In the Loop
Press Release : Aug 3, 2015

College of the Arts Announces Coco Fusco to Join Faculty of UF’s School of Art + Art History

The University of Florida (UF) College of the Arts is pleased to announce that interdisciplinary artist and writer Coco Fusco will join the faculty of the School of Art + Art History as a Professor and Andrew Banks Family Endowed Chair in January 2016.

“Coco Fusco is a prolific interdisciplinary artist, writer and critic who exemplifies the importance the arts and culture have in framing the critical issues of our times,” said UF Provost Joseph Glover. “It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome her to our faculty.”

Fusco has performed, lectured, exhibited and curated around the world for nearly three decades. Her work explores the politics of gender, race, war and identity. Working in a variety of formats, she has staged multi-media productions incorporating large-scale projections, closed-circuit television, web-based live streaming performances with audience interaction, as well as performances at cultural events that actively engage with visitors.

“Coco Fusco is an artist of international repute who will greatly contribute to the School of Art + Art History and the College of the Arts’ mission of fostering creative activity, scholarly and artistic excellence and innovation across disciplines,” said Lucinda Lavelli, dean of the College of the Arts. “Her appointment is another tangible benefit of the essential role the arts play at the University of Florida.”

Fusco was MIT’s MLK Visiting Scholar for 2014-2015. She was a 2014 CINTAS Fellow, was a recipient of a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2013 Absolut Art Writing Award, a 2013 Fulbright Fellowship, a 2012 US Artists Fellowship and a 2003 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. Fusco’s work was selected for the 56th Venice Biennale and is currently on view there. Through the years her work has been presented at numerous biennials and festivals and has been shown at the Tate Liverpool, The Museum of Modern Art, The Walker Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. She is represented by Alexander Gray Associates in New York. 
Her most recent performance, Observations of Predation in Humans: A Lecture by Dr. Zira, Animal Psychologist, revives the character from Planet of the Apes to offer a commentary on contemporary forms of aggression that is supplemented by multimedia illustration.

“This position offers me a wonderful opportunity to join a vibrant intellectual and creative community and to advance my own research on contemporary Cuban culture,” said Fusco. “I am happy to see that the University of Florida provides such strong support to its arts students and faculty.” 

Fusco is the author of English is Broken Here: Notes on Cultural Fusion in the Americas (1995), The Bodies that Were Not Ours and Other Writings (2001) and A Field Guide for Female Interrogators (2008). She is also the editor of Corpus Delecti: Performance Art of the Americas (1999) and Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self (2003). Her new book, Dangerous Moves: Performance and Politics in Cuba, will be published in October by Tate Publications in London.

Fusco received her B.A. in Semiotics from Brown University (1982), her M.A. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University (1985) and her Ph.D. in Art and Visual Culture from Middlesex University (2007). For more, visit cocofusco.com.

About the University of Florida School of Art + Art History
The School of Art + Art History is one of the University of Florida College of the Arts’ three institutionally-accredited schools. The School of Art + Art History supports the College of the Arts’ mission of serving as an educational, professional and cultural resource in the visual arts for the campus, community, state and region. Programs offered include art education, art history, art and technology, creative photography, ceramics, drawing, graphic design, painting, printmaking, sculpture and visual art studies. In addition, the school supports five galleries that are open to the public and feature contemporary artwork, student pieces and more. To learn more, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/art.

About the University of Florida College of the Arts
The College of the Arts is one of the 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The College of the Arts offers baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its three institutionally-accredited schools — the School of Art + Art History, School of Music and School of Theatre + Dance. The college is home to the Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for Arts and Public Policy, Center for World Arts, Digital Worlds Institute, University Galleries and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. More than 100 faculty members and approximately than 1,200 students work together daily to engage, inspire and create. The college hosts more than 300 performances, exhibitions and events each year. Faculty and students also exhibit and perform at other local, national and international venues. To learn more, visit www.arts.ufl.edu

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Media Contact
Leah Craig, APR, Public Relations and Marketing Manager
University of Florida College of the Arts
Office: 352.273.1489 | Cell: 904.419.3346 
lcraig@arts.ufl.edu