Jean Toche

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Jean Toche
Born
Jean Xavier Van Imschoot

1932 (1932)
Bruges
Died2018 (aged 85–86)
New York

Jean Toche (1932-2018) was a Belgian-American abstract artist and poet involved in New York's radical political art scene.

Career[edit]

Jean Toche was born in Bruges, Belgium, on 15 August 1932. He moved to New York City in 1965, where he became heavily involved in the radical political art scene.[1] In 1969 he co-founded, with Jon Hendricks, the Guerrilla Art Action Group (GAAG).[1] The group undertook organized actions designed to disrupt the art world, even on one occasion spewing animal blood in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art.[2][3] The group ultimately believed that the art world had been corrupted by profit and private interest, and used non-violent actions to ridicule art and media establishments.[4]

In 1970 he was a co-organizer of The People's Flag Show, an exhibition of works made by artists using the American flag.[5] The show was intentionally designed to test the flag desecration laws in effect at the time.[6] With Jon Henricks and Fiagth Ringgold, he was arrested for his participation in the show shortly after it opened.[5][7] The three were ultimately sentenced to a fine of $100 each or 30 days in jail, under a New York State Law that forbade desecrating the flag.[8][9]

In 1974 Toche was arrested by the FBI and charged with mailing a kidnapping threat to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.[10][11] The threat, in the form of a flyer, called for the kidnapping of "museum trustees, directors, administrators, curators and benefactors".[11] Toche's flyers were in reposonse to the arrest of Tony Shafrazi, who had spray-painted “KILL LIES ALL” on Picasso's Guernica, itself an act of protest against William Calley, who had participated in the My Lai massacre.[12]


His work has been exhibited in the United States, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Slovenia. He died in 2018 in Staten Island, New York.

Collections[edit]

His work is included in the collection of the Tate Museum, London.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Jean Toche | artist memo". no-art.info. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  2. ^ "Revolutionary Instances and Activism in Art Practices at the turn of the 60s and 70s. Two cases compared: Hi Red Center and Guerilla Art Action Group | LuxFlux". Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  3. ^ Kimmelman, Michael (1997-05-02). "Art in Review". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Guerrilla Art Action Group | InEnArt". Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  5. ^ a b Russeth, Andrew (2016-12-08). "'Freedom of Speech Is Absolutely Imperative': Faith Ringgold on Her Early Art, Activism at the Museum of Modern Art". ARTnews.com.
  6. ^ Ho, Melissa; Crow, Thomas; Levin, Erica; Nixon, Mignon; Rosler, Martha (2019-04-02). Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-19118-8.
  7. ^ "3 ARRESTED IN RAID ON FLAG ART SHOW". The New York Times. 1970-11-14.
  8. ^ "FLAG SHOW ARTISTS FINED $100 APIECE". The New York Times. 1971-05-25.
  9. ^ Gray, John (1993). Action Art: A Bibliography of Artists' Performance from Futurism to Fluxus and Beyond. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-28916-3.
  10. ^ "Artist Here Charged In Kidnapping Threats". The New York Times. 1974-03-28.
  11. ^ a b "UNITED STATES v. VAN IMSC | 390 F.Supp. 994 (1974) | upp99411229 | Leagle.com". Leagle.
  12. ^ Scavone, Jason; Sunday, Special to The (2016-09-26). "In this wild election cycle, protest art stirs up outrage, delight and conversation - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper". lasvegassun.com.
  13. ^ "Jean Toche 1932–2018". Tate.

External links[edit]

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