Jaime Davidovich (1936 - 2016)

THEN / NOW  Long before Dr. Phil berated guests for their toxic habits, artist Jaime Davidovich invented Dr. Videovich, a fake TV therapist who specialized in treating television addiction. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, the eccentric shrink regularly appeared on The Live! Show, Davidovich’s weekly public-access variety gig on Soho Cable. It featured a mix of political satire, social commentary and avant-garde performances by the likes of Ann Magnuson, Laurie Anderson and Eric Bogosian. Davidovich also used the program to push Videokitsch, a collection of ties, toys, sunglasses and other tchotchkes, all shaped like TV sets.  

Jaime Davidovich (September 27, 1936 – August 27, 2016) was an Argentine-American conceptual artist and television-art pioneer. His innovative artworks and art-making activities produced several distinct professional reputations including painter, installation artist, video artist, Public-access television cable TV producer, activist, and non-profit organizer.He is the creator of legendary downtown Manhattan cable television program The Live! Show (1979–1984). Billed as “the variety show of the avant-garde“, The Live! Show was an eclectic half-hour of live, interactive artistic entertainment inspired by the Dada performance club Cabaret Voltaire and the anarchic humor of American television comedian Ernie Kovacs.