Background
David Hammons was born on July 24, 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, United States.
Chouinard Art Institute
Otis College of Art and Design
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Los Angeles Trade Technical City College
David Hammons was born on July 24, 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, United States.
Upon graduating from high school and moving to California, Hammons briefly attended the Los Angeles Trade Technical City College. During the period from 1966 to 1968, David studied at Chouinard Art Institute. In 1968, he enrolled at Otis Art Institute (present-day Otis College of Art and Design), where he remained until 1972.
In 1974, David Hammons settled down in New York, where he gained prominence during the 1970's and 1980's for his work. In 1980, he participated in Colab's ground-breaking The Times Square Show. There, he showed his installation, which was made of glistening scattered shards of glass.
In 2002, the artist created an exhibit "Concerto in Black and Blue" — 20,000 feet of empty, unlit space in New York’s Ace Gallery, in which viewers stumbled around in the dark with flashlights. The same year, he had his solo exhibition at White Cube Gallery in London. In 2004, Hammons created a piece called "Rock Head", in which he took a boulder, that he had discovered in Harlem, and glued African-American hair to it. In 2011, David exhibited his works at L&M Arts Gallery in New York.
Also, Hammons explored the video medium, collaborating with artist Alex Harsley on a number of video works, including Phat Free (originally titled Kick the Bucket), which was included in the Whitney Biennial. Hammons and Harsley have also collaborated on installations at New York's 4th Street Photo Gallery.
Currently, David lives and works in New York.
Since 1966 to 1972, David was married to Rebecca Williams. In 2003, Chie Hasegawa became his second wife.