He won multiple awards during his 50-year career, including the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and spent his life championing African cinema.
Category: Deaths (Obituaries)
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Gerd Stern, Beat Era Poet and Multimedia Artist, Dies at 96
An Aquarian Age savant, he was a founder of the artists’ collective USCO, which helped define the 1960s with psychedelic, sensory-overloading installations and performances.
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Souleymane Cissé, Celebrated Malian Filmmaker, Dies at 84
He won multiple awards during his 50-year career, including the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and spent his life championing African cinema.
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Dickson Despommier, Who Championed Farming in Skyscrapers, Dies at 84
A microbiologist, he popularized “vertical farming” — raising crops in tall buildings — to remediate climate change and feed more people.
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Ron Travisano, Adman Behind Singing Cats and Joe Isuzu, Dies at 86
The art director for Meow Mix and other memorable commercials, he began his career at the dawn of a creative revolution on Madison Avenue.
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Yrjo Kukkapuro, Who Made the Easiest of Easy Chairs, Dies at 91
A celebrated Finnish modernist, he designed a variety of furnishings but was best known for his seating — which, his company said, “almost every Finn has sat on.”
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Edith Mathis, Radiant Swiss Soprano, Is Dead at 86
Known for her interpretations of Bach, Mozart and Weber, she was praised for her clear, bright voice and her perfect intonation even on the highest notes.
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Walter Robinson, Exuberant Art-World Participant and Observer, Dies at 74
A painter who took his subjects from pop culture, he was also the founding editor of Artnet.com and chronicled the rise of the SoHo art scene in the 1970s.
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Ken Wydro, Who Helped Create an Off Broadway Phenomenon, Dies at 81
He and his wife, Vy Higginsen, poured all they had into “Mama, I Want to Sing,” a long-shot musical that became an enduring staple of Black theater.
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Overlooked No More: Lena Richard, Who Brought Creole Cooking to the Masses
She hosted a cooking show years before Julia Child was on the air, tantalizing viewers with okra gumbo, shrimp bisque and other Southern specialties.
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Jim Guy Tucker, Ex-Arkansas Governor Caught Up in Whitewater, Dies at 81
He was among those targeted by the investigation that consumed much of Bill Clinton’s presidency. But his conviction was later questioned.