Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [ca. 1967]-2011 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
75 cm of textual records and graphic material
120 photographs
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Robert Fones (born in London, Ontario, 1949) is a visual artist, curator, writer, designer and educator. Employing a strong ethnographical and archaeological component in his work, Fones uses sculpture, painting, woodblock printmaking, typography and photography to investigate the transition from manual to industrial production, and the hidden processes and impacts of geological and cultural change within contemporary society. Since 1976 he has lived and worked in Toronto, represented variously by Carmen Lamanna
Gallery, S.L. Simpson Gallery and (currently) Olga Korper Gallery. He has exhibited at artist-run centres and public institutions throughout Canada and, internationally, in the USA and Germany. His work is held by the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and other public and corporate collections. Fones is an active participant in the visual arts community, having served on the board of the Art Gallery of Ontario, C Magazine Foundation and the Acquisitions Committee of the Design Exchange. He curated an exhibition for The Power Plant on the work of Toronto furniture designer, Russell Spanner, and Cutout: Greg Curnoe, Shaped Collages 1965–1968 for Museum London. He has written extensively
about art and artists such as Greg Curnoe, Murray Favro, Donald Judd and John Massey. Fones has taught at OCAD University, the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, and in the Art and Art History Program at Sheridan College. He has published numerous reviews and articles in Vanguard, C Magazine, Parachute and other publications, published several artist books, participated in several poetry readings across the country; and undertaken several design and public art projects. He received the Toronto Arts Award in 1999 and the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2011.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Series is comprised of correspondence sent to and from Robert Fones over the past 55 years, the bulk of which consists of personal letters and correspondence art received by Robert Fones from 1969 to 1975 from artists and writers from Vancouver, from the San Francisco Bay area, New York, Toronto and southwestern Ontario. It includes correspondence art and zines (consisting of a mixture of collages, manipulated photographs, stamps, letters, drawings, visual poetry, recycled images often mimeographed or photocopied) from artists such as Victor Coleman (aka Mr. Peanut), Michael Morris (aka Marcel Dot), Anna Banana, Dr. and Lady Brute, Michael Binder (aka Cloud), General Idea, Hank Bull, Chicken Bank, Daddaland, and others. It also includes correspondence from poets and writers such as Michael Ondaatje and Christopher Dewdney.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Access to Special Collections is by appointment only. Please contact the reference desk for more information
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright is held by the creator. Copyright belonging to other parties may still rest with the creator of these items. It is the researcher’s responsibility to obtain permission to publish any part of this fonds.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
For other correspondence, see Series 3: Research Files, Series 4: Business Files and Series 5, 6 or 7 dealing with specific projects.
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Originally prepared in 2012
Language(s)
- English