Gordon P. Bleach: From Zimbabwe to Xanadu

GORDON P BLEACH From Zimbabwe to Xanadu Olu Oguibe A b o v e an d f aci n g page:e/ Wof/ Ve Vision Series 1997- 99, Col or - cou p l er (d i g i t al file) 3'x 6', c s Gayl e Za c h m a n n O n Monday, September 20, our colleague and friend, Zimbabwean artist Gordon Bleach passed away in Gainesville, Florida after a brief battle with cancer. He was 46. Dr. Bleach was on the faculty of the Art Department at the University of Florida. Born in Mutare in present day Zimbabwe in 1953, Gordon moved to South Africa in the 1970s to avoid mandatory draft under the white minority regime of Ian Smith. He eventually studied applied mathematics at the University of Cape Town where he received his first Ph.D. in 1989 with a dissertation on "The Propagation and Growth of Acceleration Waves in Constrained Thermoelastic Media." In the late 1980s, he moved to the United States and taught mathematics, computer science and information technology at various institutions including Rochester Institute of Technology and SUNY, Binghamton. He also obtained an MFA in photography from the Rochester Institute and subsequently enrolled in the postgraduate art history program at SUNY, Binghamton. In 1996 he joined the faculty of the University of Florida to teach photography and photo- theory. At the time of his death he was in charge of the photography program at UF, having succeeded legendary 2 0 t n century master, J erry Uelsman in that role. As an artist Bleach began to exhibit in South Africa in the 1980s. His major break in the United States came in 1996 when he participated in the Guggenheim Museum exhibition of African photographers , In/sight. His work would subsequently feature in several major museum and gallery exhibits around the world, including the 2nc ^ J ohannesburg Biennale, Afromedi@rt at the Volkskunst Museum, Vienna and the Kunsthalle, Krems, as well as Crossling at the Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, among others. His work appeared in numerous publications and catalogues. In addition to a large body of excellent work in his special area of new media painting where he was a pioneer, Bleach also left behind a completed doctoral dissertation on Western representations of Africa in film, photography, and map- making from 1880- 1940, produced under the supervision of distinguished photo- historian )ohn Tagg. His second Ph.D. was awarded posthumously by the State University of New York, Binghamton in December, 1999. Bleach's work as an artist and art historian always centered on Zimbabwe and Africa. Though he worked with advanced technologies , motifs such as the Great Zimbabwe, and figures and dates in African history and contemporary experience, were constant elements in his images. Throughout his long expatriation in the United 28- Nka Jo u r n al of Con t em p or ar y Af rican Art States, he retained his Rhodesian driver's license, reluctant to relinquish all that tied him to home. He also related to Florida, Kubla Khan's Xanadu, which he found to share certain peculiarities with his native Southern Africa [see insert.] He was a key participant in a collective project to produce a cultural cartograph of the region and had plans to engage in a project of his own in which he hoped to explore Florida from the perspective of the engaged immigrant. As an artist Gordon was meticulous and diligent. As a teacher he was both engaging and challenging. As a man he was levelheaded and large- hearted. As a friend he was steadfast. A life- long athlete who participated in swimming competitions as a child and eventually won national biking races in the United States. Gordon combined noble, easygoing modesty with the tenacity and rigor of a sportsman. Gordon is survived by his parents, a brother, and his partner, Gayle Zachmann. Colleagues, friends and family celebrated his life and work at the Harn Museum, Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, September 25, 1999. [Gordon P . Bleach, mathematician, art historian, artist. 1953-1999] Docking Maneuvres: Florida and Southern Africa Gordon Bleach [Originally published online at "Olu Oguibe's Guest of The Week", 1996...