RobertWatts
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Biography
The American artist Robert Watts was among the most enigmatic protagonists of Fluxus. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he moved to New York City in 1948, where he studied at the Art Students League and later at Columbia University. From 1953, for nearly three decades, he taught at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a notoriously lively hub of artistic experimentation, alongside Allan Kaprow, Geoffrey Hendricks, George Segal, and Roy Lichtenstein. From his closeness with George Maciunas, but especially from his friendship with George Brecht, Watts approached Fluxus and became one of its main initiators. With Brecht, Watts organized the Yam Festival, a legendary project that combined mail art, Fluxus, and Intermedia through a unique artistic platform and an exceptional program. By promoting the transient side of events and Happenings with their unrestricted and anti-commercial nature, Yam’s first phase involved collecting and distributing event cards by mail. For one month in 1963, performances by Alison Knowles, Ay-O, Al Hansen, Ray Johnson, Dick Higgins, La Monte Young, and Wolf Vostell were held at Rutgers University and George Segal’s farm in South Brunswick, New Jersey. Given his close friendship with Maciunas, Watts’s subsequent interventions in Fluxus publications, events, and festivals are countless. In this spirit, he produced works such as Flux Timekit (1967), A Flux Atlas (1973), and Light Flux Kit (1973). His works are notable for echoing themes and subjects from the Pop Art of Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, yet with a boldly antithetical intent. Examples are the counterfeit Dollar Bill series (1962) and the multiple sheets of imitation stamps produced between 1961 and 1964 and sold for a few pennies to facilitate public involvement and mock the government’s bureaucratic structure. With the same willingness to radically enter everyday life, Watts created objects, posters, and temporary tattoos for Implosions Inc., a company Maciunas founded together with the businessman Herman Fine in 1967 to mass produce easy-to-distribute works. Watts strongly supported the Fluxhouse Cooperatives, the extensive rehabilitation program for SoHo based on collective ownership. His works are held in collections at The Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Tate in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Artworks (105)
- Jean Dupuy, Alice Hutchins, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Milan Knížák, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Robert Watts
Art Rat No. 2, 1942, 1982 - Robert Watts, Emmett Williams
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Robert Watts
Franco in Space, 1984 - Philip Corner, Alain Gibertie, Eilen Gruber,…
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1992 - Gerhard Rühm, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - Robert Watts
Screwing Around With Zinc, 1984 - Robert Watts
Art Rat No. 2, 1942, 1982 - Ilse Garnier, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - Mieko Shiomi, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1995 - Gustav Metzger, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Robert Watts
Dsgn. Franco´s Door by Dr. Bob, 1987 - Robert Watts
Untitled , 1971 - Sergio Cena, Geoffrey Hendricks, Arrigo Lora-Totino,…
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Robert Watts, Emmett Williams
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1985 - Arthur Aeschbacher, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Ludwig Gosewitz, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Serge III Oldenbourg, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Eric Andersen, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Robert Watts
Fluxus 20th Anniversary Edition, 1984 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Serge III Oldenbourg, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1992 - Alvin Lucier, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Robert Watts
Objects for Implosions Inc. - Marshall McLuhan, 1967 - Robert Watts
Untitled - Dick Higgins, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Robert Watts
Cloud Music for Addie, 1979 - Robert Watts
Light Flux Kit, 1973 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1987 - Robert Watts
Lamb Chop Table, 1984 - Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - John Giorno, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1988 - Arrigo Lora-Totino, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Jacques Donguy, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Edith Adam, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Eric Andersen, Joseph Beuys, George Brecht,…
Hommage à Arthur Köpcke, 1979 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Maser, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - Robert Watts
Portrait "Franco in Space", 1984 - Robert Watts
Untitled - Haroldo de Campos, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Robert Lax, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Eugen Gomringer, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Raphael Montañez Ortiz, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Sergio Cena, Arrigo Lora-Totino, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Benjamin Patterson, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Geoffrey Hendricks, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Robert Watts
Objects for Implosions Inc. - Uderpants, 1967 - Robert Watts
Flux Disc, 1987 - Décio Pignatari, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Claudio Costa, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Robert Watts
American Supermarket, 1964 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Jean-François Bory, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1993 - Augusto de Campos, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Geoffrey Hendricks, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Robert Watts
Lamb Chop Table, 1984 - Roy Adzak, Anna Banana, Roberto Comini, Robert…
20 Jahre Rainer Verlag, 1986 - Robert Watts
Flux archeology with flat mouse, 1982 - Robert Watts
Portrait "Franco in Space", 1984 - Mark Brusse, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Robert Watts
Underpants. Implosions, Inc., 1967 - Coryl Crane, Allan Kaprow, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Milan Knížák, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Robert Watts
Mona Lisa Pin - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Harry Ruhé, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Décio Pignatari, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1992 - Erik Dietman, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - John Furnival, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1988 - Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - Robert Ashley, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Jacques Spacagna, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Erika Stocker, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Robert Watts
Anniversary Piano (description), 1987 - Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1986 - Dick Higgins, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1987 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Richard Kostelanetz, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1991 - Robert Watts
Anniversary Piano, 1987 - Robert Watts
Untitled, 1971 - Robert Watts
Objects for Implosions Inc. - Bathing Suit…, 1967 - Robert Watts
Doctor Bob, 1999 - Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus (Accessories), 1984 - Gerhard Rühm, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Robert Watts
Flux Med, 1987 - Henri Chopin, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5, 1984 - Knud Pedersen, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1985 - Pierre Garnier, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Fritz Schwegler, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1985 - Alison Knowles, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1989 - Jean Dupuy, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1990 - Philip Corner, Robert Watts
Fun With Fluxus, 1984, 1985