Terence Koh

Photograph by Stefan Simchowitz

Terence Koh began as spirit. He then became a man, then an artist, and realized that both man and artist are spirit. Upon this realization, he left behind the things that man and artist need, to be the thing he always was.  I first met Terence Koh before I even considered doing what I do now.  I lived in NYC, downtown in Soho and Kathy Grayson and Jeffrey Deitch introduced me to Terence who was then living in an all white townhouse in Chinatown, with gallery, studio and living quarters all in one.  Terence was warm, playful, wild and always (for the most part) wearing white – white cotton, white fur, white terry cloth.   Terence showed in New York extensively doing performances, actions, exhibitions, and gatherings with galleries like Team Gallery, Deitch projects and many more.  Always loved, Terence was always mutually respectful of others. Terence was always hip but never a hipster. He crossed groups in the same way as a pair of skis crosses snowy terrain underneath: effortlessly leaving only a line, a mark of beauty. Terence then disappeared. I don’t know why or when exactly, but he went on a “WalkAbout”: an aboriginal term for going into the wilderness to find one’s centre, one’s spirit animal again. He went into the woods and learned how to live off the land and respect its power.  He learned how to commune with the rituals that have bound man on earth since the beginning of time. It is unlikely to find the current iteration of his spirit on La Cienega Blvd, in a gallery owned and run by the Moran brothers and Aaron Bondaroff, where he has settled in like an American Indian on the great plains, but here he has built a mini eco-system to sustain himself within the interior and exterior confines of the space, an aesthetic replica in physical space of his spirit power.

A white cat follows me through the space, its grey-green eyes fixing my position as my clickety-clack-clack tries to capture this ephemeral scene with my camera.  The pine smoke he uses to calm down the bees drifts through the space. I smell the scent of peace and with envy look upon this gentle man and the simplicity of his power. Terence Koh, we love you!

Photograph by Stefan Simchowitz

Photograph by Stefan Simchowitz

Photograph by Stefan Simchowitz

Photograph by Stefan Simchowitz