About Mr. Taussig
Self Portrait 2013
Arthur Taussig was born and raised in Los Angeles with early schooling in Eagle Rock, and in 1963, received a degree in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to science, he studied anthropology and music history. He began playing American primitive folk guitar and banjo, and soon began teaching and performing on radio station KPFK’s “Midnight Special” folk music program.
Fate is Only Once, Harry Taussig
In 1964, Taussig moved to Orange County where he began work as a physicist for Ford-Aeronutronics Corporation. During this time, he began studying art and photography with John Upton at Orange Coast College. In 1967 he made his first limited edition solo recording, “Fate Is Only Once” (which has since been reissued on Tompkins Square records).
Unhappy with his role in the military-industrial complex, he entered UCLA to continue his education. While doing advanced studies at the UCLA Brain Research Institute, he continued his studies in photography with Robert Heinecken and Robert Fichter. In summers, he worked with John Upton, Minor White, Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro, Oliver Gagliani, and others. He received his Masters in Biochemistry and a Doctorate in Biophysics in 1971 while beginning to exhibit his photography internationally.
He accepted a teaching position in Photography at Orange Coast College where he later also taught film. The Robert Freidus Gallery in New York City represented his photographs and placed them with many collectors and museums including The Art Institute of Chicago, Denver Museum of Art, Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Portland Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, and many others. Taussig’s work has been included in over 300 exhibitions world-wide. In 1982 he received the National Endowment of the Arts Visual Artist’s Grant.
Interview with KPCC’s Alex Cohen, Photo by Jacob Margolis
Tompkins Square Records issued his second album in 2010 to world-wide acclaim, and in 2012, he was invited to perform at the South by South-West Music Festival in Austin where Wired Magazine listed him as one of the top 50 performances.
Currently, in addition to continuing his photographic works, he has produced a series of illuminated books of classic works: Dante’s “The Divine Comedy,” James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” and so on. Taussig has also embarked on a series of collage works based on Jungian Psychology: “Alex’s Abventures in the Five Rivers of the Underworld” and “Alice’s Alchemical Adventures.” In this vein, he has done what he calls “a 21st century” set of Tarot Cards.