. Installation view, Artists Space, 2024. Photo: Filip Wolak. [A color image that depicts a bird's eye view of a vitrine. Held within the vitrine is a photobook open to a two-page spread of black and white photographs. The left image is of a man on his knees in a white shirt and black pants with long, dark hair, leaning backwards. The right page is of the same man kneeling in front of a small, low-lying stool. The top of the stool is covered in a white, powdery substance and the man appears to be blowing into a long instrument onto the substance. To the right of the table is a spool of wire. In his free hand, the man holds a string of wire. Below the open photobook is another black and white photograph of the man with dark hair holding his head back and to the left of that image is a two page magazine spread, open to an article titled "A Discussion with Terry Fox, Vito Acconci, and Dennis Oppenhiem."]

Terry Fox (1943–2008) was a groundbreaking Conceptual artist who worked across performance, video, body art, and sound. Born in Seattle in 1943, Fox assumed a visionary role in contemporary art in the 1960s and ’70s, working primarily in San Francisco and New York before moving to Europe. Fox’s performances and installations used his body to test human mental and physical capacities. His earliest performative works, often described by the artist as “situations,” thematically addressed everyday phenomena and life in public space. His seminal Labyrinth series (1972–80), a combination of environments, sculptures, performances, and drawings, is based on the configuration of the stone labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral in France. The labyrinth served as a metaphor for sickness and health, issues that the artist addressed variously in his work. Fox appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including Documenta 5 (1972), the Whitney Biennial (1975), the Venice Biennale (1984), Greater New York (2016), and the touring retrospective Elemental Gestures, curated by Arnold Dreyblatt (2015–17).

Terry Fox Exhibition Statement
Terry Fox Exhibition Brochure

Meehan, Ryan. “Terry Fox: All These Different Things Are Sculpture.” The Wire. June 2024. Online and Print.

Support for Artists Space’s exhibitions and programs is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, I.A. O'Shaughnessy Foundation, The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, and the Herman Goldman Foundation.

For much help and guidance on this project, we thank:

Becky Alexander (SFAI Legacy Archive), Burt Arnowitz, Judith Barry, Liza Béar, Dena Beard, Marilyn Bogerd, Kathan Brown (Crown Point Press), Daisy Charles (Paula Cooper Gallery), Christophe Cherix (The Museum of Modern Art), Rebecca Cleman (Electronic Arts Intermix), Shamus Clisset, Emily Cushman (The Museum of Modern Art), Arnold Dreyblatt, Barbara Engelbach (Museum Ludwig), Margaret Fisher, Howard Fried, Jooyoung Friedman-Buchanan (Electronic Arts Intermix), Paul Grippaldi, Jeff Gunderson (SFAI Legacy Archive), Jay Hamda, Beth Kleber (SVA), Marissa Klein (The Museum of Modern Art), Paul Kos, Jackson Kovalchik, Stefan Kraus (Kolumba Museum), Tony Labat, Tim Lake (Bay Area Video Coalition), Thomas Laprade (Montez Press Radio), Barbara London, Marita Loosen-Fox, Richard Lowenberg, Fred Maas, Tom Marioni, Karl McCool (Electronic Arts Intermix), Barbara Moore, Carol Parkinson (Harvestworks), Hermann Plum, Renny Pritikin, David Ross, Jason Sanders (UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive), Jon Shibata (UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive), Ian Sullivan (Bard CCS), Victoria Sung (UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive), Matthew Villar Miranda (UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive), Elisabeth Thomas (The Museum of Modern Art), Gwenn Thomas, Moriah Ulinskas, Barbara von Flüe (Kolumba Museum), Diya Vij (Creative Time), Manon Wada, Tashi Wada, Valerie Wade (Crown Point Press), Albert Weaver (Paula Cooper Gallery), Nina Wise

    Black-and-white film photograph of a mound of flour on a concrete floor. A figure's hands are shown along the right and top side of the composition. The figure's right hand is poised above the center of the flour mound, pouring yeast into it from a small packet.
    Terry Fox, Yield, University Art Museum, Berkeley, California, September 4, 1973. Photo: Larry Fox. Courtesy Marilyn Bogerd. [Black-and-white film photograph of a mound of flour on a concrete floor. A figure's hands are shown along the right and top side of the composition. The figure's right hand is poised above the center of the flour mound, pouring yeast into it from a small packet.]