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Dike Blair

Dike Blair (b. 1952, New Castle, Pennsylvania) uses gouache, oil, his own photographs, and strategies appropriated from Postminimalist sculpture to create intimate tableaux that transform quotidian sights and materials into exercises in formalism. A writer and teacher as well as an artist, Blair came up in the downtown scene of 1970s New York among punk rockers and Postmodernists. In the early 1980s, against prevailing art world trends toward Neo-Expressionism, he began rendering scenes from his life in gouache on paper. These ongoing diaristic paintings are devoid of human figures but nonetheless evoke the specter of the artist whose daily life plays out at a remove across their finely-wrought surfaces. Blair’s practice toes the line between the Pictures generation, the environments of Dan Graham, and the travel documentation of Stephen Shore. The artist lives in New York. 

Blair’s recent solo exhibitions include Karma (Los Angeles, 2023, New York, 2022); Various Small Fires, Seoul (2020); The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2019); Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf (2019); Secession, Vienna (2016); and Jüergen Becker Gallery, Hamburg (2016). In 2022, Karma presented an exhibition of Blair’s paintings of Gloucester alongside Edward Hopper’s paintings of the same small Massachusetts city. Blair’s work is featured in the collections of the Whitney Museum, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, among others.
Single work, Dike Blair

Born 1952, New Castle, Pennsylvania
Lives and works in New York

EDUCATION

1977

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

1976

Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York, New York

1975

University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

1974

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine

SELECTED SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2023

Karma, Los Angeles

2022

Karma, New York, Edward Hopper and Dike Blair, Gloucester

2020

Various Small Fires, Seoul, with Henni Alftan

2019

Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf

The Modern Institute, Glasgow, United Kingdom

2018

Karma, New York
Frieze, New York, For Your Infotainment / Hudson and Feature Inc., curated by Matthew Higgs

2017

Karma, Amagansett, New York, Dike Blair & Duane Hanson

2016

Jürgen Becker Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
Secession, Vienna, Floors/Doors/Windows/Walls

2015

Karma, New York, Gouaches 1984 – 2015

2014

Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany

2013

Feature Inc., New York

2010

Gagosian Gallery, New York, Dike Blair: Sculptures and Paintings

2009

Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Dike Blair: Now and Again

2008

Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles

2007

Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneva
D’Amelio Terras, New York, Still Lifes from 1988 to 1997
Feature Inc., New York

2005

Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles
The Suburban, Oak Park, Illinois

2004

SEAD Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium, Paintings/Prints/Sculpture
Feature Inc., New York
Volume, New York, Prints

2003

Outcasts Inc., Paris, Ideal Office #2
Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston

2001

Feature Inc., New York, New York Works on Paper

1998

Feature, Inc., New York
Charleston Heights Art Center, Las Vegas, Nevada

1995

Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna

1994

Daniel Newburg Gallery, New York

1993

Donna Beam Gallery, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
M D J Art Contemporain Galerie, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

1991

Ealan Wingate Gallery, New York
Ealan Wingate Gallery (Projects Room), New York

1990

Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna
Dart Gallery, Chicago

1989

Koury Wingate Gallery, New York

1988

121 Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio

1987

International With Monument, New York
Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna
Cash/Newhouse, New York

1986

Baskerville + Watson, New York
Christminster Gallery, New York

1983

Serra Di Felice, New York

1981

Stefanotti Gallery, New York

1980

Nancy Lurie Gallery, Chicago

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024

FLAG Art Foundation, New York, The Swimmer (forthcoming)

2023

Chart, New York, Bellyache

Gilles Drouault, Paris, Eyes Wide Open

François Ghebaly, New York, Pleasure Principle

2022

Pace Gallery, New York, STUFF, Organized by Arlene Shechet

2021

Gana Art, Seoul, Reflections: Human/Nature

Broadway Gallery, New York

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Recent Acquisitions: Modern and Contemporary Drawings and Prints

2020

Galería Mascota, Aspen, Colorado, All of a Sudden
Gana Art, Seoul, Reflections: Open Ended
Karma, New York, (Nothing but) Flowers

Galeria Mascota, Mexico City, Silent Water

Nino Mier, Los Angeles, To Paint is to Love Again

2018

MoCA Los Angeles, One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art

Gagosian, San Francisco, About Photography
Tilton Gallery, New York, In Tribute to Jack Tilton: A Selection from 25 Years

2017

The Modern Institute, Glasgow, United Kingdom, THE GAP BETWEEN THE FRIDGE AND THE COOKER
Fortnight Institute, New York, Only Small Paintings
The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Drawing Island

2016

Karma, Amagansett, New York, Before Sunrise

2014

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts, In Transit: Between Image and Object, with Wade Guyton, Kelley Walker and Hugh Scott-Douglas, curated by Robert Wainstein
Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Display, curated by Barry Rosenberg
Outcasts Incorporated, Paris, Always / Present
33 Orchard, New York, Let’s Go Let Go: In Memoriam Hudson
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Marjorie Barrick Museum, Time Capsule 2014–2044, curated by Ash Ferlito

2013

Blondeau & Cie, Geneva,Works on Paper
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, Ambient, curated by Tim Griffin
Lucien Terras Projects at 143 Reade St., New York, Blow Up

2012

Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York, Walled Garden
Fundación/Colección Jumex, Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico, Poule!, curated by Michel Blancsubé
Gagosian Gallery, Paris, Micro Mania
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, Lifelike, curated by Siri Eberg
Golden Gallery, Inc., New York, WhiteWalls: Writings by Artists, 1978 – 2008

2011

Progetto Cuccagna, Milan, Scintillascopy; with Maura Biava, curated by Alessandro De March
Gagosian Gallery, Rome, Made in Italy, curated by Mario Codognato

2010

The Hogar Collection, Brooklyn, New York, Lateralisms, curated by Matt Wycoff
Le Musée des Beaux Artes, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Portrait de l’artiste en motocycliste, curated by Olivier Mosset
Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, Wall-to-Wall
Feature Inc., New York, Power to the People
Leo Koenig, New York, Self-Fulfilling Prophesies
179 Canal, New York, Guilty Feet, curated by Colby Bird and Tova Carlin

2009

Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, California, Nighttown
Le Magasin, Grenoble, France, Portrait of the Artist as Motorcyclist, curated by Olivier Mosset
Feature Inc., New York, Populate This Form
Privateer Brooklyn, New York, Haunts
Guild & Greyshkul, New York, On From Here

2008

Art Basel Miami Beach, The Station, curated by Shamim Momim and Nate Lowman
The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, Peanut Gallery, curated by Joe Bradley
Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, Art on Paper, 2008, curated by Xandra Eden
Eleven Rivington, New York, Reverse Turing Tests, curated by Kevin Zucker
Salvatore Ferragamo Gallery, New York, Renaissance
Annual Benefit Auction of the “Coalition for the Homeless,” New York, Artwalk NY 2008
Feature Inc., New York, Shit
Olivier Kamm, New York, If I told you you were beautiful, would you date me on the regular, curated by Nicholas Weist
D’Amelio Terras, New York, Dike Blair and Noah Sheldon
Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, It’s Gouache & Gouache Only, curated by Geoffrey Young

2007

Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York, Canal Street
Moti Hasson Gallery, New York, Greener Pastures, Permanent Midnight
Howard House Contemporary Art, Seattle, Washington, Neonoir, curated by Cameron Martin
Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, It’s Gouache & Gouache Only
Mary Godman Gallery, Los Angeles, Lose (oneself) in

2006

Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Two Friends and So On, organized by Jonathan Horowitz and Rob Pruitt, curated by friends
Southfirst, Brooklyn, New York, Mystic River, curated by Noah Sheldon

2005

Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin, Texas, Suspended Narratives, curated by Maureen Mahony
Villa Tamaris Centre D’Art, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France, Non compatibles: Une peinture sans qualité, curated by Catherine Perret
Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles, Works by Selected Gallery Artists
Guild & Greyshkul, New York, The General’s Jamboree: Guild & Greyshkul’s 2nd Annual Watercolor Exhibtion
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, Bridge Freezes Before Road, curated by Neville Wakefield
Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris and Brussels, Belgium, Tableaux-Ecrans
Tilton Gallery, New York, Celebrate 22 Years & A New Home
The Suburban, Oak Park, Illinois, Dike Blair/Elizabeth Bryant
Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus,Vanishing Point

2004

Guild & Greyshkul, New York, Emoticons, curated by Kevin Zucker
Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles

2003

Centre d’Art Contemporain la Synagogue de Delme, Delme, France, Unheimlich
Dupreau Gallery, Chicago, Late to Work Everyday, curated by Noah Sheldon
Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York, Shangri-La, curated by Michael St. John and Jason Duval

2002

Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York, Ten Realists
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York, New Hotels for Global Nomads
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California, GtT2, curated by ANP

2001

Programa, Mexico City, Purple Lounge and Stars
Kunsthalle Wein, Vienna, Tele[visions], curated by Joshua Decter
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, Objective Color, curated by Jennifer Gross
Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York, Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, Not a. Lear, curated by ANP

2000

Torch Gallery, Amsterdam; Art Process, Paris, Not a. Lear, curated by ANP
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Elysian Fields
Museum Dhondt–Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium, 3ness
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon; Museé National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany; Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida, Let’s Entertain, curated by Philippe Vergne
Feigen Contemporary, New York, Compression, curated by Tim Griffin
Feature Inc., New York, Hairy Forearm’s Self-Referral
Works on Paper, Los Angeles
Feature Inc., New York, Open the pod bay doors Hal
Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, California, Exurbia, curated by Shirley Irons
Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York, City Projects, curated by ANP

1999

Amelie Wallace Gallery at the State University of New York, Old Westbury,Still Life, curated by Helen Molesworth
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Faculty Biennial Exhibition
Feature Inc., New York, Up Your Head
Chalon sur Saône, France, XN 99, curated by Stephanie Moisdon Trembley
Cristinerose Gallery, New York, Cruise Control
Feature Inc., New York
Cokkie Snoei Gallery, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Cookie Snow Feature, curated by ANP
S. & H. De Buck Gallery, Ghent, Belgium curious.parking@stupendous.strawberry, curated by ANP

1998

Alleged Gallery, New York, La Voie Lactée (The Milky Way)
Palmer House Cafe, Rensselaerville, New York, When Something is Happening away from You,  collected by Richard Prince
Greene/Naftali Gallery, New York, Super Freaks, Odyssey
Air de Paris, Paris, Bonne Année!
The Whitney Museum at Champion, Stamford, Connecticut, Where: Allegories of Site in Contemporary Art

1997

Feature Inc., New York, Hello
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence,Faculty Biennial Exhibition
Feature Inc., New York; with David Robbins

1996

Saga Basement, Copenhagen, Beige
Franklin Furnace, New York, Voyeur’s Delight, organized by Barbara Rusin and Grace Roselli
Basilico Fine Arts, New York, Telephone – mind the gap, in collaboration with Laura Stein

1995

Roger Merians Gallery, New York, Smells Like Vinyl, organized by Sarah Seager and Thaddeus Strode
Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Partly Sunny, Tomorrow
Galerie Jousse-Seguin, Paris, Purple 8 1/2
HERE Art Center, New York, The Joy of Painting, project by Alix Lambert and Ami Arnault

1994

MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York, The Winter of Love
Off Shore Gallery, East Hampton, New York
Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, L’Hiver de l’amour
Daniel Newburg Gallery, New York
Galerie Rizzo, Paris

1993

The Drawing Center, New York; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Forum for Contemporary Art, St. Louis, Missouri; Fundación para el Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City; Santa Monica Art Museum, Santa Monica, California; The Return of the Cadavre Exquis, curated by Ann Philbin and Ingrid Schaffner
Air de Paris, Nice, France, Futura Book Collection
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, June

1992

Villa Arson, Nice, France, Les mystères de l’auberge espagnole
La Galerie de Paris, Les Survivants, curated by Elein Fleiss and Jean-Luc Vilmouth
Slovenská National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia, Zeitgenössische Photographie
La Galerie du Mois, Paris, One + One
Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, Tattoos
Barbara Toll Gallery, New York, Technorama, curated by Kathleen Cullen and Russel Lederman

1991

Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, Ikebana
Colorado University Art Galleries, Boulder, Colorado, 20th Anniversary Show

1990

Koury Wingate Gallery, New York, Small Works
Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, High Season II–A Multiple/Print Show
Roy Boyd Gallery, Santa Monica, California, Dike Blair, Maureen Conner, John Franklin, Linda Roush

1989

Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, White Christmas
Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Bellevue, curated by Herwig Kempinger
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Image World
Festival of Vienna, Vienna, Moscow-Vienna-New York
Simon Watson Gallery, New York, Erotophobia
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, The Unconventional Landscape
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, Recent Acquisitions: Prints
La Foret Art Museum, Tokyo, The Images of American Pop Culture Today III

1988

Koury Wingate Gallery, New York, Dike Blair, Stephen Ellis, General Idea
Koury Wingate Gallery, New York, Summer ’88
Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, Der Hund in mir–The Dog Within
Galerie Lendle, Graz, Austria, USA-Back and Now
Galerie Kahle, Hamburg, Germany

1987

Whitney Museum of American Art at Fairfield County, Stamford, Connecticut, The New Romantic Landscape
Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, Dreams of the Alchemist, organized by Theodore Sharps
Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, Playback, curated by Jeffrey Rian
Baskerville + Watson, New York, Art Against AIDS
Baskerville + Watson, New York

1986

Lehman College Art Gallery, City University of New York, Landscape in the Age of Anxiety, curated by Nina Castelli Sundell
Heland and Thorden Wetterling Galleries, Stockholm
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, Painting and Sculpture Today
Cash/Newhouse, New York, USA

1985

Christminster Gallery, New York, Autogeneticphotopsia, curated by Bill Komoski

1984

Baskerville + Watson, New York
The Queens Museum, Queens, New York, Activated Walls
Metro Pictures, New York, Artists Call
Serra Di Felice, New York
Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, with Minoru Kawabata

1983

Brooklyn Terminal, Brooklyn, New York, Terminal Show
Jack Tilton Gallery, New York
Sherry French Gallery, New York

1982

Centre d’Exchanges, Lyon, France, Energie New York
Stefanotti Gallery, New York, The Red Show

1981

Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, 1-80 Series
Braathen-Gallozi Contemporary Art, Inc., New York
Mitzi Landau Gallery, Los Angeles, Art from New York
Traveling Exhibition, Commodities Corporation

1980

Texas Gallery, Houston

1979

Nancy Lurie Gallery, Chicago
Barbara Toll Gallery, New York
Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, 24 x 24

1977

Artists Space, New York

1974

Denver Art Museum, Colorado, Metropolitan Show

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Brooklyn Museum, New York City
Citibank
Commodities Corp.
Dallas Museum of Art
Deutsche Bank Group
Fine Arts Museum, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Long Beach Museum of Art, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Morgan Library & Museum, New York City
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Progressive Corp.
Vintage Capital Group, California
Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

SELECTED PROJECTS

2009

Memorial Hall Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, May-December, curator

2008

Fleiss, Elein and Olivier Zahm, Purple Anthology: Art Prose Fashion Music Architecture Sex, Rizzoli, New York

2007

Blair, Dike, Again: Selected Interviews and Essays, WhiteWalls, Chicago

2005

Supreme Trading, Brooklyn, New York, Providential, curator

2004

Marnie, Adam, Strange Place (The Noun Trilogy, Volume One: Place), Never Die Books, New York, NY 9–12, portfolio
Catalyst Arts Program, Pawtucket, Massachusetts, Waterworks; exhibition created with Rhode Island School of Design graduate students

2003

Outcasts, Inc., Paris, Ideal Office, office design for PR company

2002

Ecole des Beaux Arts, Nimes, France, Electric Pool, exhibition created in workshop

2001

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago,Virtual Encounters, online forum, participant

2000

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Elysian Fields, exhibition design with Dominique Gonzales Foerster
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Virtual Encounters
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, EAT: Entertainment, Art, Technology (Engagement: Am I Having Fun Yet?), participant
Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, Here Comes Rhody, curator

1997

Public Art Fund Project by Gregory Green, Gregnik Proto II, audio piece for model satellite broadcast

1996

Basilico Fine Arts, New York, Telephone – mind the gap, curated with Laura Stein

1994

MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York, The Winter of Love, curator

1993

Temporary Contemporary, Las Vegas, Nevada, 49¢ Breakfast, curator
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, June, co-curator

1988

Spectacolor Light Board, Times Square, New York, Messages to the Public, presented by the Public Art Fund
Channel 4, London, Cascade, collaborative video tape with MICA-TV, Dan Graham and Christian Marclay

RELATED ACTIVITIES

1997-2017

Adjunct Professor, Painting Department, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence

1995

Contributing Editor, THE THING (www.thing.net), New York

1995-05

Contributing and Associate Editor, Purple, Paris

1993-96

Contributing Editor, Zapp Magazine, Amsterdam
Contributed to Artforum, ARTnews, Art Presse, Bomb, Flash Art, Harpers, Paper, Parkett, Time Out New York

AWARDS

2012

Grant, The Shifting Foundation

2010-11

Rome Prize, The American Academy in Rome

2009-10

John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship

1995

The Louis Comfort Tiffany Fellowship

1988

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation/NEA Regional Fellowship, Works on Paper

PUBLICATIONS

2020

Alvaro Barrington, Dike Blair, Marley Freeman, Zenzaburo Kojima
Karma, New York
54 pages, softcover
11 × 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 500

2019

Dike Blair
Drawings
Karma, New York
100 pages, hardcover
12 1/2 × 10 1/2 inches
Edition of 900

2018

Dike Blair, Dike Blair
Essay by Helen Molesworth
Karma, New York
Edition of 1,000
160 pages, hardcover
12 1/4 × 10 1/4 inches

 

Dike Blair, Dike Blair, Special Edition
Essay by Helen Molesworth
Karma, New York
Special Edition of 100,
with one signed debossed archival pigment print,
11 × 8 3/4 inches
160 pages, hardcover

 

Dike Blair, Dike Blair in conversation with Hudson
Karma, New York
Edition of 300
12 pages
5 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches

2016

Dike Blair, Drinks
Text by Luis Buñuel
Secession, Vienna
72 pages, hardcover, cloth binding with hot foil stamping
30 × 22.5 cm

2015

Dike Blair, Gouaches
Text by Jeff Rian
Karma, New York
Edition of 500
416 pages, hardcover
7 1/2 × 9 inches

 

Dike Blair, Gouches Special Edition
Text by Jeff Rian
Karma, New York
Special Edition of 50 with signed archival pigment print
416 pages, hardcover
7 1/2 × 9 inches

2009

Dike Blair, Now & Again
Introduction by Nancy M. Doll
Text by Xandra Eden and Gary Indiana
Weatherspoon Art Museum/UNCG
96 pages, paperback
23 × 30 cm

2007

Dike Blair, Again: Selected Interviews and Essays
WhiteWalls, Chicago
160 pages
5 1/2 × 8 1/2 inches

2001

Dike Blair, Gouaches
works on paper, inc., Los Angeles
20 pages
5 1/2 × 6 3/4 inches

1989

Dike Blair, Dike Blair
Koury Wingate, New York
16 pages
6 × 8 inches

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2018

Molesworth, Helen. One Day At A Time
Prestel, Munich
280 pages
8 3/5 × 10 4/5 inches

2012

Engberg, Siri. Lifelike
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
192 pages
7 4/5 × 10 inches

1989

Dike Blair, Frank Majore, Oliver Wasow. Bellevue
Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna
56 pages
7 × 9 1/2 inches

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