Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [19--]-[20--] (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
69.3 cm of textual records and graphic material
207 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
This series is comprised of research material on subjects Robert Fones found inspirational and/or influenced his artistic endeavours over the course of his lifetime. These include files on different artistic processes, tools and equipment as well as family history, his grade school and high school records, and his travels. It also includes files on artists and other individuals who greatly influenced his career and/or with whom he had close personal/professional ties, as well as on individual works of art, graphic design, typeface design and other subjects he explored in his work. It includes draft copies of artist talks he has given over the years are included, as well as portraits of him taken by Arnaud Maggs for the 1999 Toronto Arts Awards.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals are expected
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 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/collection
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/collection
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
Notes area
Note
File titles supplied by the artist, except as noted. Files arranged by the artist in alphabetical order according to subject.
Note
The publications Flower (nos. 7, 10, 12014, 16-26), Chianti Foundation Newsletter (vols. 1 to 4, 6 to 8, 10), and Montrealer (vol. 41,no. 3, March 1967 and no. 9, September 1967) have been transferred to the library holdings. See library catalogue. Other publications as noted in the file contents descriptions have also been transferred to the library holdings.
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