Ashley Bickerton, Neo-Geo pioneer, dies at 63

Ashley Bickerton, a prominent artist associated with New York's Neo-Geo movement of the 1980s, has passed away. He was born in Barbados and experienced a nomadic childhood before attending the California Institute of the Arts. In 1982, he made his way to New York, where he participated in a notable four-person exhibition at Sonnabend Gallery alongside Jeff Koons, Peter Halley, and Meyer Vaisman. His piece, Tormented Self-Portrait (Susie at Arles) (1987-88), a metal sculpture adorned with brand logos, is a hallmark of his Neo-Geometric Conceptualism. After spending twelve years in the U.S., Bickerton established his home in Bali, producing works that delved into themes of exoticism and sex tourism. In 2017, Damien Hirst organized Bickerton's first UK retrospective, Ornamental Hysteria, at Newport Street Gallery in London. He had recently been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.