{{short description|American artist and educator (born 1937)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Tom Marioni | alt = | image = Tom Marioni (born 1937) in the video 'Speaker – Talk and Video program with artist Tom Marioni'.png | caption = At a talk at the San Francisco Public Library in 2022 | other_names = "Alan Fish" | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1937}} | birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = Art Academy of Cincinnati | known_for = Conceptual art | spouse = Kathan Brown (1983–present) }}
'''Tom Marioni''' (born 1937) is an American artist and educator, known for his conceptual artwork. Marioni was active in the emergence of Conceptual Art movement in the 1960s.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2010/hammer-projects-tom-marioni|title=Hammer Projects: Tom Marioni|website=Hammer Museum, UCLA|date=28 August 2010 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> He founded the Museum of Conceptual Art (MOCA), which operated in San Francisco from 1970 until 1984.
He is currently living and working out of San Francisco, California.<ref name="San Francisco Chronicle">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Conceptual-artist-holds-weekly-beer-salon-in-S-F-3700516.php#ixzz26OiIyxmT|title=Conceptual artist holds weekly beer salon in S.F.|author=Sam Whiting|date=2012-07-11|publisher=SFGate|access-date=2013-09-07}}</ref>
== History == Marioni was born 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio, into an Italian American family with three brothers.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-tom-marioni-17535|title=Oral history interview with Tom Marioni, 2017 December 21-22|date=2017-12-22|website=Archives of American Art, Smithsonian|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> His father John "Sereno" Marioni was a general practitioner doctor and "Sunday painter" and his mother sang opera and played the harp and the piano.<ref name=":2" /> As a child Tom learned to play the violin and in middle school he trained with the Cincinnati Conservatory – around this time he also became interested in jazz music.<ref name=":2" /> He was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic Boys School from grade school through high school.<ref name=":2" /> Two of his brother went on to become artists, Paul Marioni and Joseph Marioni, and a nephew, Dante Marioni.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattlebusinessmag.com/executive-profiles/earth-wind-and-fire-qa-artist-dante-marioni|title=Earth, Wind and Fire: Q&A with Artist Dante Marioni|date=2017-10-17|website=Seattle Business Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> Marioni received his art training at the Art Academy of Cincinnati between 1955 and 1959.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/tom-marioni/biography|title=Tom Marioni Biography|website=artnet.com|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref>
He moved to San Francisco, California after graduating in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Conceptual-artist-holds-weekly-beer-salon-in-S-F-3700516.php|title=Conceptual artist holds weekly beer salon in S.F.|last=Whiting|first=Sam|date=2012-07-12|website=SFGate|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> He was stationed in Germany with the United States Army from 1960 to 1963.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/39|title=- Art Exhibitions - Tom Marioni / MATRIX 39|last=Lewallen|first=Constance|website=Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> The Museum of Conceptual Art (MOCA) was founded in the 1970 by Marioni, who described conceptual art as "social artwork".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Karin Breuer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8-PoNhKn_wC&q=Museum+of+Conceptual+Art%2C+San+Francisco&pg=PA13|title=Thirty-five Years at Crown Point Press: Making Prints, Doing Art|author2=Ruth E. Fine|author3=Steven A. Nash|publisher=University of California Press|year=1997|page=13|isbn = 9780520210615|name-list-style=amp}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.artpractical.com/feature/the_museum_of_conceptual_art_a_prolegomena_to_hip/|title=The Museum of Conceptual Art: A Prolegomena to Hip|last=Harrison Tedford|first=Matthew|date=2011-04-12|website=Art Practical|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> From 1975 to 1982, he was editor of ''Vision'', an art journal published by Crown Point Press. From 1986 until 1971, he served as the curator at the Richmond Art Center in Richmond, California.<ref name=":3" />
He used the pseudonym and alter-ego '''Alan Fish''' in some early performances.<ref name=":3" />
Famous works by Marioni include ''One Second Sculpture'' (1969) and ''The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art'' (1970).<ref name=":1" />
Marioni's work is included in many public museum collections, including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Tom_Marioni/|title=Collection: Tom Marioni|website=SFMOMA|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF).<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://art.famsf.org/tom-marioni|title=Collections: Tom Marioni|date=2018-09-21|website=FAMSF|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref>
Marioni is also known for his Wednesday night art salon he has been holding for over 40 years. In November 2008 the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art recreated his salon and served free beer every Thursday night for the duration of the show.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://openspace.sfmoma.org/2008/11/free-beer/ |title=Free Beer! |first=Suzanne |last=Stein |website=Open Space |publisher=San Francisco Museum of Modern Art |date=2008-11-13 |access-date=2026-04-04}}</ref>
== Personal life == Marioni married Kathan Brown of Crown Point Press in 1983,<ref name=":4" /> and he has three sons.<ref name=":2" />
== Publications == * {{Cite book|last=Marioni|first=Tom|title=Beer, Art and Philosophy: A Memoir by Tom Marioni, The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art|publisher=Crown Point Press|year=2004|isbn=978-1891300172|location=San Francisco, California}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website}} * [https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Tom_Marioni/ Tom Marioni collection of works] at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) * Audio/Transcript: [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-tom-marioni-17535 Oral history interview with Tom Marioni, 2017 December 21-22], Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution * Video: [http://vimeo.com/37981379 ''Tom Marioni: The Act of Drinking Beer''] on Vimeo * Video: [https://www.guggenheim.org/video/the-third-mind-interview-with-tom-marioni ''The Third Mind: Interview with Tom Marioni''] (2009)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marioni, Tom}} Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:American modern artists Category:American conceptual artists Category:American people of Italian descent