Geoffrey Hendricks (July 30, 1931 in Littleton, New Hampshire – May 12, 2018) was an American artist associated with

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

since the mid 1960s. He was professor emeritus of art at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

, where he taught from 1956 to 2003 and was associated with

Allan Kaprow Allan Kaprow (August 23, 1927 – April 5, 2006) was an American painter, assemblagist and a pioneer in establishing the concepts of performance art. He helped to develop the "Environment" and "Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well a ...

, Roy Lichtenstein, and Lucas Samaras during the 1960s. In 2002, he edited ''Critical Mass: Happenings, Fluxus, Performance, Intermedia and Rutgers University, 1958–1972'', a book that documents the seminal creative activity and experimental work of faculty members such as Bob Watts,

, George Brecht, Hendricks, and others. He had participated in Fluxus festivals worldwide and exhibited internationally. He was renowned by students he mentored over his 48 years of teaching, and for his skill in preparing macrobiotic meals. He maintained studios and residences in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and a farm in Colindale,

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

, along with his partner and sometimes collaborator Sur Rodney (Sur). Hendricks styled himself a "cloudsmith" for his extensive work depicting

skies The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astrono ...

in paintings, on objects, in installations, and in performances. In 2006, he had solo exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Windsor in Ontario; the Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge ...

; Galerie Esplanade,

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haide ...

, Austria; the Egon Schiele Art Centrum,

Český Krumlov Český Krumlov (; german: Krumau, , or ''Böhmisch Krumau'') is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The historic centre with the Český Krumlov Castle complex is protected by law as an urban monument reservation, and s ...

, Czech Republic; and taught "Artist as Nomad" at the International Summer Academy, in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, Austria. Prior to his death in May 2018, he performed "Headstands for Peace", an event organized by Julie Evanoff in

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

. Hendricks was married from 1961 to 1971 to artist Bici Forbes (Nye Ffarrabas). Later, his partner was artist Sur Rodney (Sur).

Selected bibliography

*Hendricks, Geoffrey. ''Ring Piece: The journal of a twelve hour silent meditation''. Something Else Press, 1973. *Hendricks. ''Sheep's Skeleton & Rocks.'
Unpublished Editions
1977. *Hendricks, ed. ''Critical Mass: Happenings, Fluxus, Performance, Intermedia, and Rutgers University, 1958–1972''. Rutgers University Press, 2002.

Selected bibliography

References

External links