Spencer Tunick : Bio

Spencer Tunick (b. 1967) stages scenes in which the battle of nature against culture is played out against various backdrops, from civic center to desert sandstorm. Tunick has been documenting the nude figure in public with photography and video since 1992. Since 1994, he has organized over 100 temporary site-related live installations that encompass dozens, hundreds, or thousands of volunteers, and his photographs are records of these actions. At times in his group photographs, the individuals, grouped together without their clothing, metamorphose into a new shape. 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. The work also refers to the complex issue of presenting art in permanent or temporary public spaces.

In 2002, Tunick started to include standing positions to his group formations and add objects or fabric that the participants are often holding or wearing, and he has occasionally included participants covered in body paint. For the final setups of his installations, he often organizes the participants into smaller groupings to make additional assemblages: sometimes by sex, sometimes by age, sometimes even by hair color. However, no one is ever excluded because of the color of their skin, ethnicity, gender identity, sex, race, religion, or political affiliation. Within reason, if you can make it to his artworks, you can participate, unless of course there are space limitations.

Spencer Tunick's temporary site-related live photographic installations have been commissioned by the XXV Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2002); the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona (2003); the Saatchi Gallery, London (2003); MOCA Cleveland (2004); the Vienna Kunsthalle (2008) and the MAMBO Museum of Modern Art, Bogotá (2016), among others. Tunick’s photographic experiences have also been commissioned by organizations to elevate awareness of LGBTQIA+ rights, HIV/AIDS, cancer, and climate change. He is the co-founding curator of DontDelete.Art, a project advocating for greater protection of artistic freedom across social media and online platforms.

Tunick could not make his art without the generosity of the public. He is eternally grateful for their participation. He wishes he could credit everyone in his individual and group photographs, but there are hundreds and thousands who have taken part collectively.