Van Deren Coke: 1921-2004.

Van Deren Coke, highly acclaimed photographer, author, curator, and teacher, died July 11, 2004 in Albuquerque, New Mexico Coke studied history and art history at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, his hometown. He earned an MA in art history, an MFA in both photography and sculpture at Indiana University, and a PhD in art history from Harvard University, where he spent two summers of workshops with Ansel Adams. While on vacation with his family at age seventeen, Coke met Edward Weston. Weston along with Adams and Paul Strand influenced Coke's early vision as a photographer. Coke worked in the vein of straight photography but also experimented with innovative forms and techniques in the darkroom. Inspired by Duchamp and the Dadaists. Coke made use of "found" negatives. In 1962, he moved to New Mexico. He taught full-time at the University of New Mexico, was the first director of the Art Museum, and was chairman of the Department of Art. He then served as the Director of the George Eastman House in Rochester from 1970-72. Coke returned to his work at the UNM from 1973 until 1978. In 1979, he became director of the Department of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and worked there until he retired in 1987. Coke is most known for establishing national/international attention on the arts in New Mexico. A memorial exhibition entitled Van Deren Coke Remembered is being held at the University of New Mexico Art Museum through December 12, 2004.