Spencer Tunick is a contemporary American photographer whose unique practice centers around the nude, photographing massive crowds of nude people in complex performances. The author began his career in 1992, the number of those who posed did not exceed a dozen, but over time, in 2007, Tunick organized a shoot of more than 18,000 participants, who laid down nude in loosely organized rows, covering Mexico City’s Zocalo Square.
Spencer Tunick’s photographs seek to complicate purely erotic associations of the naked body. He photographs small and large groups of naked people in natural and urban landscapes, such as Times Square, the Dead Sea, the Sydney Opera House, and the beaches of Maui. The bodies extend into and upon the landscape like a substance. These group masses, which do not underscore sexuality, often become abstractions that challenge or reconfigure one's views of nudity and privacy. Tunick has said that his work is "about the freedom to own your body. The government does not own your body. It’s definitely the body being touched with the environment and the social order of things".
Spencer has and continues to make group installations/photographs elevating awareness of HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ rights, equality and climate change, among other issues. In recent years, the artist has turned to painting in order to highlight the ways the body is politicized.
Works
Solo exhibitions
2010
Everyday People. The Lowry, Manchester, UK
Citadinos (City Dwellers). Museo de Arte Contemporneo de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
2009
City Dwellers. Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco, Mexico City, Mexico
2008
Spencer Tunick: The Beautiful Game. Kunsthalle Wien, Public Space Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria
Spencer Tunick: Explorations in Architecture. Hales Gallery, London, Great Britain
2007
Galerie Forsblom. Хельсинки, Finland
University Museum of Arts and Sciences (MUCA), National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
Mexico City Museum, Mexico City, Mexico
Spencer Tunick – Serie Ciudades Desnudas. Caracas, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela
Spencer Tunick: DREAM AMSTERDAM 2007. (Organized and curated by Jamain Brigitha). Dream Amsterdam Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands
i8 galleri, Reykjavik, Iceland
2006
Museum Kunst Palast Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany
Hales Gallery, London, Great Britain
Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland
Brugge Plus, Concetgebouw, Bruges, Belgium
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
2005
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Буффало, New York, USA
Corpus Ibericim. Kültur Büro Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Ruarts Foundation, Moscow, Russia
2004
Public Works 2001 – 2004. I-20 Gallery, New York, USA
Spencer Tunick. Hales Gallery, London, Great Britain
Manmade and Natural. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Cleveland, USA
2003
Nude Adrift. Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2002
Spencer Tunick. Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Nude Adrift. Hales Gallery, London, Great Britain
Spencer Tunick. Artcore, Toronto, Canada
Spencer Tunick: Nude Adrift. Dinaburg Arts, New York, USA
Studio Miscetti, Rome, Italy
2001
Deptford Town Hall. Curated by Miria Swain and Rawia Edwards, London, Great Britain
Spencer Tunick/Self. Curated by Elly Stegeman. De Beyerd Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst, Breda, The Netherlands
Le Tribu dell’Arte, Galleria Communale Arte de Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
2000
Reaction Zone. I-20 Gallery, New York, USA
America Zone. Hales Gallery, London, Great Britain
Galeria Joao Graca, Lisbon, Portugal
Perspective. FIAC 2000, Paris, France
1999
Statements (I-20). Art 30 Basel, Швейцария
Someplace You Haven’t Been. Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland
Magazin 4, Vorarlberger Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria
1998
Naked States. I-20 Gallery, New York, USA
1996
Naked Pavement. Exquisite Corpse, Burlington, Vermont, USA
1995
America Zone. Thicket Gallery, New York, USA
1993
Spencer Tunick. Alleged Gallery, New York, USA
Group exhibitions
2022
Personal Space, a collective retrospective exhibition, The Ruarts Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2010
The Right to Protest. Curated by Raphie Etgar, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
Sensational Architecture, Curated by Camilla Boemio, Festa of Architecture
Auditorium Parco della Musica, Viale Pietro De Coubertin, Rome, Italy
Party! (Curated by Deborah Robinson). New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, West Midlands, UK
2009
3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Against exclusion, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, West Midlands, UK
2008
Bread and Soccer: In the Arena of Art. (Curated by Trevor Smith and Jürgen Weishäupl Austrian Cultural Forum NYC), New York, USA
PEOPLE. (Curated by Mimmo Scognamiglio, Mimmo Scognamiglio Artecontemporanea), Milan, Italy
Lost Paradise - The Angel’s Gaze. (Curated by Michael Baumgartner, Zentrum Paul Klee). Bern, Switzerland
2007
Collection of Sylvio Perlstein: Busy Going Crazy. (Curated by David Rosenberg). La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
2006
9th Havana Biennale, Wilfredo Lam Center for Contemporary Arts, Havana, Cuba
2005
Joy. (Curated by Lara Boubnova and Enrico Lunghi). Casino-Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon 2005, Lion, Lyon, France
Dead kids do nothing. 31GRAND, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Ingenuity. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Cleveland, USA
Contemporary Photography in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Curated by Kyle Klewin
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, USA
Rite of Assembly. Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2004
Bodily Space: New Obsessions in Figurative Sculpture. (Curated by Holly Hughes). Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, USA
The Amazing & The Immutable: Selections from the collections of Robert Drapkin and Martin Margulies
Contemporary Art Museum, Institute for Research in Art, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
I Need You. CentrePasquArt, Kunthaus Centre d’art, Biel, Switzerland
2003
Gli Altri. Gas Art Gallery, Turin, Italy
Agrupémonos Todos (Come Rally). (Curated by Javier Gonzalez de Durana and Daniel Eguskiza), MARCO
Museum De Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Traveled to ARTIUM. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Imagenes de lo publico y lo privado. Galeria Moises Perez de Albeniz, Pamplona, Spain
Project Paradise. (Curated by Nina and Torsten Roemer). The Bunker in Alexanderplatz, Berlin, Germany
10th Annual Watermill Benefit 2003, Watermill Center, Water Mill, New York, USA
World Rehabilitation Fund spring into action Benefit Exhibition, Guggenheim Museum of Art, New York, USA
Lucky Draw 2003. The Sculpture Center, Long Island City, New York, USA
SITE Santa Fe 2003 Benefit Exhibition, Santa Fe, Mexico
Art for Life 2003. Estate of Russell Simmons, Easthampton, New York, USA
2002
The 12th City. XXV Bienal de São Paulo. Curated by Alfons Hug, Sao Paulo, Brazil
The Nude in 20th Century Art. (Curated by Nils Ohlsen). Kunsthalle in Emden, Emden, Germany
20th Anniversary Benefit Exhibition, Art in General, New York, USA
Public-Private: Crossing Boundaries in Contemporary Photography, Curated by Sean Ulmer
Sluffer Gallery, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Анн-Арбор, Michigan, USA
Art Downtown: New Photography, Curated by Richard Marshall. Wall Street Rising, New York, USA
New York in Texas, New Gallery, Dallas, USA
Sonic Matters, Sonic Kolaborations, Curated by Todd Alden. Alleged Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
30th Anniversary Exhibition. Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, USA
Flesh for Fantasy. Javogue & Ingalls Fine Art, Miami, USA
2001
New Acquisitions. The Dakis Joannou Foundation Collection, Deste Center for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece
Metamorphosis and Cloning. (Curated by Sandra Grant Marchand). Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The 1st Bienal de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Input, Museum Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf, Germany
I Love New York. I-20 Gallery, New York, USA
Bienal Fotonoviembre, Curated by Alicia Murrieta Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Obsessions. University Art Gallery San Diego (UCSD). Curated by Dan Fuller
Naked. (Curated by Murray Horne). Wood Street Galleries, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Beyond Origin. (Curated by Dimitrios Antonitsis). The Hellenic American Union, Athens, Greece
Landscape. De Chiara Stewart Gallery, New York, USA
Benefit for the Association for Community Employment Programs for the Homeless (A.C.E.), Exit Art, New York, USA
White Columns 2001 Benefit Exhibition, White Columns, New York, USA
Luminous Wonders of the Electronic World: New Langton Arts 17th Annual Auction. Curated by Robert Shimshack, New Langton Arts, Сан-Франциско, Калифорния, США
22nd Annual Benefit of Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Лос-Анджелес, Калифорния, США
Cutting Edge (curated section) ARCO, Madrid, Spain; Art Forum Berlin, Берлин, Германия
2000
Dos Mil Anos Luz (2000 Light). (Curated by Angel de la Cruz). Instituto Oscar Dominguez De Arte
Contemporaneo IODAC. Канарские острова, Испания
Photographing Maine: 1850-2000, Maine Coast Artists, Рокпорт, Мэн
A Cuerpo. Galeria Luis Adelantado, Валенсия, Испания
Doctor’s of the World 10th Anniversary Benefit Exhibition, Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, Нью-Йорк, США
Take Home a Nude. New York Academy of Art, Нью-Йорк, США
Elbow Room: Manhattan’s Public Spaces in Recent Art. (Curated by Grady Turner). Kim Foster Gallery, Нью-Йорк, США
15th Parnu Film Festival, Пярну, Эстония
HBO Documentary Film Festival, Нью-Йорк, США
Newport Film Festival. Newport, Род-Айленд, США
1999
Back to Nature. Hales Gallery, London, Great Britain
Downtown Arts Festival, Curated by Simon Watson. New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA
The Martin Margulies Collection. University of South Florida, Miami, USA
Eksenter (Next Stop). Lofoten Arts Festival, Svolvaer, Norway
The Nude in Contemporary Art. (Curated by Harry Philbrick and Jessica Hough). The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, New York, USA
Artwalk NY. (Curated by Yvonne Force). The Puck Building, New York, USA
Road Show. (Curated by Mike Weiss). DFN Gallery, New York, USA
Move 3. New Image Art, Los Angeles, USA
The Coalition Against Censorship. The Warhol Foundation, New York, USA
1999
Benefit Exhibition. New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA
Benefit Exhibition. White Columns, New York, USA
Benefit Exhibition. Art in General, New York, USA
Rough Cut. Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival. The American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
1998
Unframed Phot., A Benefit for Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA), LiebmanMagnan, New York, USA
Off the Hook. Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, California, USA
Exhibitions
Biography
Press
- Спенсер Туник. Журнал «Искусство» (iskusstvo-info.ru, 17.12.2014)
- Спенсер Туник: «Энергия, высвобождающаяся во время моих перформансов, феноменальна». The Art Newspaper Russia (theartnewspaper.ru, 11.12.2014)
- Спенсер Туник. Interview Russia. (interviewrussia.ru, 9.12.2014)
- Празднование 10-летия галереи Ruarts. Открытие выставки Спенсера Туника – Safety in Numbers (youtube.com, 8.12.2014)
- Спенсер Туник. Vogue. Декабрь 2014. (Vogue Magazine, 1.12.2014)
