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1952Born Lake Forest, Illinois
1994Died Santa Fe, New Mexico
EDUCATION
1968-1970Ventura Junior College, Ventura, California
1970Moorpark Junior College, Moorpark, California
1970-1971California College of the Arts, Oakland, California
1974BFA University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
1976MFA Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1976-1994Independent Studio Potter, Scholar and Curator
BIOGRAPHY
Rick Dillingham’s slab built or coiled pots were formed and burnished, then carefully scored before firing. After firing, the pots were broken into predesigned shards which were, then, painted, gilded, glazed and reassembled. Sometimes voids were left to echo conserved ancient pots. Dillingham also experimented with colored glues to accentuate the outline of the shards in the reconstructed pot.
Rick Dillingham spent time as a volunteer, restoring Native American clay vessels for the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. This tedious piecing together of clay shards inspired his hand-built ceramic vessels.
In addition to his work with clay, Dillingham was known for his knowledge of Southwestern Native American pottery traditions. He curated a number of exhibitions on Native American pottery including one in 1974 of the clay work of seven Pueblo families. He has authored two important books on the subject.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
Cleveland Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Fine Arts Museum of the South, Langan Park, Mobile, Alabama
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina
Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, California
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Museum of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York
Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Rockford College Art Collection, Rockford, Illinois
Scripps College of Art, Scripps College, Claremont, California
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
University of Nebraska, Sheldon Memorial Art Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska
University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clark, Garth. American Ceramics, 1876 to the Present. New York, NY: Abbeville Press, 1987.
Clark, Garth, and Cindy Strauss. Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics The Garth Clark & Mark Del Vecchio Collection. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Clark, Garth. Ceramic Echoes: Historical References in Contemporary Ceramics. Kansas City, MO.: Contemporary Art Society, 1983.
Curtis, Phil. "Artist Finds Mysteries in Pottery." Albuquerque Journal, February 23, 1986.
Del Vecchio, Mark. Postmodern Ceramics. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson Inc., 2001.
Dillingham, Rick. Acoma & Laguna Pottery. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 1992.
_______________. Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1994.
Durham, Linda. Rick Dillingham, 1952-1994: Estate Sale and Auction . Santa Fe, New Mexico: VNS Health Services, 1996.
Kangas, Matthew. "Rick Dillingham and the Reparative Drive." American Ceramics 8, no. 4 (1990).
Lynn, Martha Drexler. Clay Today Contemporary Ceramists and Their Work, A Catalogue of the Howard and Gwen Laurie Smits Collection at the Los Angeles County Art Museum. Los Angeles, CA: Chronicle Books, 1990.
Mayer, Barbara. Contemporary American Craft Art: A Collector's Guide. Salt Lake City, UT: Peregrine Smith Books, 1988.
McCready, Karen. Contemporary American Ceramics Twenty Artists. Newport Harbor, CA: Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1985.
Perry, Barbara. American Ceramics: The Collection of Everson Museum of Art. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1989.
Rick Dillingham 1952-1994: A Retrospective Exhibition. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Art Museum, 1994.
CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download
Source: Linda Durham Gallery, Elaine Levin Archive, University of Southern California
Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified August 23, 2024. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/dillingham