Dave Hickey

1938–2021

  • December 5, 1938: Born in Fort Worth, Texas

  • 1940s: Birth of siblings Sarah and Michael; discovers communitarian righteousness in the sixth grade and learns to surf, Santa Monica, California

  • 1955: David Cecil Hickey Jr., Dave’s father, commits suicide, Fort Worth, Texas

  • 1960: Attends Walther Volbach’s seminar on Weimar Theater

  • 1961: Bachelor of Arts, Texas Christian University

  • 1963: Master of Arts in English, University of Texas, Austin

  • 1964: Marries Mary Jane Taylor

  • 1963–69: A.B.D. Linguistics, University of Texas, Austin

  • 1965: Sees Andy Warhol’s Haircut at Underground Flick Night on the Drag, Austin, Texas

  • 1966-69: Columnist, Texas Observer

    “On Turning Thirty”

    “Frivolity Defended”

  • 1967–71: Founder, A Clean Well-Lighted Place gallery in Austin, Texas

  • 1970: Curator, South Texas Sweet Funk, St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas

  • 1971: Moves to New York City and writes his first major essays on art

    “Earthscapes, Landworks, and Oz”

  • 1971–72: Director, Reese Palley Gallery, New York, New York

  • 1972: Booker, Dripping Springs Reunion, Hurlbut Ranch, Texas

  • 1972–73: Executive Editor, Art in America

  • 1970s: Freelance art and music writer for Country Music, Creem, Oui, Penthouse, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, and other publications

    “All That Glitters Is Not Lou Reed”

  • mid 1970s: Moves to Nashville, Tennessee and begins a relationship with singer/songwriter Marshall Chapman

  • 1975: Appears on William F. Buckley Jr.’s “Firing Line,” PBS, New York, New York

  • 1975–79: Staff Songwriter for Glaser Publications in Nashville, Tennessee and writes music under the moniker Dave’s Everyday Songs, including “Cooky and Lila” (performed by Dr. Hook), “Calgary Snow” (performed by Bobby Bare), “We Don’t Go Together (But We Do)” (with Marshall Chapman), and others

  • 1980: Worn out and not well, Dave moves back to his hometown of Fort Worth to live in his mother’s home and recover

  • 1980: Watches Julius Erving make a stunning lay-up, NBA Finals

  • 1981: Begins a relationship with curator and journalist Susan Freudenheim

  • 1982: At the invitation of longtime friend Anne Livet, Dave writes the catalog essay, “Available Light,” for the traveling exhibition I Dont Want No Retrospective: The Works of Edward Ruscha, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

  • 1983: Helen (Balch) Hickey, Dave’s mother, dies

  • 1982–84: Arts Editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    “Galleries Are the Best Place”

  • 1985–87: Builds a fully-outfitted studio in the attic of the house Dave shares with Susan, who financially supports his desire to set aside time to write songs

  • 1987: Life As We Know It, Factory Girl Music, a suite of songs written as the soundtrack for an exhibition of photographs by artist Nic Nicosia

  • 1987: Spends time at the ranch of longtime friend Larry McMurtry

  • 1988: Karen Marta at Parkett tracks down Dave, who begins to write about art more regularly

  • 1989: Visiting Professor, University of New Mexico, where Dave meets Libby Lumpkin

  • 1989: Prior Convictions: Stories from the Sixties, Southern Methodist University Press

  • 1990: Moves with Libby to Las Vegas, Nevada; plays video poker at Eureka Casino

  • 1990: Introduced to editor Gary Kornblau and writes his first essay for Art issues., “Lost Boys: Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage”

  • 1992–2010: Professor of Art Criticism and Theory (later, Schaeffer Professor of Modern Letters), The University of Nevada, Las Vegas

  • 1992: The Preston H. Thomas Memorial Lecture Series, Cornell University

  • 1993: Marries Libby Lumpkin, A Little White Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas, Nevada

  • 1993: The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty, Art issues. Press

  • 1994–99: Columnist, Art issues. (“Simple Hearts”)

  • 1994: Frank Jewett Mather Award for Distinction in Art Criticism, College Art Association

  • 1997: Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy, Art issues. Press

  • 1997: Cullinan Chair of Architecture, Rice University

  • 1998: Curator, Ultralounge: The Return of Social Space (with Cocktails), Contemporary Art Museum, University of South Florida

  • 1999: Stardumb (Stories with artwork by John deFazio), Artspace Books

  • 1990s-2010s: Writes over 150 artist catalogs and monographs

  • 2001: MacArthur Fellowship: Art History, Theory, Criticism and Visual Culture

  • 2001: Curator, Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism, SITE Santa Fe Biennial, Santa Fe, New Mexico

  • 2003: Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design

  • 2003: Inductee, Nevada Writers Hall of Fame

  • 2006: Peabody Award for Public Journalism

  • 2007: Citation in Recognition of Distinguished Career, National Association of Schools of Art & Design

  • 2007: Curator, Las Vegas Diaspora: The Emergence of Contemporary Art from the Neon Homeland, Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada

  • 2009: The Invisible Dragon: Essays on Beauty, Second Edition, University of Chicago Press

  • 2010: Moves with Libby to Santa Fe, New Mexico

  • 2010–12: Distinguished Professor of Art Criticism, University of New Mexico

  • 2013: Pirates & Farmers: Essays on Taste, Ridinghouse

  • 2014: Captiva Resident, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

  • 2016: 25 Women: Essays on Their Art, University of Chicago Press

  • 2016: Wasted Words: The Essential Dave Hickey Online Compilation and Dust Bunnies: Dave Hickey’s Online Aphorisms, PCP Press

  • 2017: Perfect Wave: More Essays on Art and Democracy, University of Chicago Press

  • 2019: Rouse Visiting Artist Lecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University

  • November 12, 2021: Dies in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of 82

The 30th Anniversary Edition of The Invisible Dragon is being published posthumously by Art issues. Press. Feint of Heart, a collection of Hickey’s essays on artists edited by Jarrett Earnest, is scheduled to be published by David Zwirner Books in 2024.

Chronology compiled by Gary Kornblau and Daniel Oppenheimer with the assistance of Libby Lumpkin and Susan Freudenheim

Photographs of Dave Hickey courtesy of O’Gara Bissell Photography, the Austin American-Statesman, and Toby Kamps