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Jay DeFeo

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Artist

The Resume

    (March 31, 1929-November 11, 1989)
    Born in Hanover, New Hampshire
    Born Mary Joan DeFeo
    Member of the Beat Generation, a hipster movement that flourished in the 1950s
    Paintings include 'Easter Lily' (1956), 'Persephone' (1957), 'The Veronica' (1957), 'Annunciation' (1959), 'The Jewel' (1959),  'Incision' (1961), 'The Rose' (1966), 'The Crescent Bridge I' (1972), 'Cabbage Rose' (1975), and 'Samurai No. 8' (1987)
    Making of 'The Rose' documented in a short movie by Bruce Connor titled 'The White Rose' (1967)
    Appointed a professor at Mills College (1980)
    Drew a series of drawings called 'Reflections of Africa' (1987)

Why she might be annoying:

    She was convicted for shoplifting two cans of paint, which got her fired from her job as art teacher. (1953)
    It took her eight years to complete 'The Rose'. (1958-66)
    Moreover, 'The Rose' is so large that a forklift was used to remove it from her apartment.
    By the time she finished 'The Rose', it was considered so anachronistic that it was first kept in a secluded room at the San Francisco Art Institute, where it was largely ignored. (1969)
    After she and Wally Hedrick divorced, she began a thirteen-year relationship with a much younger man. (1969-82)
    She contracted a gum disease on purpose so she could create photographs and paintings of her own dental bridge. (1970)

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was often separated from her parents throughout her childhood because of her parents' turbulent marriage that eventually ended in divorce.
    Because of her parents' turbulent marriage, she spent a year under institutional care when she was four.
    Her work on 'The Rose' was disrupted when she was evicted from her apartment. (November 1965)
    She continued to produce artwork even when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. (1988)
    Her Oakland studio suffered damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake, forcing her to vacate it. (October 1989)

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 27 Votes: 44.44% Annoying