ArtBeat: John Foxx’s “The Quiet Man” @ BCB Art

Former lead vocalist with the pioneering British band Ultravox, John Foxx has quite successfully re-invented himself as an artist in the three decades since he left the Ultravox fold, and BCB Art in Hudson is hosting an exhibition of his haunting black and white (along with a few color) photographs and films.

Foxx was in attendance at BCB Art for the exhibition’s opening reception on Saturday, November 7, offering a mid-afternoon spoken-word performance.

Elegant and eloquent, Foxx read “A Man Made of Shadows” – a section of his ongoing project “The Quiet Man” – to accompany a film collage of cut-up and re-edited vintage black and white films.

“It’s an example of theft,” Foxx readily admitted. “But I hope it’s creative theft.”

Following his reading, Foxx graciously presided over a Q&A session with his fans, several of whom had driven in from quite a distance – New Jersey and western Pennsylvania, for example. The topics of discussion ranged from his aversion to automobiles to Kraftwerk vs. David Bowie.

“I really think that the most important thing that we do as human beings is to tell each other our stories,” Foxx said. And certainly Foxx’s stories are fascinating.

“The Quiet Man” exhibition remains on view at BCB Art through Saturday, December 19.