David Hammons facts for kids

David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist. He is famous for his art created in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s.

Early Life and Art Beginnings

David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois. He was the youngest of ten children raised by a single mother. His family faced tough times with money when he was growing up.

Even though he wasn't keen on school, David showed a talent for drawing early on. In 1962, he moved to Los Angeles. There, he attended art schools like Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts) and the Otis Art Institute. He learned from famous artists like Charles White and John Baldessari.

While in Los Angeles, he met Senga Nengudi, another artist. They shared a studio and formed an art group called Studio Z (artist collective). This group worked together on many art projects. In 1974, Hammons moved to New York City, where he became more widely known. He still lives and works there today.

Personal Life

In 1966, David Hammons married Rebecca Williams. They had two children together. They later divorced in 1972. In 2003, he married Chie Hasegawa, who is also an artist from Japan.

Hammons doesn't like to talk much about his personal life. He wants people to focus on his art, not on him. He once said that big art shows like the Whitney Biennial need him more than he needs them. He also helps other Black artists by buying their work and helping them get noticed.

David Hammons' Art Style

David Hammons doesn't stick to one art style. He often changes how he creates his work. His art often uses ideas from minimalism and post-minimal art. He also adds ideas from artist Marcel Duchamp about the place of Black people in American society.

Hammons' art uses metaphors and symbols. These symbols have deep meaning in the art world and for the public. His work helps us understand African-American art history through the eyes of a Black person. One art expert said that Hammons plays with art like a jazz musician plays with sound. He bends it and twists it so it never gets boring.

Hammons once talked about light-based art by James Turrell. He said he wished he could make art like that. But he felt he needed to use his art to share important messages first. He felt he wasn't "free enough yet" to just work with light.

Body Prints

When David Hammons first started his art career in the 1960s, he mostly made "body prints." He would put grease on his own body, then press it onto paper. After that, he would add graphite or other materials to make the body print stand out. He learned this method from a French artist named Yves Klein.

Many of Hammons' body prints focus on race. His art shows his strong support for the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power movement. As a Black man living through these times, his art comes from his own experiences.

For example, in his "Spade" series from the 1970s, he used the word "spade" in an ironic way. He didn't understand why it was used as a hurtful term for African-Americans. In Spade (1974), he pressed his face onto a spade shape, leaving a cartoon-like print. Another piece, Spade (Power for the Spade) (1973), shows a body print on a canvas shaped like a playing card spade.

His 1970 painting, Black First, America Second, shows two images of himself wrapped in the American flag. It shows his Black identity and his American identity as separate and often clashing. His piece Injustice Case (1970) shows him tied to a chair and gagged. This artwork refers to how Bobby Seale was treated during the Trial of the Chicago 7. Hammons used it to comment on the unfairness faced by African-Americans. This piece is now seen as a very important work in American art.

Sculptures and Objects

Untitled (African-American Flag) (1990) at The Studio Museum in Harlem in New York.

Later in his career, Hammons started making sculptures. His 1970s "Spade" series included sculptures like Bird (1973). This piece uses a spade coming out of a saxophone mouthpiece. It reminds us of jazz musician Charlie Parker, whose nickname was "Bird."

Another sculpture, Spade with Chains (1973), uses the gardening tool "spade" along with chains. This piece makes a visual joke between the shovel blade and an African mask. It also talks about issues of being held captive and fighting back.

In his famous work, African-American Flag (1990), Hammons directly addresses race. The flag looks like the American flag but uses the Pan-African colours of black, red, and green. These colors are also on the UNIA Flag. This important piece is part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A copy of the flag flies at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Untitled (Night Train) (1989) at the Museum of Modern Art in 2022

Hammons often uses discarded or unusual materials in his sculptures. These include things like elephant dung, chicken parts, strands of African-American hair, and cheap wine bottles. He uses these objects to show what American life is like from a Black person's point of view. Many people think these objects show the struggles of poor, urban Black communities. But Hammons saw a special, almost sacred power in them. For example, he used hair from barbershops and put it on large stones.

His piece In the Hood (1993) has become a symbol of what it's like to be a young Black male. This simple sculpture is a piece of cloth nailed to a wall. A wire opens up the hood, making it look like a lynching. It shows the challenges of being Black in America. This artwork became very well known when images of it were used by Black Lives Matter supporters online.

Hammons' art also explores class differences, especially through basketball. He made a series of very tall basketball hoops. They were decorated with bottle caps, looking like Islamic art. One example is Higher Goals (1986). Here, he put a basketball hoop on a three-story high pole. This comments on how sports stardom seems like an almost impossible way for young people to escape poverty. Hammons said, "It takes five to play on a team, but there are thousands who want to play—not everyone will make it, but even if they don't at least they tried."

In his 1990 work, Bird, he shows how African-Americans have many chances in some areas, like music and sports, but fewer in others, like the arts. This piece has a basketball decorated with feathers and chicken wire inside a white Victorian birdcage. The cage represents the limits that the African-American community still faces.

In 2007, Hammons worked with his wife, Chie Hasegawa, on an art piece. They took expensive fur coats and burned, stained, and painted their backs. This made the coats look like a "trap." It made people think about politics, buying things, and animal rights. The show was held in a fancy gallery in uptown Manhattan. This choice of location was meant to be ironic. The coats fit the rich lifestyle of the area, but their damaged look didn't fit in other parts of New York.

In 2021, Hammons created Days End in Hudson River Park in New York. This large outdoor sculpture is a "ghost monument" to artist Gordon Matta-Clark. It's a steel frame that outlines an old warehouse that Matta-Clark had cut into. This is Hammons' only permanent public artwork so far.

Performance Art

Hammons also uses performance art. This allows him to explore ideas about public and private spaces. It also makes people think about what makes something valuable. His most famous performance was Bliz-aard Ball Sale (1983). Hammons stood next to street vendors in downtown Manhattan and sold snowballs. He priced them by their size. This act made fun of how art is bought and sold in galleries. It also commented on the struggles of street vendors who face discrimination. A photographer named Dawoud Bey captured this performance.

In Japan, Hammons once put a large boulder in the back of a truck. Then, he drove it around the city. For his fur coat artwork, he asked the gallery owner to walk down Madison Avenue wearing one of the burned coats while he filmed her.

In 2007, during a snowstorm, Hammons wrapped a scarf around the head of a bronze sculpture of a Black woman. This was at the base of the Henry Ward Beecher Monument in Brooklyn. He has done this in other blizzards since then.

Other Artworks and Shows

His first show in New York was in 1975. It was called Greasy Bags and Barbeque Bones. His art was shown alongside other artists of color.

In 1980, Hammons took part in The Times Square Show. This show was a place for new artists in New York to share ideas. His artwork there was made of shiny broken glass from cheap wine bottles.

Hammons also made drawings by bouncing a dirty basketball on large sheets of clean white paper. The piece Traveling (2001-2002) was almost 10 feet tall. Its name refers to a basketball term and also to being moved from one place to another.

He has explored race in other ways too. How Ya Like Me Now (1988) showed political candidate Jesse Jackson as a white man with blonde hair and blue eyes. This artwork pointed out racial bias in American politics. This painting was damaged by two men with sledgehammers. Hammons still shows the damaged work, and even includes sledgehammers with it.

Untitled (2010) at the Museum of Modern Art in 2022

At a 2011 show, Hammons presented drawings and paintings covered by tarps or plastic sheets. One was even covered by a wooden cabinet. He also made drawings with Kool-Aid powder. These were then hidden by a curtain that was only lifted under certain conditions. These pieces show how Hammons tries to hold back information in a world full of surveillance. This idea was also seen in his show Concerto in Black and Blue. In this show, the gallery was completely dark, and visitors had to use small flashlights to see.

Hammons also worked with artist Alex Harsley on video art. One video, Phat Free (1995-1999), was shown at the Whitney Biennial.

In an early solo show called "The Window: Rented Earth: David Hammons," he showed an African tribal mask next to a child's toy television. This artwork explored the difference between spirituality and modern technology.

In 2016, Hammons had a show called "David Hammons: Five Decades." He chose a specific gallery for this show. The choice of location and how it connected to his art was important to him. In 2014, Hammons bought a warehouse in Yonkers, New York. He plans to create his own art gallery there.

Influences on His Art

Music has been a big influence on David Hammons. In his Bird sculpture, he honored jazz musician Charlie Parker. When Miles Davis died, Hammons brought a boombox to the Museum of Modern Art while setting up his 1991 show. The title of his work How Ya Like Me Now comes from a Kool Moe Dee song. In one show, he placed three microphone stands so tall that most people couldn't reach them. The title was Which Mike do you want to be like...? This referred to Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jackson. He also dedicated an art show to jazz musician Ornette Coleman, calling him "the Duchamp of music."

Another key influence for Hammons is the French artist Marcel Duchamp. Hammons has even called himself the head of the 'Duchamp Outpatient Clinic'. The company that owns his Yonkers Gallery is called 'Duchamp Realty'.

Awards

David Hammons received the MacArthur Fellowship in July 1991. This award is also known as the "Genius Grant."

Famous Works in Public Collections