Jef Bourgeau

Jef Bourgeau is an American photographer, painter and conceptual artist who has become notorious through his sculptures, photography and curatorial work. The most famous and ground-breaking of Bourgeau's work plays on the relationship between iconic imagery and irreverent materials, together forming a new context often drawing upon current controversies and, perhaps, the willfully provocative.

Most notable to date are his censored works 'Nigger Toe' and 'Bathtub Jesus', as well as several seminal exhibitions in which he both curated and participated: 'Fear No Art' which was raided by police and brought Bourgeau to trial on obscenity charges, 'Van Gogh's Ear' which was padlocked by the Detroit Institute of Art after only its third day, and 'kaBOOM!' an exhibition where all a contemporary museum's artwork was destroyed on the spot by its patrons and visitors.

An undiagnosed dyslexic, Bourgeau never finished his education. He spent his teen years working at a box factory in his home town of Detroit. During that time, utilizing the materials at hand, he began to make and experiment with several pinhole cameras. The early work from these rudimentary cameras developed into dark, moody photographs and paintings. Bourgeau has since r...

1990
Boxes (one person), Meadow Brook Art Gallery, Rochester, MI

1991
2 Man Show: with Stephen Magsig, Feigenson/Preston, Birmingham, MI
Until Now (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI


1992
The New Real (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI
Renovations (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI

1993
Beyond Art (one person), O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI
New Dada, Book Beat Gallery, Oak Park, MI
Dirty Pictures: with Jock Sturges, David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI

1994
New Work (one person), Gahlberg Arts Center, Glen Ellyn, IL
Art as Logo (one person), David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI
60 Rooms with a View, Art Hotel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Late in the 20th Century (one-person), LedisFlam, New York
Vis-à-vis, Focus Gallery, Detroit
New Work (one person), Zolla/Lieberman, Chicago
Art as Logo, The Drawing Room, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2xImmortal, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston
Elvis+Marilyn: 2xImmortal (video installation), Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston

1995
Paradise Lost (video installation), SoMa Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Reading Art (one-person), David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI
IN/Justice, Detroit Artists Market, ...