Frank Moore (performance artist)

Frank Moore
Frank Moore in front of the Art Institute of Chicago 1991 photograph by Linda Mac
Born	Frank James Moore June 25, 1946 Columbus, Ohio, United States
Died	October 14, 2013(2013-10-14) (aged 67) Berkeley, California, United States
Nationality	American
Known for	Performance artist

Frank James Moore (June 25, 1946 – October 14, 2013) was an American performance artist,shaman, poet,essayist,painter, musician and Internet/television personality who experimented in art, performance, ritual, and shamanistic teaching since the late 1960s.

Moore is perhaps most notable as one of the NEA-funded artists targeted by Jesse Helms and the GAO (General Accounting Office) in the early 1990s for doing art that was labeled “obscene". Moore was featured in the 1988 cult film Mondo New York, which chronicled the leading performance artists of that period.

Moore was well known for his long (5–48 hours) ritualistic performances with audience participation, nudity, and eroticism. His influential writings on performance art, and cultural subversion, his influence on the San Francisco Bay Area music and performance scene, and his performance/video archive on Vimeo.com seen by over 22 million people, further influence Moore's legacy.

Moore coined the word "eroplay" to describe physical play between adults released from the linear goals of sex and orgasm. He explored this and similar concepts in performance and ritual as a way for people to connect on a deeper level beyond the social and cultural expectations and limitations. He explored in art a way to melt isolation between people.

Moore was an underground counter-culture hero and artistic inspiration for decades. He was born with cerebral palsy, could not walk or talk, and communicated using a laser-pointer and a board of letters, numbers, and commonly used words. Using his laser-pointer, he wrote books, directed plays, directed, acted in and edited films, and regularly gave poetry readings. Moore played piano, sang in ensemble music jams, and led bands in hard core punk clubs all along the West Coast of the United States until his death. He also produced, and exhibited across the United States and Canada, a large collection of original oil and digital paintings.