Alan Scarritt
Alan Bell Scarritt | |
|---|---|
Alan Scarritt in 2011 | |
| Born | November 14, 1945 |
| Died | July 1, 2023 (aged 77)[1] |
| Known for | video installation, sculpture, works on paper, sound art |
| Movement | Conceptual art |
| Parents |
|
| Awards | Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant California Arts Council Grant New York State Council on the Arts Grant National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship |
| Website | alanbscarritt |
Alan Scarritt (1945–2023) was an artist active in California in the late 20th century. He is best known for his conceptual art projects, mixed-media works on paper, video installation, and sound art.
Early life and education
Scarritt was born in Oak Park, Illinois to Ralph Scarritt Jr. and Natalie Bell Scarritt. He attended Brown University where he received a bachelor's degree in 1967, and went on to attend the California College of the Arts, where he received an MFA degree in 1972. He later took post-graduate courses at the Rhode Island School of Design.[1][2]
Work
Scaritt co-founded a studio called Site (later known as Site, Cite, Sight, Inc.) in San Francisco, along with artists Marilyn Bogerd and Mike Roddy.[3][4] Site was "a non-profit space for artists in San Francisco".[5]
In 1979, Scarritt was a featured artist in Space/Time/Sound: Conceptual Art in the Bay Area, the 1970s, an exhibition curated by Suzanne Foley at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[6][7]
In 1981, Scarritt had a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art, Seven from Three (For Go). A multi-media installation, it repurposed video that Scarritt had contributed to Send/Receive, a project organized by Liza Bear and Keith Sonnier from September 10–11, 1977, where "communications between artists in verbal, visual, dance, musical forms took place for 15 hours via NASA satellite."[8][9][10][11][12] In the later part of the 1980s, he began to focus on sculpture and photography, moving away from the audio-visual work he produced throughout the 1970s. [13]
Death
Scarritt died on July 1, 2023.[1]
Collections
- Museum of Modern Art[14]
- Davis Museum at Wellesley College[15]
References
- ^ a b c "Alan Scarritt Obituary". Scarritt Studios. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
- ^ "Biography". Scarritt Studios. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
- ^ Grace, Sharon & Cohn, Terri. In Conversation: Sharon Grace with Terri Cohn. SF Aqueous Festival. June 2014. Retrieved from https://www.sfaq.us/2014/06/in-conversation-sharon-grace-with-terri-cohn/
- ^ San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Receipt of Delivery 4. Open Space: SFMOMA Blog. July 2012. Retrieved from https://openspace.sfmoma.org/2012/07/receipt-of-delivery4/
- ^ Myers, Julian, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, and California College of the Arts Curatorial Practice Program. 2011. Give Them the Picture : An Anthology of La Mamelle and ART COM, 1975-1984. Edited by Liz Glass and Susannah Magers. San Francisco, CA: California College of the Arts.
- ^ Ouzounian, Gascia. , 2008. "Sound Art and Spatial Practices: Situating Sound Installation Art since 1958." Order No. 3291983, University of California, San Diego.
- ^ Atkins, Robert. "SF Moma: Space Time Sound—The Seventies." Live 5, no. 3 (1980): 24-26. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/655516.
- ^ Tacata, Ryan David. "La Mamelle: Early Bay Area Conceptual Performance Art and the Alternative Art Archive." Order No. 28119845 Stanford University, 2015. United States -- California: ProQuest. Web. 9 Jan. 2026.
- ^ London, Barbara. 1985. “Video: A Selected Chronology, 1963-1983.” Art Journal 45 (3): 249–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.1985.10792306.
- ^ Send/Receive: Liza Bear and Willoughby Sharp After A/V. Rhizome. November 29, 2012. Retrieved from https://rhizome.org/editorial/2012/nov/29/sendreceive-liza-bear-and-willoughby-sharp-after-a//
- ^ Alan Scarritt Audio-Visual Installation at MoMA. Museum of Modern Art Press Archive. Retrieved from https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/5915/releases/MOMA_1981_0046_47.pdf
- ^ Loeffler, Carl E., and Darlene Tong. 1989. Performance Anthology : Source Book of California Performance Art. Updated ed. San Francisco: Last Gasp Press : Contemporary Arts Press.
- ^ Artforum International; Los Angeles Vol. 29, Iss. 7, (Mar 1, 1991): 130-131.
- ^ "Alan Scarritt". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
- ^ "Alan Scarritt". Davis Museum. Retrieved 29 January 2026.