Howard Fried (b. 1946) is a pioneering conceptual artist whose performances, films, videos and installations helped establish the Bay Area as an important center for experimental art. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he earned his B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1968 and his M.F.A. from the University of California, Davis, in 1970. Fried's work investigates perception, conflict and the dynamics of everyday experience, often using games, staged situations and seemingly ordinary activities to reveal complex patterns of human behavior. His early performances included All My Dirty Blue Clothes (1969), presented at UC Davis, and Synchromatic Baseball (1971). He participated in documenta 5 in Kassel, Germany (1972), and four Whitney Biennials between 1977 and 1983. Fried founded the video and performance department at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he taught from 1970 to 1987. His work is in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.