Robert Watts

Robert Watts, born in Iowa in 1923, is an American artist, graduated in mechanical engineering before entering the navy. In 1948, he moved to New York to obtain a degree in pre-Columbian art history, and thus become an art professor at Douglass College at Rutgers University in 1953, a position he held until in 1983. From 1960 to 1964, his artistic commitment was linked to pop-culture while experimenting with environments and happenings. Sharing the places of exhibitions with artists such: Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Tom Wesselmann, his work is supported by galleries such as Martha Jackson in 1963, Washington Art Gallery, Bianchini Galleries and Léo Castelli in New- York, in 1964. Turning his back on the shopping arcade system with his friend George Brecht, alongside artists: Alison Knowles, Ay-O, Al Hansen, Ray Johnson, John Cage and Dick Higgins, Allan Kaprow, Henri Flynt, Ernie Gehr, Geoffrey Hendricks, the artists organize themselves to propose an almost non-existent flexible form allowing them to abolish the distance which separates art from life and organizes the event the "Yam festival". Counterpoint to the FLUXUS movement by George Maciunas. Personality who will engage a large part of his work, founding with George Maciunas and Herman the Fine Implosion Inc. intended for the production in large numbers of Fluxus objects (boxes, films, books), published with the Fluxhouse Cooperative. His work is presented in numerous collections: at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, at the Art Institute of Chicago, at the Museum of Art of Philadelphia, at the Museum de San Francisco de Art moderne, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, at the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, at the de Kunsthaus Zurich at the Tate Modern in London. Selection of individual exhibitions // Selected Individual Exhibitions: 1958 Delacorte Gallery, New York. 1960 Objects, Motorized constructions. Grand Central Moderns, New York. 1962 Constructions, objects, events and games. Grand Central Moderns, New York. 1966 Three environments and objects. Bianchini Gallery, New York. Neons and objects. Ricke Gallery, Kassel, Germany. 1967 Galleria Christian Stein, Torino, Italy. 1968 Neon: Objekte, Skulpturen. Ricke Gallery, Cologne, Germany. 1970 Neon. Ricke Gallery, Cologne, Germany. 1971 Addendum to Pop. Apple Gallery, New York. 1973 Auto Series (photo murals). La Bertesca, Milan, Italy. Retrospective exhibition, Galerie Baecker, Bochum, Germany. 1974 Retrospective exhibition, Multhipla, Milan, Italy. 1975 Signatures in neon: old and new masters. Multhipla, Milan, Italy. 1976 New light on West Africa. René Block Gallery, New York. 1977 Cloud Music. (In collaboration with Bob Diamond and David Behrman) San Francisco Art Institute, California. Oraculum Studio Morra, Naples, Italy. 1988 Memorial Exhibition, Downtown Arts Building, Rutgers University, New Jersey. Screenprint editions of 1989. Krief Galerie, Paris. Flux Med: Robert Watts, Obra Grafica 1987. Joan Guaita, Estudi d'Art Contemporani, Madrid, Palma, Spain. 1990 Robert Watts, Selected Works 1960-1988. Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio. Robert Watts, The Photographic Object and Other Works. Zabriskie Gallery, Paris. A tribute to Robert Watts. Leo Castelli Gallery, New York. 1991 Watts Natural: works selected by Robert Watts, 1964-1987. Lafayette College of Art, Easton, Pennsylvania. 1996 Robert Watts: Artistamps / 1961-1986. Stamp Art Gallery, San Francisco, California. 1999 Robert Watts: The Invisible Man of Pop and Fluxus, The Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany. Bob Watts. Obalne Galerije, Piran, Slovenia. 2001 Flux Med: graphic works by Robert Watts, Bucknell Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Robert Watts: Photography in sculpture and other works. Leslie Tonkonow Works and projects, New York. 2006 Robert Watts: Art on Art. Leslie Tonkonow Works and projects, New York. Selected Group Exhibitons & Performances: 1960 New Forms, New Media II. Martha Jackson Gallery, New York. Magic Kazoo, 24 hour Happening. New York and New Jersey. 1961 Assembly. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Art In Motion. Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden. 1962 Fluxus International Festival. USA, Canada, Europe, Japan. 1962–3 Yam Festival. An International Event Series. 1963 Biennale, Museum of modern art of the city of Paris. Popular Image. Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, DC. 1963 Mixed Media and Pop Art. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. Blink Works at Sissor Bros. Warehouse, with Alison Knowles and George Brecht, Rolf Nelson Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. -------------- 1984 Blam: The Explosion of Pop. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Global Mail Art Show. Ring House Gallery, University of Alberta, Canada. 1985 Festival of Fantastics. Gallery Sct. Agnes, Roskilde, Denmark. Artists' Postage Stamps. Museum für Moderne Kunst, Weddel, Germany. 1986 As Found. Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Born in Iowa: The Homecoming Exhibition. The Gallery of Art, University of Northern Iowa Frohliche Wissenschaft. Sohm Archive, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany. 1987 Made in USA. University of California, Berkeley, California. Stamp Images. Szépm? Vészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts), Budapest, Hungary 1988 FluxLux, The Last Event of Robert Watts. (memorial events after artist's instruction), Martins Creek, Pennsylvania. Art After Silence. Walters Hall Art Gallery, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Fluxus: Selections from the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Collection. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. 1989 Fluxus: Moment and Continuum. Stux Gallery, New York. Happenings & Fluxus. Galerie 1900–2000, Galerie de Poche and Galerie du Genie, Paris. Conspicuous Display. Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey. Image World. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. ------------- 2004 The Muse, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks and Projects, New York. The Last Picture Show: Artists Using Photography, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Past Presence, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. The Fine Line (Between Something and Nothing), Leslie Tonkonow Artworks and Projects, New York. 2005 Past Presence, The Grolier Club, New York. George Brecht: Events, A Heterospective, Museum Ludwig, Cologne. 2006 Full House: Views of the Whitney's Collection at 75, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Mass Production: Artist's Multiples and the Marketplace, Emily Davis Gallery at the Myers School of Art / The University of Akron, Ohio. George Brecht: Events, A Heterospective, (Media Installation of Yam Lecture), Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona. From the Collection: Works of Light, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (MUMOK), Vienna. Fokus 03: Concept. Action. Language, (Media Installation of Yam Lecture), Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (MUMOK), Vienna. 2007 Fluxus East: Networks in Central Eastern Europe, Küntslerhaus Bethanien, Berlin. Touring to Vilnius, Krakow, Budapest, others. ParaStamp: Four Decades of Artistamps, from Fluxus to the Internet. Szépm? Vészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts), Budapest, Hungary. Copied Right, Para-Site Art Space, Hong Kong. 2008 Accidental Modernism, Leslie Tonkonow Artworks and Projects, New York. Fluxus East: Networks in Central Eastern Europe, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary.