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John Dugger (1948-2023) was born in Los Angeles. He studied in Chicago before arriving in Europe in 1967, where he became part of the London avant-garde. He created participatory art events in London, working and exhibiting with artists such as David Medalla, Lygia Clark and Helio Oiticica; and designed a pavilion for Documenta 5 at the invitation of Harold Szeeman.

In the 1970s, influenced by his travels in China and Asia and his passion for mountaineering, Dugger's practice shifted away from participation art towards banner making. His banners have been commissioned by the Dalai Lama and the House of Commons and are in many public collections, including Tate, London. In  2007, he exhibited drawings and Expeditionary Mountain Banners at England & Co. Two of his early banner works were exhibited recently at the Antwerp Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition This Could Happen to You: Ikon in the 1970s, which includes works by John Dugger, was held recently at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.

The exhibition at England & Co in 2010: John Dugger: Ergonic Messenger focused on his works and projects from the 1970s and was accompanied by a 36-page illustrated catalogue that includes an essay by Guy Brett.

In June 2012, John Dugger exhibited with England & Co at Pinta: The Latin American Art Fair in London, where his large Chile Vencera! banner, first hung in Trafalgar Square in 1974, was on display in the main exhibition space. In July 2012, his Sports Banner from 1980 was featured as Tate's Work of the Week to coincide with the opening of London's Olympic Games.

Lo Shu Magic Square Tortoise (The Original Magic Square Tortoise) 2012
Various
Multimedia with Original Mathematical Formulae

© John Dugger

The Gate of Freedom – The Masses 1973
18 x 24 x 1.5 inches
Sand cast (by the artist) bronze, plus wooden base

'Grenade' c 1972
9.5 inches high
Stoneware vase

Model for an Underground Hospital with Woven Roof 1972-73
Approx 24 x 31 inches
Plastic tubing, scaffolding, grey postal bags
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Star Weaver 1972

Perspex, plastic tubing, steel eye bolt, rotary shackle, rope
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Perennial unfolding 1970

Plastic tubing, nylon line, nylon webbing
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Ergonic Cycle The First Ergongic Sculpture c 1970

Photographic montage of the ‘planting and flowering’ cycle of The Perennial in action
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Perennial unfolding 1970

Time-lapse photograph of two Perennials in motion
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Tub Lotus with Body Conductor Paris 1970

Shaped washing tubs, silver fabric, Tibetan fabric tape, Body Conductor (corrugated rubber tube)
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Curved Space Tubes Paris, 1970

The artist with two Curved Space Tubes, with Rains Retreat sculpture and Suprematistic Map of the Heavens.
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Jetsound Dorigee 1970

Curved Space Tubes on lattice structure
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Rains Retreat (complete complex) Paris, 1970

Architectonic model: wood boxes, interlocking wood hemispheres
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Rains Retreat (single unit) Paris, 1970

Architectonic model: wood box, interlocking wood hemispheres
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Body Conductor London 1970

Two Body Conductors in use
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Body Conductor 1969

The artist with Body Conductor on Hampstead Heath, London
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Windom 1968

Windchimes, sail, wire with a piece of bone that makes tracings in the sand
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Windom 1968

Stone counterbalance on Windom sculpture. Materials: bamboo, stone, fabric, cord, sand
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