Charles Cornelius Recher

1950 - 2017

Charles Recher was a native South Florida artist who created poetical works of short film, multimedia installation and performance, and other visual arts, as well as poetry and prose. Born in Fort Lauderdale on February 8, 1950, he spent his childhood roaming the Everglades and beaches, and committed to the arts while at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Since 1980 he lived in Miami Beach, where he worked, taught, and collaborated or communed with many artists and friends. Recher created over one hundred films and videos, frequently set or experienced in surprising locations throughout the city: from elevators, bicycles, and metro-movers to pedestrian malls and projections on urban architecture. The works often draw upon imagery and memories of the unique Florida landscape, and utilize intuitive elements of play, humor, spatial contrast, emotional vulnerability, and theatricality. He held numerous guest lectureships and workshops at national and international institutions, including the "Masters of the Avant-Garde" program at Harvard University, and established an experimental film and video program for Miami-Dade College. His awards include Cultural Consortium Fellowships, NEA grants, and Florida Individual Artist Fellowships. He died on January 26, 2017 at the age of 66, and is survived by his partner of twenty years, artist Judith Robertson, and nieces Nicole LeClaire Benson of Vero Beach and Wendy LeClaire Bradford of Winter Garden. No funeral is planned. In celebration of his life, donations are encouraged to your favorite Florida environmental organizations.