Gerald Pryor, who inspired NYU Steinhardt students for more than 40 years as a professor, artist-in-residence, and head of photography in the Department of Art and Arts Professions, is being honored with an exhibition and scholarship in his name.
On display through September 24, 2023, G. Pryor/A Closing is an exhibition that celebrates Pryor’s life and art.
Pryor started the Department’s photography area in 1979 and served as its head until last year. He taught art in New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Venice, and Berlin, and exhibited his work, which included painting, photography, video, and performance, around the world. He was the recipient of two National Endowment of the Arts awards, a New York Foundation for the Arts award, and a Gottlieb Foundation grant.
Pryor inspired many artists, including Felix Gonzales-Torres and Michael Richards, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. For two decades, Pryor paid tribute to Richards on the anniversary of his death with his performance piece, Body Slam.
“Gerald Pryor was a consummate denizen of downtown New York,” says Marlene McCarty, clinical professor of visual arts, who worked with Pryor’s widow, Dawn Smith, to organize the exhibition. “Committed to tough work that was not easily commodified, he was an artists’ artist. He garnered attention performing his signature body slams in off-the-beaten-track venues such as in an automotive shop, a photo printer’s studio, on rooftops, or in the street… Gerald Pryor was a significant artist who kept alive the idea of what an artist could be. Without people like him, there is no artworld.”
In addition to G. Pryor/A Closing, Steinhardt has also announced the Gerald Pryor Art Award, a fund that continues his legacy of helping students. The award will support undergraduate and graduate students in Studio Art by addressing financial need, supporting exceptional practice, and promoting a diverse community of student artists in the Department.
“I met Gerry as a student during my master’s program in photography in 1984,” says artist and philanthropist Susan Unterberg (MA ‘86), a student and friend of Pryor’s. “As a teacher, Gerry was loose, cool, and kind. He taught us to see photography as part of a broad context that included philosophy and critical theory. It was clear that Gerry really cared about his students and was 100% invested in teaching.”
G. Pryor/A Closing is on display in the Commons and Rosenberg Gallery in the Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant Street in the East Village. Gifts to the Gerald Pryor Art Award may be made online.
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