BenjaminPatterson

Biography
Benjamin Patterson (1934 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA – 2016 Wiesbaden, Germany) was an American musician, composer, performance and visual artist, and co-founder of Fluxus. After a brief career as a double bass player with symphony orchestras in Canada, and having been rejected by American elitism, he moved to Cologne in 1960, introduced by Karlheinz Stockhausen. While distancing himself from Stockhausen’s virtuosic position and seeking a radical way of making music, Patterson met John Cage after a concert at Mary Bauermeister’s atelier, through which he also met George Maciunas, helping him organize the Festival für Neueste Musik in Wiesbaden in 1962. Works such as Paper Piece (1960) and Double-Bass Variations (1962), presented at the festival, expressed Patterson’s dissonance and anti-authoritarian approach central to Fluxus. Returning to the United States in 1963, Patterson participated in numerous Fluxus events including the acclaimed Yam Festival, organized together with George Brecht, Robert Watts, and Dick Higgins. Patterson performed and exhibited internationally in galleries and prominent venues such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid (2001), the Nassauischer Kunstverein in Wiesbaden (2012, 2016), documenta 14 (2017), the Getty Centre in Los Angeles (2021), and at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin (2022).
Artworks (33)
- Benjamin Patterson
Mine Is Bigger Than Yours, 1990 - Benjamin Patterson
1. Inhale 2. Exhale 3. Inhale, 1997 - Benjamin Patterson
Untitled, 1995 - Benjamin Patterson
Untitled - Philip Corner, Robert Delford Brown, Jean…
On This Stove Many Meals Were Cooked by Francesco…, 1997 - Benjamin Patterson
Leftovers After 10 Years of Visits to Conz, 2001 - Benjamin Patterson
Untitled, 1995 - Benjamin Patterson
Fluxus Mass, 2002 - Benjamin Patterson
Mine Is Bigger Than Yours, 1990 - Benjamin Patterson
Untitled, 1995 - Benjamin Patterson
The Volvo-Bass, 1993 - Benjamin Patterson
Peary's Claim, 2001 - Benjamin Patterson
Patterson's Guide to Verona, 1994 - Benjamin Patterson, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Benjamin Patterson
R. R. M. L. K., 1988 - Benjamin Patterson
Untitled, 1994 - Benjamin Patterson
Flying, 2001 - Benjamin Patterson
Untitled, 1995 - Benjamin Patterson
Terrible to Know That Life Is Not Perfect…, 1994 - Benjamin Patterson
Tristan and Isolde, 1993 - Benjamin Patterson
Untitled - Benjamin Patterson
Tristan and Isolde, 1993 - Benjamin Patterson
A Famous Pittsburgh Product / Other Famous…, 2006 - Benjamin Patterson
We All Washed Our Dirty Underwear Here!, 1982-1996 - Benjamin Patterson
Sorry, 1996 - Benjamin Patterson
Blessing In Memory of the 10th Century, 1995 - Benjamin Patterson
Blessing In Memory of the 10th Century, 1995 - Ay-O , Eric Andersen, Henning Christiansen,…
Fluxus Virus 1962-1992, 1992 - Benjamin Patterson
Fuck You, Papa!, 1999 - Benjamin Patterson
Mine Is Bigger Than Yours, 1990 - Benjamin Patterson
Flux Wines - Three Good Bottles to Celebrate…, 1962-2002 - Benjamin Patterson
Tristan and Isolde, 1993 - Benjamin Patterson
Take Two and Call Me in the Morning, 1996