Vito Acconci (1940-2017): Italian-American artist

Vito (1940). Italian-American artist born in New York in the Bronx. Among the first exponents of that branch of Conceptual Art known as Behavioral Art, he always considered the experience of the body as fundamental to his work (performance art, photography, and sculpture). For this reason he created sculpture in the shape of garments, such as his installation at the Museo Pecci in Prato in 1991, in which six gigantic brassieres with cups made of wire netting and plastered fabric were adjusted by shoulder straps made of steel cables. In 1993 he created Shirt/Jacket of Pockets, a jacket of transparent plastic made of pockets joined together by zippers. Leaf Shirt was done in 1985: a green leaf-covered shirt as a symbol of the deep connection between nature and the human body. Shirt/Jacket of Pockets created by Vito Acconci

Acconci’s work

While it is from 1985 Leaf Shirt, a shirt covered with green leaves symbolizing the deep connection between the human body and nature. One of his latest works Lobby-for-the-Time-Being is an installation in the North Wing Lobby of the Bronx Museum of the Arts. The installation takes up the building’s lobby with white corian mesh, creating a long undulating wall resembling giant snowflakes. In 2010 he created Waterfall Out & In: a fountain created at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Again, part of the work is inside and part outside the building. In 2014 he stars in a video, produced by Marc Santo, in which he talks about some of his favorite projects that were never completed, including the Skate Park in San Juan. He passed away in 2017. Read also: Accardi, Carla Napapijri Vito Acconci festeggia i quarantanni del moma ps1