David Humphrey
Biography:
David Humphrey's paintings, sculptures, and drawings have been known for their "surreal sexiness, postmodern snap, and painterly discrimination". Combining figuration and landscape with abstract forms, his canvases are a lively field, where diverse painting practices co-exist to hatch enigmatic and engrossing narratives.
David Humphrey received a BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1977 and a MA from New York University in 1980. He has shown nationally and internationally and he has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Rome Prize among other awards. His collections include the Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Goetz Collection, Munich, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, the Walker Art Center, the Whitney Museum of Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery, among others.
Humphrey wrote a column for Art Issues from 1989-2002 and has written extensively on art for exhibition catalogs and art periodical, including Art in America and Flash. An anthology of his writing, Blind Handshake, was released in 2009 by Periscope Publishing. Humphrey was appointed senior critic at Yale School of Art in 2007.
Statement:
My paintings are frequently depictions of depictions. I will copy an amateur painting, for instance, the way a band might cover a song written by someone else, or the way a singer renders an old chestnut. I try to get inside the other person's point of view to stretch my own. Sometimes the preexisting image, like an eccentrically generic landscape, will provide a location for one of my paintings. Sometimes a sad clown or beloved pet painting will provide the protagonist. My handmade renditions, though, take a lot of liberties with the originals. I will add characters or exaggerate and mutate elements. But the work will evolve from contact with the original and will carry iconographic elements, and sometimes feelings, into the finished state.
I am interested in amateur paintings for their rhetorical clarity, especially conventionally idyllic landscapes saturated with promises of harmony, beauty and a simpler life. Amateur paintings also have relic value; they have been saved, handed down and are evidence that a certain individual spent their life not painting that much. The focused determination and particular handwriting of the brush-strokes, though, can have an awkward and sometimes heartbreaking beauty. I gather my images from flea markets, antique stores and the internet. That's where I found the paintings of Dwight David Eisenhower. Like myself, he was making copies of images from Hallmark greeting cards. Can we learn anything by comparing that warrior Republican to our current Republican President? Eisenhower was instrumental in developing our highway system and an early form of the internet but his paintings are mute. My paintings treat Eisenhower's blankness pathologically. I complicate Ike's earnest competence with sexual overtones and semiotic horseplay. I play fast and loose with the historical record. Like an amateur, I screw things up in my own way.
Résumé:
Born 1955
Lives and works in New York
Education
1980 MA, New York University, NY
1977 BFA, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Honors and Awards
2011 American Academy of Arts and Letters, purchase award
2008 Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome
2002 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
2002 Thomas B. Clarke Prize from the National Academy of Design
1995 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
1987 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
1985 New York Council for the Arts Grant
1979-80 New York Council for the Arts Grant
Solo Exhibitions
2013 Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2012 Fredericks & Freiser, New York, NY
2012 American University Museum, Washington DC
2011 Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
2010 Lux Institute, Encinitas, CA
2010 Solomon Projects, Atlanta, GA
2010 Defrosted, a life of Walt Disney in collaboration with Adam Cvijanovic, Postmasters, NY
2010 Animal Companions, in collaboration with Jennifer Coates, Holly Coulis and Ridley Howar
2008 Expecting Ecstasy, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
2007 Keith Talent Gallery, London
2007 Fred Amaya Gallery, Miami, FL
2006 New Paintings, Solomon Projects, Atlanta, GA
2006 Frederic Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2006 Snowman in Love, Triple Candie, NY
2005 Oven Stuffer Roaster, Morsel, NY
2004 Brent Sikkema Gallery, New York, NY
2002 Both Less and More, Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY
2002 Lace, Bubbles, Milk, Pittsburgh Filmakers’ New Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (catalogue)
2002 Holiday Melt, Solomon Projects, Atlanta, GA
2002 Holiday Melt, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
2001 Holiday Melt, Saks Fifth Avenue Project Art, Palm Beach, FL
2001 University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
2000 McKee Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Sculptures, Deven Golden Fine Art Ltd, New York, NY
1999 Me and My Friends, The Phillip Feldman Gallery, Pacific Northwest
1999 College of Art, Portland, OR
1998 Love Teams, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL (catalogue)
1998 Works on Paper, Roy G Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH
1997 SHaG, team paintings by A. Sillman, D. Humphrey and E. Greene
1997 Postmasters, New York, NY
1997 Sculptures, Deven Golden Fine Art Ltd, New York, NY
1996 Nancy Solomon Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1996 David Humphrey: Paintings and Drawings 1987-1994, Wood Street Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (catalogue)
1996 Head: Recent Paintings, I Space, Chicago, IL
1995 David Humphrey: Paintings and Drawings 1987-1994,
1995 The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH (catalogue)
1995 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 McKee Gallery, New York, NY
1992 Patricia Shea Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1991 Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, Neenah, WI (catalogue)
1991 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991 McKee Gallery, New York, NY
1990 Krygier\Landau Contemporay Art, Santa Monica, CA
1990 David McKee Gallery, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 (upcoming): (UN)REAL, David Richard Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2010 Visible Vagina, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Animal as Other, curated by April Gornik, Danese Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Knock Knock: Who's There? That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore - Curated by Elana Rubinfeld & Sarah Murkett
2010 Spring Fever, curated by Ridley Howard and Nicole Russo106 Green, Brooklyn, NY
2009 Chunky Monkey, Red Flagg, NY
2009 Spazi Aperti, Romanian Academy, Rome, Italy
2008 Perversions of Theater, Apex Art, New York, NY
2007 Inside the Pale, Thrust Projects, New York, NY
2007 Mr President, University Art Museum, SUNY Albany, NY
2007 Neointegrity, Derek Eller Gallery, NY
2006 Complicit, University of Virginia Art Museum, Richmond, VA
2006 Normal, Linda Warren Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 Jeff Gauntt & David Humphrey, Sikkema Jenkins & Co.,New York, NY
2005 Life and Limb, Feigen Contemporary, New York, NY
2004 When I Think of You I Touch Myself, New York Academy of Art, New York
2003 New Prints, McKee Gallery, New York, NY
2003 4 x 4, Artist’s Union, St. Petersburg, Russia
2003 Pop thru Out, Araio Gallery, Choongchungnma, Korea (catalogue)
2003 The Burbs, DFN Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue)
2002 Pasted On, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
2002 Super Natural Payground, Gallerie Marella, Milan Italy (catalogue)
2002 177th Annual, National Academy of Design Musuem, New York,NY (catalogue)
2002 Hair Stories, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
2002 Words in Deeds, PICA, Portland ,OR
2002 Someone’s Been Telling Lies, Forde Gallery, Geneva Switzerland
2002 Luscious Too, Zolla/Lieberman, Chicago, IL
2001 Fhuh..., Fishtank Gallery, New York, NY
2001 Self Made Men, DC Moore Gallery, NY
2000 Objects that Flicker, Solomon Projects, Atlanta, GA
2000 Exit Art, New York, NY
2000 Rapture, Janet Phelps, New York, NY
2000 The Figure, Another Side of Modernism, Snug Harbor Art Center, NY (catalogue)
2000 Collaborations, Bucknell University Art Gallery, Lewisburg, PA
2000 Toys, Kagan Martos Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Drawing in the Present Tense, Parsons School of Design, NY
1999 Body Parts, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI
1998 The Mind Is a Beast, The Work Space, NY
1998 Road Show, dfn Gallery, NY
1997 La Tradicion, Performance Painting, Exit Art, New York, NY
1997 Lubiana Biennial, Lubiana, Slovenia (catalogue)
1997 Drawn & Quartered, Karen McCready Fine Art, New York, NY
1997 Hair-Do, Curated by Nancy Brett, The Work Space, New York, NY
1996 Thing, Deven Golden Fine Art, New York, NY
1996 Photographism (in painting), Pratt Galleries, New York, NY
1996 Face, One Great Jones, New York, NY (catalogue)
1996 Some Friends In My Apartment, Barbara Pollack, New York, NY
1996 Psycho-Morphing, Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY
1996 True Bliss, LACE, Los Angeles, CA (catalogue)
1995 Crystal Blue Persuassion, Feature, New York, NY
1995 Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC (catalogue)
1995 Internal/External, Foster Goldstrom Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue)
1995 More Than Real, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL
1995 On Target, Horodner Romley Gallery, New York, NY
1995 Arresting Images, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL
1994 Digressions, Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY
1994 Flooding Camera, The Work Space, New York, NY
1994 Family Values, Russet Lederman Productions
1993 Art in the Age of Information, Wood Street Galleries and 808 Penn Modern, Pittsburgh, PA(catalogue)
1993 Pittsburgh Collects, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
1993 Appraising the Preternatural, Patricia Shea Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (organized by Sue Spaid and Michael Anderson)
1993 Psychological Impact, Northampton Community College,Bethlehem, PA (curated by Rhonda Wall)
1993 Robert Morrison Gallery, New York
1993 Personal Imagery, Chicago/New York, Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, NY
1993 43rd Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Painting, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (catalogue)
1992 Dysfunction in the Family Album, Diane Brown Gallery, New York, NY, (curated by David Humphrey)
1992 Underthings, Bliss, Pasadena, CA
1992 (Drawing) Pictures, Four Walls at P.S. 1, Long Island City, NY, (organized by Amy Sillman)
1992 Hair, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, W I
1991 Personal Portrait, Annina Nosei Gallery, NY
1991 Mute, Solo Gallery, New York, NY (curated by Susan Tallman)
1991 Expressive Visions and Exquisite Images: Two Aspects of Art of the 80's From The Richard Brown Baker Collection, Meadowbrook Art Gallery, Oakland University, CA (catalogue)
1991 Landscape as Stage, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (organized by Meyer Raphael Rubenstein)
1990 Prints & Monotypes, Pelavin Editions, New York, NY
1990 Faces, Marc Richards Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1990 The Unique Print: 70's into the 90's, Museum of Fine Art,Boston, MA (catalogue)
Selected Writings by David Humphrey
2012 Pastoral with Pets, Lux Institute
2010 Blind Handshake, Periscope Publishing ltd. Selected writing 1989-2008, 240 pages, full color
2005 "Hi, My Name is Artwork," M/E/A/N/I/N/G Online #1, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
1996 “Describable Beauty,” New Observations #113.
1996 “On the Fantastic,” Tema Celeste.
1993 “Telepathy” (a collaborative artists' book project with Bill Jones).
1990 "Hair Piece," Art issues, February.
1990 "Stained Sheets/Holy Shroud," Arts Magazine, December
1990 "The Abject Romance of Low Resolution," Lusitania, Vol. 1 #4.
1990 "The Dictator's Body," Stanford Italian Review (drawings)
Exhibitions Curated
2010 In a Violet Distance, Zurcherr Studio, NY
2007 Horizon, EFA Gallery, New York, NY
2006 19 Penis’ thebody.com/visualaids/web_gallery
2005 Life and Limb, Feigen Contemporary, New York, NY
2004 When I Think of You I Touch Myself, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2002 Hello to Handmade Words, K.S. Art, New York, NY
2001 Fhuh, Promiscuously Subarticulate Paintings, Fishtank, New York, NY
1997 Normotic, One Great Jones, New York, NY
1992 Dysfunction in the Family Album, Diane Brown Gallery, New York, NY
1990 Stained Sheets: Holy Shroud, Krygier/Landau Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA
Selected Reviews and Publications
2010 Karen Rosenberg, New York Times, 7/9
2010 TJ Carlin, Time Out, 2/9
2007 Bors, Chris, www.artinfo.com/articles/story/26151
2006 Bors, Chris, Snowmen in Harlem, Artnet. com
2005 "Artist of the Week," Edward Winkelman Blogspot, January 10.
2004 Kalm, James. "David Humphrey," Brooklyn Rail, May.
2004 Pepe, Sheila. " What's in a Game?" Gay City News, April 22-28.
2003 Green, Elliot. "David Humphrey, " Bomb, Fall.
2003 Rubinstein, Raphael. "David Humphrey: Correlative Kitsch," Art in America, November.
2002 Johnson, Ken. “Tricky Adios,” New York Times, June 7
2000 Cullum, Jerry. “ Poodles, Ice Cream and the Way We Live,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 22
2000 Feaster, Felicia. “Kitsch on Quaaludes,” Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA
2000 Diehl, Carol, “David Humphrey at McKee Gallery,” Art in America, June.
2000 Chambers, Christopher, “The Splice of Life,” D, Art, Fall.
2000 Wiken, Karen, Partisan, Spring.
1999 “A Conversation with Catherine Howe,” NY Arts, February.
1999 “A Conversation with Scott Weiland,” NY Arts, July/August.
1999 DiMaggio, Anthony. Review, June 15.
1998 Camper, Fred. Chicago Reader, April 17.
1998 Cone, Jon. Art Byte, December-January.
1995 Plagens, Peter. "A Painter's Pixel Palette", Newsweek, February 27.
1995 Stein, Jerry. "Family photos take role in artist's paintings", The Cincinnati Post, April 8.
1995 Findsen, Owen. "Mysterious narratives enter new art dimension", The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 11.
1995 Heisler, Eva. " Computer Gargoyoles", Dialogue, September/October.
1995 Hirsch, Faye. “On Paper,” September/October.
1994 Cameron, Dan. "Art for the New Year," Art and Auction, January.
1993 Weiner, Daniel. "Studio Visits," (interview with David Humphrey ) Artspace, March/April.
1993 Miller, Donald. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 13.
1993 Sanchez, Annette B. "Art in the Age of Information: Thought-Provoking," New Pittsburgh Courier, April 17.
1993 Richard, Paul. "What's Wrong with this Picture," The Washington Post, October 31.
1993 Hagen, Charles. "David Humphrey," The New York Times, November 26.
1993 Shirley, David. Option Magazine, October.
1992 Hagen, Charles. "Dysfunction in the Family Album," The New York Times, January 31.
1992 Homes, A.M. "Dysfunction in the Family Album," Artforum, May.
1992 Scarborough, James. "David Humphrey at Patricia Shea," Artweek, October 8.
1992 Weisman, Benjamin. "David Humphrey - Patricia Shea Gallery,"Artforum, November.
1992 Wye, Pamela. "David Humphrey: Adjusting the Picture" Sulfur 30, Spring.
1992 Anderson, Michael. "David Humphrey," Art Issues, November/December.
1991 Lading, Sara. "Artist Illustrates Relationship Between Anatomy, Emotion," Valley Sun, January 31.
1991 Baker, Kenneth. "David Humphrey: Walk on the Weird Side," San Francisco Chronicle, February 9.
1991 Bartlett, Mark. "David Humphrey," Art issues, April/May.
1991 Rubinstein, Meyer Raphael. "David Humphrey at David McKee," Art in America, July.
1991 Cyphers, Peggy. Arts Magazine, September.
1991 "David Humphrey," Journal of Comtemporary Art, Vol. 4, #2, Fall/Winter.
1990 Spector, Buzz. "Stained Sheets/Holy Shroud," Art issues, September/October.
1990 "David Humphrey," The New Yorker, April 23.
Private and Public Collections
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
Chemical Bank, New York, NY
Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, OH
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Exxon Corporation, New York, NY
First Bank Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN
Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ
McCrory Corporation, New York, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA
The Progressive Corporation, OH
Prudential Insurance Corporation, Newark, NJ
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN