As the year winds down, it’s a moment of reflection and remembrance for many. Here at Hyperallergic, we thought it fitting to look back on the work of painters, filmmakers, performers, and other cherished creators who are no longer with us — and to ask you, our readers, to help us celebrate the lives of the artists we lost in 2023.
Through the end of the year, we will be adding names to this list based on readers’ submissions of artists in their community who passed this year. If you’d like to submit a name, please email us with a verified obituary link and two to three sentences describing this person’s artistic contributions and what they meant to you. That might take the form of a personal anecdote or a work that profoundly impacted you. Our aim is to create a communal patchwork of memories that lives on, just like art.
Kenneth Anger (1927–2023)
The Californian avant-garde filmmaker, actor, author, and occultist, best known for his experimental short films and his contributions to queer cinema, died in May at the age of 96. Read about Anger here.
Majd Arandas (1994–2023)
The Palestinian photographer whose works center life, hardship, and joy in the Gaza Strip was killed by an Israeli airstrike in November. He was 29. Read about Arandas here.
Radcliffe Bailey (1968–2023)
The New Jersey-born, Georgia-based artist, whose paintings and assemblage works explored Black history in the United States, died in November at the age of 54. Read about Bailey here.
Phyllida Barlow (1944–2023)
The British artist celebrated for her sculptures made of everyday materials, which she lovingly characterized as “nonmonumental,” died in March at the age of 78. Read about Barlow here.
Dia Batal (1978–2023)
“She was a multidisciplinary artist known for her own poetic practice as well as championing her late mother, the influential sculptor Mona Saudi. Gone too soon after a difficult battle with cancer, her works reflect her love for Palestine, children, poetry, and calligraphy. In ‘Playing on the Beach is a Dangerous Course’ (2014), she embroidered the names of Palestinian children killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza the summer of 2014 in delicate, colorful calligraphic panels. She was a bright light and will be dearly missed by many.” — Nadine Nour el Din
Fernando Botero (1932–2023)
The Colombian painter and sculptor of voluptuous figures, whose immediately recognizable canvases explored volume and sensuality, died in September at the age of 91. Read about Botero here.
Kwame Brathwaite (1938–2023)
The Brooklyn-born photographer who documented Black culture and political movements, popularizing the ethos of “Black is Beautiful,” died in April at the age of 85. Read about Brathwaite here.
Françoise Gilot (1921–2023)
The prolific French artist, leading figure of the School of Paris, and author of the refreshingly candid 1964 memoir Life With Picasso died in June at the age of 101. Read about Gilot here.
Robert Irwin (1928–2023)
The Southern California artist known for his major contributions to the Light and Space movement died in October at the age of 95. Read more about Irwin here.
Brice Marden (1938–2023)
The New York-born artist, whose emotive and ever-evolving canvases innovated postwar abstract painting, died in August at the age of 84. Read about Marden here.
Juanita McNeely (1936–2023)
The St. Louis-born, Manhattan-based painter, whose mesmerizing renderings of women’s bodies centered the urgency of reproductive rights, died in October at the age of 87. Read about McNeely here.
Leila Nseir (1941–2023)
“She was a pioneer of modern art in the Arab world who dedicated her whole life to art, best known for her modernist works depicting women protagonists. Throughout her practice, Nseir experimented with styles and techniques in search of a character for her work. Her powerful work The Martyr (The Nation), 1976, speaks to the atrocities that we are presently bearing witness to in Gaza. I am profoundly moved by her tenacity, her story, and her works alike.” — Nadine Nour el Din. Read more about Nseir here.
Carol Quint (1940–2023)
“Carol Quint’s work ranged from photography and prints to sculpture. Her wry wit and artistry was, perhaps, best seen in her work incorporating bones. As with her person, her artwork conveyed a deep compassion for the human condition. Her indelible mark is left as comfort for us.” — Ali C. Höcek and Cynthia Corsiglia.
Steve Roden (1964–2023)
“His paintings and sculptures, notoriously difficult to describe, merge logical systems and formal structures with highly personal and improvisational rhythms. The art becomes a field of dynamic engagement.” — Christopher Knight, from his obituary of Roden for the Los Angeles Times
Barbara Rossi (1940–2023)
The Catholic nun-turned-artist, a member of the Chicago Imagist group of the 1960s and ’70s, died in August at the age of 82. Read about Rossi here.
O’Shae Sibley (1994–2023)
The Brooklyn-based performer, recognized for his unique reinterpretations of vogueing and other dance styles embraced by queer people of color, died in August at the age of 28. Sibley was killed in an alleged hate incident that profoundly shocked and saddened New York City’s arts community. Read about Sibley here and here.
Vivan Sundaram (1943–2023)
The Indian artist and activist, praised for his work’s political consciousness and focus on oppressed populations, died in March at the age of 79. Read about Sundaram here.
Heba Zagout (1984–2023)
The Palestinian painter and school teacher who created vibrant landscapes and scenes of Gaza and Jerusalem was killed in Israel airstrikes on Gaza in October. She was 39. Read about Zagout here.
