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Rick Dillingham, James Richard Dillingham II

Biography to Display: 

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

Public Collections to Display: 

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

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Bibliography

Bibliography to Display: 

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.

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

 

Typical Marks
1976
1981
1981
1981
1984
1991
Gas Can Vessel, USA
Date: 1976
Method: Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze, Stain
Courtesy Rago Arts and Auction Center
Photo: TMP
Courtesy Rago Arts and Auction Center
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Untitled
Date: 1977
Form: Sculpture
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Hand-Built
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California
Photo: Tim Garbalz
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California
Cone-Sculpture
Date: 1977
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Slab-Built
Surface Technique: Gilding, Glaze
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California
Globular Patch Pot
Date: 1981
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Thrown and Altered, Assembled, Mixed Methods (Handbuilt, fired, broken, glazed, gilded and reassembled)
Surface Technique: Glaze, Metal Leaf
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Patch Pot
Date: 1981
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Thrown and Altered, Assembled, Mixed Methods (Handbuilt, fired, broken, glazed and reassembled)
Surface Technique: Glaze
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Gas Can
Date: 1981
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Slab-Built, Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze
E John Bullard Collection
E John Bullard Collection
Vase
Date: February 1984
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Thrown and Altered, Assembled, Mixed Methods (Handbuilt, fired, broken, glazed and reassembled)
Surface Technique: Glaze, Luster
Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund
Photo: Brooklyn Museum, Creative Commons_BY
Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund
Photo: Brooklyn Museum, Creative Commons_BY
Large Globular Patch Pot
Date: 1991
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Thrown and Altered, Assembled, Mixed Methods (Handbuilt, fired, broken, glazed and reassembled)
Surface Technique: Glaze, Luster Glaze, Metal Leaf
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Gas Can
Method: Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze
Rago Arts and Auction Center
Photo: TMP
Rago Arts and Auction Center
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Gas Can
Method: Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze, Metal Leaf
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California
Photo: Bob Nugent
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California
Bowl
Form: Bowl
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Mixed Methods (thrown, broken, glazed, reassembled)
Surface Technique: Glaze
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California
Courtesy Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California

Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified June 15, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/dillingham