Tony Feher (March 2, 1956June 24, 2016) was an American sculptor. He was born in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, and was raised in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, in 1978. He began exhibiting fine art in 1980 and had his first solo show at Wooster Gardens in 1994, and shortly thereafter was reviewed favorably by

Roberta Smith Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position at the Times. Education and early life Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawre ...

in a short article titled "Three Artists Who Favor Chaos:" "Tony Feher's chaos is actually rather well-organized and instinctively archival and devotional." Since then, notable solo exhibitions of his work have taken place at Diverseworks in Houston; Sikkema Jenkins & Co.,

Pace Gallery The Pace Gallery is a contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide. It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960. His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO. Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong Kong, ...

, and D’Amelio Terras in New York; ACME in Los Angeles; Anthony Meier Fine Arts in San Francisco; and The Suburban in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

Work

Feher's sculptural installations—part hobo altar, part curio cabinet, part TSA contraband table—often belie a nuanced understanding of the emotional power of the quotidian object, while displaying, at times, a quality of manic ranging. His signature material, the brightly colored plastic beverage container, found its way into

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

compositions as well as exuberant displays of three dimensional

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

. His pieces offer quiet encounters, suggesting the ways an individual might invest discarded bits of flotsam—vacant consumer packaging, toys and novelties—with deep personal meaning. Feher's work was said to be refreshingly direct and permissive; he wasn't overly concerned with its representational character or intellectual ambition. Critic

Wayne Koestenbaum Wayne Koestenbaum (born 1958) is an American artist, poet, and cultural critic. He received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature in 2020. He has published over 20 books to date. Koestenbaum works as a Distinguished Profess ...

stated that ...."He collects and arranges his colorful foundlings with custodial precision—a kinky rigor that restores the dignity of those who overly cathect to household flotsam. Feher’s patterns reassure; he seems a model-maker, constructing maquettes of villages and bundled communities that imagine utopia by seceding from usefulness into gridded whimsy." Silvia Bottinelli, writing in Sculpture Magazine, noted that Feher's ambition differs markedly from other contemporary artists (such as Haim Steinbach) who have made the commonplace object their own: "Feher’s interpretation of the readymade is not strictly Duchampian, though. His work is not about decontextualizing manufactured objects to question ideas of craftsmanship and originality in art. Before landing in a gallery or museum, the elements of his sculptures are part of his daily environment."

Personal life and death

As a young child, Feher exhibited a curiosity towards tinkering with and transforming everyday objects. Feher's father was a Navy Commander and the family moved frequently throughout his childhood. After receiving his BFA in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, Feher worked a variety of odd jobs, including store clerk and architect's assistant. He subsequently moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

where, in the 1980s, he contracted

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 ...

. His work was occasionally associated with the ephemeral and fleeting nature of life as an HIV-positive man. Feher died on June 24, 2016, from liver cancer complications. He was 60.

Solo exhibitions

;2014 :Tony Feher: Super Special Happy Group, Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, TX :Tony Feher, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT :Tony Feher, The Lumber Room, Portland, OR :Tony Feher, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH :Tony Feher: Two Works, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA ;2013 :Tony Feher: Free Fall, DiverseWorks, Houston, TX :Encore, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY :Tony Feher, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA :Free Fall, Diverse Works, Houston, TX ;2012 :Tony Feher – A Work in Four Parts, Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, TX :Tony Feher, Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA :Tony Feher, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA :Tony Feher: Extraordinary Ordinary, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS :ArtPace, San Antonio, TX :Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA ;2011 :Next On Line, Pace Gallery, New York, NY ;2010 :Arthouse at the Jones Center, Austin, TX :Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin, TX ;2009 :Blossom, D’Amelio Terras, New York, NY :Wall Show, D’Amelio Terras, New York, NY ;2008 :Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA :Re:Place, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA :Pace Wildenstein, New York, NY :D’Amelio Terras, New York, NY ;2007 :Some Time Soon, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX :A Single Act of Carelessness... Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN :ACME, Los Angeles, CA ;2006 :The Suburban, Oak Park, IL ;2005 :Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA :The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX ;2004 :The Wart on the Bosom of Mother Nature, D’Amelio Terras, New York, NY :Transport to Summer, Foundación La Caixa, Lleida, Spain

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feher, Tony 1956 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors Sculptors from New York (state) Sculptors from New Mexico Sculptors from Texas Artists from Albuquerque, New Mexico Artists from Corpus Christi, Texas 21st-century American sculptors 21st-century American male artists University of Texas at Austin alumni Deaths from liver cancer in New York (state)