Joseph Irwin Zucker (May 21, 1941 – May 15, 2024) was an American artist. Born in Chicago, he received a B.F.A. from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

in 1964 and an M.F.A., from the same institution in 1966. His art was quirky and idiosyncratic, and most often related to the materials, such as cotton and plastic. His ''Porthole #4'' from 1981, in the collection of the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...

, demonstrated his innovative use of unusual materials. The

, the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art is an art museum in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The museum was originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was formerly located ...

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), the

, the

Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art The Block Museum of Art is a free public art museum located on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The Block Museum was established in 1980 when Chicago art collectors Mary (daughter of Albert Lasker) and Leigh B. Block ...

(Northwestern University, Illinois), the

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (widely referred to as The Modern) is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the c ...

(Fort Worth, Texas), the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

(New York City), the

Parrish Art Museum The Parrish Art Museum is an art museum designed by Herzog & de Meuron Architects and located in Water Mill, New York, whereto it moved in 2012 from Southampton Village. The museum focuses extensively on work by artists from the artist colony o ...

(Water Mill, New York), the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

(Washington D.C.), and the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

(Minneapolis, Minnesota) are among the public collections holding work by Joe Zucker.

Personal life

Zucker, who was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, attended

Chicago Sinai Congregation Chicago Sinai Congregation is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 15 West Delaware Place, in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Founded in 1861, the current synagogue building was designed by Dirk Lohan and completed in ...

during his youth. He lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for years until he moved to

East Hampton, New York East Hampton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York United States. It is located at the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town i ...

, in the 1980s. He was a volunteer coach for the Bridgehampton School high school basketball team. Zucker was married to Britta Le Va. Zucker's health declined after a car accident in 2022. He died from multiple organ failure at his home on May 15, 2024, at the age of 82.

In media

Zucker appeared in a 2017 documentary about the Bridgehampton basketball team entitled '' Killer Bees'', produced by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

. He and Le Va featured in a 2021 episode of

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

References

* Hirschl & Adler Galleries, ''Cy Twombly - Christopher Wilmarth - Joe Zucker'', Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1986 * Kord, Catherine, ''Richard Artschwager, Chuck Close, Joe Zucker'', La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, 1976, * Yablonsky, Linda, '' Joe Zucker: Open Storage, New Paintings / Container Ships, Paul Kasmin, David Nolan Galleries'', 2006, * Zucker, Joe, ''Surfacing images: The paintings of Joe Zucker, 1969-1982'', Albright-Knox Art Academy, 1982, * Zucker, Joe, ''Joe Zucker. September 28 – October 28, 1989'', Hirschl & Adler Modern, 1989, * Zucker, Joe, ''Joe Zucker: Ravenna'', GBE (Modern) Gavlak Projects, 2003, * Zucker, Joe, ''Joe Zucker: an Exhibition'', Baltimore Museum of Art, 1976. * Zucker, Joe, ''Joe Zucker: a Decade of Paintings (1983-1994)'', Track 16 Gallery, 1995 * Zucker, Joe and Terry R. Myers Zucker, ''Joe Zucker: The Grid Paintings'', Corbett vs. Dempsey, Modern Art & Uncommon Objects, Chicago IL, 2011,

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zucker, Joe 1941 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American painters American Reform Jews Artists from Chicago Jewish American painters Artists from East Hampton (town), New York School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Deaths from multiple organ failure