Robert Farber (1948 – 23 December 1995) was an American actor and artist.

Early life

Farber was born and grew up in

Hartsdale, New York Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City. History Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Gre ...

. He studied theater at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

where he graduated in 1970. He then completed his studies at the

London School of Dramatic Art The London School of Dramatic Art is a drama school based in South Kensington in London that offers training for those intending to pursue a professional career in acting. The School The School was initially set up by actor Jake Taylor and cas ...

and appeared in various

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

shows. In the 1980s, Farber studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

and began to exhibit his work.

Art career

Farber is best known for his artworks addressing the HIV/AID crisis. After he tested positive for HIV in 1989, Farber began to focus in earnest on the subject. One of his best known works, ''Every Ten Minutes'' is an audio recording of the bell in The Riverside Church, New York City tolling every ten minutes, representing the rate of deaths as a result of HIV/Aids. His 1992 solo exhibition at Artist's Space, ''I Thought I Had Time'', was composed of interviews with AIDS survivors and drew comparisons with the 14th century

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

. A retrospective of his work ''Robert Farber: A Retrospective'' was presented in 1997 at the Rose Art Museum and at USC, Fisher Gallery in 1998. Farber's work was included in the exhibition ''Art Aids America'' at the

Zuckerman Museum of Art Zuckermann or Zuckerman is a Yiddish or German surname meaning "sugar man". Zuckermann * Ariel Zuckermann (born 1973), Israeli conductor * Benedict Zuckermann (1818–1891), German scientist * Ghil'ad Zuckermann (born 1971), Israeli/Italian/Briti ...

in 2016.

Collections

Farber's audio work ''Every Ten Minutes'' is included in the permanent collection of the

Museum of Modern Art, New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

. His work also appears in the collection and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London.

Death

Farber died of an

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-related illness on 23 December 1995 in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farber, Robert 1948 births 1995 deaths AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) 20th-century American painters American installation artists American male actors Brandeis University alumni Art Students League of New York alumni