Black Contemporary American Artists : David Hammons

David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois. In his early twenties he moved to Los Angeles to study art. He attended multiple colleges there, ultimately graduating in 1968 from Chouinard Art Institute which has since been absorbed into the CalArts system. Prior to his graduation, Hammons studied with art activist Charles White who made a lasting impression on his work. Hammons is a multimedia artist that is best known for his Body Prints series and his large-scale outdoor memorial, Days End, to New York artist, Gordon Metta-Clark, with whom he had a close friendship. While Hammons is internationally renowned for his art, his work pushes expectations of both the lay person and avid art critic alike. In this, he continues to pursue the question – what is art? This philosophy translates seamlessly with his existential works that question intersectional ideas of poverty and personhood, queerness and blackness, oftentimes criticizing systemic oppression in the United States. Hammons currently resides in New York City and continues pursuing his art in multiple media.

Hoptman, L. (n.d.). David Hammons. Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 14 January 2023 from https://www.moma.org/artists/2486

https://whitney.org/exhibitions/david-hammons-days-end (photos and video of Days End)
https://hammer.ucla.edu/now-dig-this/artists/david-hammons (America the Beautiful)
Dawoud Bey, David Hammons (portrait), Gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 in., Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/44348/1/photographer-dawoud-bey-on-the-brilliant-art-and-mind-of-david-hammons