Artists Index: Paul Thek

Paul Thek (1933-1988, Brooklyn, NY) Paul Thek was an American painter and sculptor. He came in to recognition in the 1960s when he was making ‘Technological Reliquaries’, works which included wax work replicas of human body parts, bones and tissue. In 1967 he exhibited his first ‘environment’ entitled The Tomb, which brought him great fame and for which he is credited as one of the first artists to make installation. Later in his career Thek produced numerous small ‘bad paintings’ from his Third Street Studio. In 1987 Thek was diagnosed with AIDS and died aged 55 in 1988.