David Hammons (b. 1943, Springfield, IL) has created some of the most powerful commentary on race in the United States. Refusing to conform to the expectations of the commercial art world, Hammons often uses found objects like hair collected from barber shops, bottles and bottle caps, and snow as well as cultural symbols like flags and basketball hoops and nets in his installations and sculptures. Key themes include Black experience and identity in the United States, diasporic religious traditions, the commodification of Black culture, and stereotypes and systemic racism.
Hammons has presented solo exhibitions at the Drawing Center, New York City (2021); Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles (2019); The Wattis Institute, San Francisco (2016). Notable group exhibitions and biennials include Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960–1980, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2011, travelled to MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY, and Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA); 19Sixties: A Cultural Awakening Re-evaluated, 1965–1975, California African American Museum, Los Angeles (1989); Art as a Verb: The Evolving Continuum, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore and Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City (1988–89). In the 1980s, Hammons became known for his public sculptures such as the Public Art Fund–commissioned Higher Goals. He received the MacArthur Fellowship in 1991. His work is in the collections of Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris; LACMA, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York City; National Museum of African American Art and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; SFMoMA, San Francisco; Studio Museum of Harlem; New York City; Tate, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City. Hammons lives and works in New York City.
