David Huffman (artist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Huffman
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| Born | 1963 (age 61–62) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | California College of the Arts (MFA) |
| Known for | contemporary art, painting |
| Style | abstraction, figuration |
| Movement | Afrofuturism |
David Huffman (born in 1963) is an American artist. He is a painter, creates art installations, and teaches art. He is known for his artworks that mix science fiction with important ideas about identity and politics.
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Early Life and Learning
David Huffman grew up in Berkeley, California. His mother, Dolores Davis, was an activist. This means she worked hard to support different causes in the 1960s. She even designed the famous Free Huey flag for the Black Panther Party, a group that worked for civil rights.
From a young age, Huffman loved science fiction. He watched TV shows like Star Trek, Astroboy, and Shogun Warriors.
He studied art in New York and San Francisco. He earned his MFA degree from the California College of Arts and Crafts.
What He Creates
Huffman explains that he uses events from history or today's world. He combines these to tell stories about conflict, understanding, fear, and finding solutions. He says each group of his artworks looks different but continues the same conversation.
His art often mixes popular culture images from different times. He also explores different ways to use paint. He combines these with science fiction styles and ideas about identity. His art asks questions about race, activism, and even painting itself.
In his early works, Huffman created African-American space travelers he called "traumanauts." These characters appear in future-like scenes. In these scenes, paint mixes with images of space junk and damaged environments. This creates dream-like pictures.
Later, Huffman continued to explore ideas about race. In these works, he often uses only the image of a basketball. He combines it with an abstract, deep space background made of layers of brown and black colors.
The basketball is also important in Huffman's installation art. His "Basketball Pyramid" artworks are sculptures made from hundreds of basketballs. They are built into pyramids that are the size of real pyramids.
Awards and Honors
David Huffman has received many awards, including:
- Eureka Fellowship, Fleishhacker Foundation (2008)
- Artadia Award (2006)
- Palo Alto Public Arts Commission Award (2005)
Art Shows
Huffman has had many solo art shows. Some of these include:
- Worlds in Collision at Roberts & Tilton Gallery (2016)
- Everything Went Dark Until I Saw Angels (2014)
- Floating World (2012), both at Patricia Sweetow Gallery
- Out of Bounds at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (2011)
- Dig it! at Patricia Sweetow Gallery (2008)
- Land of the New Rising Sun at Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery (2005)
His first solo show was Broadsides in 1995 at the Jan Baum Gallery in Los Angeles.
Art Collections
Huffman's art is part of many permanent collections. This means his art is owned by museums and other places for people to see for a long time. Some of these include:
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
- Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York
- Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minn.
- Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
- Arkansas Art Center
- Lodeveans Collection London, England
- Arizona State University Art Museum
- Wellington Management, Boston, Massachusetts
- JPMorgan Chase Collection, New York, New York
- Eileen Norton Collection Los Angeles, California
- Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, California
- de Saisset Museum Santa Clara, California
Teaching Art
Huffman has taught at Santa Clara University. He is currently a professor at California College of the Arts. He teaches in the Graduate Fine Arts Program there.
