RIP Tony DeLap, Illusion /Magic, Abstract West Coast Artist


  • Triple Trouble II

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  • Art News obit

    Tony DeLap, Maker of Inventive Abstract Art That Embraced Illusion and Magic, Is Dead at 91

    Tony Delap (Homepage)

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  • LA Times Obit

    DeLap rose to prominence in 1964 when an illustration of his work was featured on the cover of Artforum magazine alongside a glowing review by then-Editor-at-large John Coplans. The work, exhibited at San Francisco’s Dilexi Gallery, was a series of two-sided glass boxes with edges that descended inward toward the center.

    By the late 1960s, DeLap was among artists including Billy Al Bengston, Craig Kauffman and Larry Bell who were pioneering what came to be known as the “Finish Fetish,” with an emphasis on clean lines, simple shapes and bright, monochromatic colors.

    “He is apart from and yet entirely amidst the whole trajectory of geometric abstract art in California,” said longtime friend, curator and critic Peter Frank. “He’s not quite a minimalist, he’s not quite a traditional abstract artist, but he relates to all of them and did so early on.”

    As the first art professor to be hired at UC Irvine, DeLap influenced generations of artists including Bruce Nauman, Chris Burden, John McCracken and James Turrell.