The listing that follows represents some of the losses I noticed in 2023 that I believe made a significant public impact: the youngest person is O’Shea Sibley (28), the oldest Isabel Crook (107).
What action follows after this blog listing is that I seek quotes from these notables and create a visual tribute of their thoughts. All work from this series will appear in the Studio Practice: New Works presented on the 15th of the month.
Thanks for noticing, sharing, investigating, remembering, and maybe resonating with these losses.
Alphabetical by first name, followed by age at death (in parentheses), notable contribution; cause of death if known:
André Watts (77), classical pianist, musical prodigy; prostate cancer.
Barbara Rossi (82), painter, Chicago Imagist; former Catholic nun; studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; no cause of death given.
Barrett Strong (81), Motown trailblazer and hitmaker; no cause of death given.
Barry Humphries (89), “Dame Edna Everage,” British comedian; complications from hip surgery.
Bernadine Strik (60), Oregon’s “Berry Goddess,” blueberry advocate and developer; ovarian cancer.
Big Pokey (45), birth name: Milton Powell; Houston rapper; heart attack.
Brice Marden (84), abstract painter; cancer.
Cormac McCarthy (89), novelist, considered “unique” (BBC); death by natural causes.
Darcelle (92), birth name: Walter Willard Cole; famous female impersonator, drag queen and advocate, Portland, Oregon; death by natural causes.
David Crosby (81), musician, co-founder of Crosby, Stills & Nash; long illness, Covid-19.
Edward Koren (87), writer, illustrator, New Yorker cartoonist; lung cancer.
Fernando Botero (91), Colombian artist famous for his round forms (NPR); pneumonia.
Francoise Gilot (101), artist notable for watercolor and ceramic works; early companion to Picasso; lung disease.
Gerard Avedissian (55), Lebanese author, composer, poet, director and painter; died after four-month battle with an unspecified disease (Lebanon News).
Gina Lollobrigida (95), Italian screen star; no cause of death given.
Gordon Lightfoot (84), Canadian singer and songwriter; natural causes.
Harry Belafonte (96), singer, actor, activist; congestive heart failure.
Henk Pender (85), influential Oregon artist, painter; brain cancer.
Ian Falconer (63), Children’s book author and illustrator; did the “Olivia” series; kidney failure.
Isabel Crook (107), Canadian-British anthropologist; pneumonia.
Jacqueline Gold (62), designer, businesswoman, considered the “queen for female-friendly sex stores (Forbes); breast cancer.
Jay Briscoe (39), American professional wrestler, Ring of Honor Legend; car crash.
Jeff Beck (79), guitar legend; bacterial meningitis.
Joop Sanders (101), Dutch American painter, founder of Abstract Expressionism; no cause of death given.
Katherine Ace (70), artist. Oregon Arts Watch said, “She was known, among other things, for her painterly evocations of scenes and characters from classic fairy tales and for her quiet yet determined advocacy for women in the art world.” Cause of death: breast cancer.
Kevin Falmouth (67), photographer, teacher. Revealed as the Valentine’s Day bandit of Portland, ME, doing so since 1979. No cause of death given, just “sudden.”
Kiska (ca. 47) “the world’s loneliest Orca,” died at Canada’s Marineland; bacterial infection.
Kwame Brathwaite (85), photographer. Made name in work reflecting ‘Black is Beautiful.” Also famous for his early photo of Emmett Till lying in his casket; no cause of death given.
Len Goodman (78), ballroom dance star and judge; prostate cancer.
Lisa Loring (64), original Wednesday character, Addams actress; stroke.
Mangosuthu Beuthelezi (95), South African politician and Zulu prince; no cause of death given.
Martin Amis (73), British novelist, “stylist extraordinaire” (The Guardian); esophageal cancer.
Milan Kundera (94), exiled Czech author, particularly famous for writing “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”; esophageal cancer.
O’Shae Sibley (28), dancer; stabbed (murder).
Paco Rabanne (88), Spanish-born fashion designer, “couturier of space age design “ (NYT); no cause of death given.
Phyllida Barlow (78), British sculptor. Her assemblages were said to “challenge space, perspective, and gravity” (Artnet News); no cause of death given.
Rachel Pollack (77), American science fiction writer, comic book writer and distinguished for her tarot; non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Raymond Moriyama (93), Japanese Canadian architect; developed “humane public spaces” (NYT); no cause of death given.
Ron Feldman (84), NYC art dealer, supported “out-there conceptual art” (ARTnews). Cause of death: Alzheimer’s.
Ryuichi Samamoto (71), composer; according to The New Yorker, he was “arguably the best-known and most successful Japanese musician in the world”; complications from cancer.
Shecky Greene (97), birth name: Fred Sheldon Greenfield; comedian, started doing stand-up at a Milwaukee, WI, summer resort around 1970; longtime Las Vegas and TV entertainer; natural causes.
SunRay Kelley (71), birth name: Raymond E. Kelley; American builder known for his fanciful structural designs; blood clot from a recent operation.
Takoda (16), black bear at Oregon zoo; cardiac arrest during routing health check that included anesthesia. Arrived at the zoo in 2010 weighing only 3lbs; came from Montana as an orphaned cub. Black bears can live until their 30’s in the wild.
Tina Turner (83), singer, songwriter and actress; after “long illness”/unspecified.
Walt Curtis (82), considered an unofficial poet laureate of Portland, OR; poet, artist, writer; brief illness /unspecified.
Zandra Flemister (71), first Black female Secret Service agent; respiratory failure related to Alzheimer's disease.
Primary Sources: BBC News, New York Times, NPR, Hyperallergic, The Guardian, OPB, NBC, The Atlantic, Variety.
What action follows after this blog listing is that I seek quotes from these notables and create a visual tribute of their thoughts. All work from this series will appear in the Studio Practice: New Works presented on the 15th of the month.
Thanks for noticing, sharing, investigating, remembering, and maybe resonating with these losses.
Alphabetical by first name, followed by age at death (in parentheses), notable contribution; cause of death if known:
André Watts (77), classical pianist, musical prodigy; prostate cancer.
Barbara Rossi (82), painter, Chicago Imagist; former Catholic nun; studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; no cause of death given.
Barrett Strong (81), Motown trailblazer and hitmaker; no cause of death given.
Barry Humphries (89), “Dame Edna Everage,” British comedian; complications from hip surgery.
Bernadine Strik (60), Oregon’s “Berry Goddess,” blueberry advocate and developer; ovarian cancer.
Big Pokey (45), birth name: Milton Powell; Houston rapper; heart attack.
Brice Marden (84), abstract painter; cancer.
Cormac McCarthy (89), novelist, considered “unique” (BBC); death by natural causes.
Darcelle (92), birth name: Walter Willard Cole; famous female impersonator, drag queen and advocate, Portland, Oregon; death by natural causes.
David Crosby (81), musician, co-founder of Crosby, Stills & Nash; long illness, Covid-19.
Edward Koren (87), writer, illustrator, New Yorker cartoonist; lung cancer.
Fernando Botero (91), Colombian artist famous for his round forms (NPR); pneumonia.
Francoise Gilot (101), artist notable for watercolor and ceramic works; early companion to Picasso; lung disease.
Gerard Avedissian (55), Lebanese author, composer, poet, director and painter; died after four-month battle with an unspecified disease (Lebanon News).
Gina Lollobrigida (95), Italian screen star; no cause of death given.
Gordon Lightfoot (84), Canadian singer and songwriter; natural causes.
Harry Belafonte (96), singer, actor, activist; congestive heart failure.
Henk Pender (85), influential Oregon artist, painter; brain cancer.
Ian Falconer (63), Children’s book author and illustrator; did the “Olivia” series; kidney failure.
Isabel Crook (107), Canadian-British anthropologist; pneumonia.
Jacqueline Gold (62), designer, businesswoman, considered the “queen for female-friendly sex stores (Forbes); breast cancer.
Jay Briscoe (39), American professional wrestler, Ring of Honor Legend; car crash.
Jeff Beck (79), guitar legend; bacterial meningitis.
Joop Sanders (101), Dutch American painter, founder of Abstract Expressionism; no cause of death given.
Katherine Ace (70), artist. Oregon Arts Watch said, “She was known, among other things, for her painterly evocations of scenes and characters from classic fairy tales and for her quiet yet determined advocacy for women in the art world.” Cause of death: breast cancer.
Kevin Falmouth (67), photographer, teacher. Revealed as the Valentine’s Day bandit of Portland, ME, doing so since 1979. No cause of death given, just “sudden.”
Kiska (ca. 47) “the world’s loneliest Orca,” died at Canada’s Marineland; bacterial infection.
Kwame Brathwaite (85), photographer. Made name in work reflecting ‘Black is Beautiful.” Also famous for his early photo of Emmett Till lying in his casket; no cause of death given.
Len Goodman (78), ballroom dance star and judge; prostate cancer.
Lisa Loring (64), original Wednesday character, Addams actress; stroke.
Mangosuthu Beuthelezi (95), South African politician and Zulu prince; no cause of death given.
Martin Amis (73), British novelist, “stylist extraordinaire” (The Guardian); esophageal cancer.
Milan Kundera (94), exiled Czech author, particularly famous for writing “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”; esophageal cancer.
O’Shae Sibley (28), dancer; stabbed (murder).
Paco Rabanne (88), Spanish-born fashion designer, “couturier of space age design “ (NYT); no cause of death given.
Phyllida Barlow (78), British sculptor. Her assemblages were said to “challenge space, perspective, and gravity” (Artnet News); no cause of death given.
Rachel Pollack (77), American science fiction writer, comic book writer and distinguished for her tarot; non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Raymond Moriyama (93), Japanese Canadian architect; developed “humane public spaces” (NYT); no cause of death given.
Ron Feldman (84), NYC art dealer, supported “out-there conceptual art” (ARTnews). Cause of death: Alzheimer’s.
Ryuichi Samamoto (71), composer; according to The New Yorker, he was “arguably the best-known and most successful Japanese musician in the world”; complications from cancer.
Shecky Greene (97), birth name: Fred Sheldon Greenfield; comedian, started doing stand-up at a Milwaukee, WI, summer resort around 1970; longtime Las Vegas and TV entertainer; natural causes.
SunRay Kelley (71), birth name: Raymond E. Kelley; American builder known for his fanciful structural designs; blood clot from a recent operation.
Takoda (16), black bear at Oregon zoo; cardiac arrest during routing health check that included anesthesia. Arrived at the zoo in 2010 weighing only 3lbs; came from Montana as an orphaned cub. Black bears can live until their 30’s in the wild.
Tina Turner (83), singer, songwriter and actress; after “long illness”/unspecified.
Walt Curtis (82), considered an unofficial poet laureate of Portland, OR; poet, artist, writer; brief illness /unspecified.
Zandra Flemister (71), first Black female Secret Service agent; respiratory failure related to Alzheimer's disease.
Primary Sources: BBC News, New York Times, NPR, Hyperallergic, The Guardian, OPB, NBC, The Atlantic, Variety.