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
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
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
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
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