Paul Thek

Paul Thek - Studies in New York; first successes in Miami; extensive search for style

Paul Thel was born George Joseph Thek in New York on 2 November 1933. The second child of a German-Irish migrant couple, he studied in the 1950s at the Art Students League in New York, at the Pratt Institute of Arts, and the Cooper Union School of Arts. In 1954, he moved to Miami where he earned a living with various jobs. He simultaneously created his first drawings in charcoal and pencil, quickly followed by abstract watercolours and finally moved to monotone oil paintings. It was also in Miami that he settled on the name with which he would become famous, Paul Thek, and had his first chance to exhibit. After these first small successes, he returned in 1959 to New York where he socialised within a large circle of artists which included such illustrious names as the photographer Peter Hujar, the process artis Eva Hesse and the publicist Susan Sontag. 

Complex room installations and active exhibition activity

In the years that followed, Paul Thek was restless: he worked from 1959 to 1962 as a textile designer in the New York Prince Studios, then spent two years in Europe, returned to New York and was portrayed on camera by Andy Warhol for the experimental film Screen Test. Whilst he had to sit still on a chair for Warhol, he was even more restless in the next few months, took part in numerous international exhibitions including Documenta in Kassel twice and the Venice Biennale, and experimented with new kinds of ideas – this resulted in casts of his own body parts which he used as the basis for various objects. It was not single pieces, however, but whole stagings and installation which founded Paul Thek’s fame. None has been preserved as a complete complex, just individual pieces and records preserve the memory of the ‘experience spaces’ initiated by Thek, most of which were created in collaboration with artist friends, whilst it was often his partner Peter Hujar with whom Thel realised his ideas. 

Great influence on contemporary and later generations of artists

For his art, Paul Thek borrowed from the great fundus of diverse motifs from religion, literature and theater, which he realised in just as many different ways. The artist did not allow himself to be pinned down in the direction of his statements either, criticising social grievances as well as his perceived undesirable developments in the art world. His tone could be sombre and gloomy or demonstrate a sense of subtle humour. He found inspiration for his spatial installations in the ancient Egyptian pyramids and the Gothic cathedrals of Europe. He influenced artists such as Bruce Nauman, Paul McCartney, Jonathan Meese and Damien Hirst, whilst his figure Tomb became a symbol of the hippie movement.

Paul Thek died in New York on 10 August 1988.