Born: 1933, Tupelo, Mississippi
Education:
BA, Fine Art, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
MA, Painting, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2011 "Sam Gilliam: Paintings", Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
"Close to Trees", American University Art Museum, Katzen Center , Washington, DC
"Sam Gilliam: Flour Mill", site specific installation, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
"Sam Gilliam, New Paintings", Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
2009 "Sam Gilliam: New Paintings", Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
2007 "Sam Gilliam: New Paintings and Prints", Marsha Mateyka Gallery
Sam Gilliam, Scarfone/Hartley Galleries, University of Tampa, Florida
Sam Gilliam, Imago Gallery, Desert Springs, CA
2006 "Sam Gilliam: Prints from the Artist's Collection", Luther Brady Art Gallery,
the George Washington University, Washington, DC
2005 "Sunlight" New Paintings, Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
"Sam Gilliam: A Retrospective", Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC,
traveling in 2006: The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY; Telfair Museum
of Art, Savannah, GA; 2007: Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
(catalogue)
"Fixed between Painting & Sculpture", The Angie Newman Johnson Gallery,
Episcopal H.S., Alexandria, VA
2004 Sam Gilliam NEW Work: "3", Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
"Sam Gilliam, Folded & Hinged", Louisiana Art & Science Museum,
Baton Rouge, LA; traveling to the Lauren Rogers Museum, Laurel, MS,
Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2002 "Slats", Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
2001 "From Shiraz", Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2000 Georgetown Gallery, Georgetown, KY
1999 "Works '99", Marsha Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
Klein Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 "Sam Gilliam in 3-D", Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC
1997 "Of Fireflies and Ferris Wheels: Monastery Parallel", an installation,
Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany
"The Three Musketeers", Baumgartner Galleries, Washington, DC
1996 "Construction", an installation, J.B. Speed Museum, Louisville, KY
"A Still on the Potomac", Baumgartner Galleries, Washington, DC
1994 Baumgartner Gallery, Washington, DC
1993 "Golden Windows Inside Gold", an installation, Whitney Museum of American Art,
Philip Morris Branch, NY
1992 USIA, an installlation, Helsinki, Finland
1991 The American Craft Museum, an installation, New York, NY
Walker Hill Arts Center, Seoul, Korea, (catalogue)
Galerie Darthea Speyers, Paris, France
1990 "Small Drape Paintings", Middendorf Gallery, Washington,DC (catalogue)
1987 Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
1986 Davis/ McClain Gallery, Houston, TX
1985 Monique Knowlton Gallery, New York, NY
1984 "Recent Paintings", Herter Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
1983 "Modern Painters at the Corcoran: Sam Gilliam", Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (catalogue)
Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
Middendorf/Lane Gallery, Washington, DC
McIntosh-Drysdale Gallery, Houston, TX
1982 "Red & Black to"D": Paintings by Sam Gilliam", The Studio Museum, Harlem, NY (catalogue)
1981 Hamilton Gallery, New York, NY
Nexus, Atlanta, Georgia
Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL
1979 Middendorf/Lane Gallery, Washington, DC
Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL
Hamilton Gallery, New York, NY
1978 "Sam Gilliam: Indoor & Outdoor Paintings", University Gallery, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, MA. (catalogue)
Gallerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
Carl Solway Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Artpark, Lewiston, NY
Oliver Dowling Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL
1976 "Sam Gilliam: An Exhibition of Painting", Rutgers University Art Gallery,
New Brunswick, NJ (catalogue)
"Sam Gilliam: Paintings and Works on Paper", J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (catalogue)
Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1976 Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
1975 "Sam Gilliam: Paintings 1970-75", Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC (catalogue)
Philadelphia Musuem of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Linda Ferris Gallery, Seattle, WA
1974 Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Linda Ferris Gallery, Seattle, WA
1973 Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, MO
University of California, Irvine, CA
Maison de la Culture, Rennes, France
1972 Jefferson Place Gallery, Washington, DC
1971 Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, "Projects"
1970 Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
1969 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
1968 Jefferson Place Gallery, Washington, DC
Byron Gallery, New York, NY
1967 "Paintings by Sam Gilliam", The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (catalogue)
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2012 "A Bigger Splash: Painting after Performance", Tate Modern, London
"The Spirit Level", curated by Ugo Rondinone, Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY
"The Constant Artist", American University Art Museum, Katzen Center, Washington DC
"Stretching the Limits: Fibers in Contemporary Painting", SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA
2011 "Washington Color and Light", The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
"The 100th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art: The Vision Endures", Maier Museum of Art,
Lynchburg, VA
2010 "Colorscape: Abstract Painting, 1960 – 1979", Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
2007 "5 X 5", Five Artists select Five Artists to Watch, 10th anniversary of the
Ann Loeb Brofman Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Washington, DC
2006 "Generations", Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA
2005 "The Shape of Color", Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
"Resurfaced", Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
"The Chemistry of Color: African American Artists is Philadelphia",
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2003 "Abstract Notions: Selections for the Permanent Collection", University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
1997 "Seeing Jazz", Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
"After the Fall: Aspects of Abstract Painting since 1970", Newhouse Center of Contemporary Art,
Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY
1995 "44th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting", Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
"Richard Artschwager, Sam Gilliam, Jim Hyde", Baumgartner Gallery, Washington, DC
1991 "Abstraction: The 90's", Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY
1989 "The Blues Aesthetic", Washington Project for the Arts, Washington,DC
Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, NC (catalogue)
California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
1986 "Abstraction/Abstraction", Carnegie-Mellon University Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (catalogue)
1982 "American Abstraction Now", Institute of Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Art,
Richmond, VA (catalogue)
"Painterly Abstraction", Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (catalogue)
1981 "Installations: Stephen Antonakos, Sam Gilliam, Rockne Krebs", Middendorf/Lane Gallery, Washington, DC
"Sam Gilliam and Auste", Hamilton Gallery, New York, NY
1980 "Alternatives by Black Artists", Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC
"Afro-American Abstraction", P.S. 1, Queens, New York, NY
1979 "Art of the Eighties", The Grey Gallery, New York University, New York, NY
"Color and Structure", Hamilton Gallery, New York, NY
1978 "American Artists' Work in Private French Collections", Museum of Modern Art, Lyon, France
1977 "Le Peinture et le Tissu", Museum of Modern Art, Lyon, France
"12th International Biennial of Graphic Art", Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
1976 "Handmade Paper", Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (catalogue)
"Le Festival Internationale le Peinture", Cagnes-sur-Mer, France (catalogue)
"30 Years of American Printmaking", The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn NY (catalogue)
"72nd American Exhibition", Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1975 "34th Biennial of Contemporary American Painting", Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
1974 "Cut, Bend, Spindle, Fold", Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY,
Expo '74 Spokane, Washington, (catalogue)
1972 "Gilliam/Edwards/Williams: Extensions", Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (catalogue)
"Works for Spaces: Antonakos, Bladen, Gilliam, Irwin and Rockburn", San Francisco Museum of Art,
San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
"XXXVI Venice Biennale", American Pavilion, Venice, Italy
1971 "Deluxe Show", Deluxe Theater Exhibit, DeMenil Foundation, Houston, TX (catalogue)
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
"Works for New Spaces", Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
"Kid Stuff", Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
"II Indian Triennale: American Exhibit", Lalit Kala Adademi, New Delhi, India (catalogue)
1970 "Two Generations of Color Painting", Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA (catalogue)
"Dimensions of Art", La Jolla Museum of Art, La Jolla, CA (catalogue)
"Work on Paper", Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
"Washington: Twenty Years", Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (catalogue)
"69th American Exhibition", Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1969 "Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting", Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY.
"X to the Fourth Power", The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
"Gilliam, Krebs, McGowin", Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
1969 "Other Ideas", Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan (catalogue)
"The Washington Painters", Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida (catalogue)
1968 "Tribute to Martin Luther King", Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Inaugural Show, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
1966 "The Negro in American Art", UCLA Art Galleries, University of California, Los Angeles, CA (catalogue)
"Artists in Washington", Institute of Contemporary Arts, Washington, DC
"Ten Negro Artists from the U.S.", First World Festival of Negro Arts, Dakar, Senegal (catalogue)
1964 "Nine Contemporary Painters, USA", Pan American Union, Washington, DC
Selected Public Commissions:
2010 "From a Mode to a Rainbow", handblown, Italian glass mosaic mural, Washington DC Metro,
Takoma Park Station
2006 American Embassy in Bamako, Mali
2002 Stage sets for Journey Home, The Washington Ballet, premiering at the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
2000 "Library Stars/Library Obelisk", Juanita E. Thornton Library, Washington, DC
1999 "The Three Muses", University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
"The Real Blue", University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1997 "Construction Aviation Potomac", Reagan National Airport, Washington, DC
1996 "Color of Medals", Veterans Administration, Philadelphia, PA, Federal Building, Philadelphia, PA
1995 "untitled", U.S. Customs House, New Orleans, LA
1992-96 "Dihedral", LaGuardia Airport, Queens, NY
1991 "Washington Colors", The Kaempfer Company, Washington, DC
1990 "Blue Riders", New York Metropolitan Transit Authority, Archer St., Jamaica Queens, NY
"Circles, Circuits, Squares", Contel Federal Systems, Chantilly,VA
1989 "CAAM Hues", California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
unitled, Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
1988 "Solar Canopy", York College, Jamaica Queens, NY
1983 "Sculpture with a 'D'", Boston Subway, Davis Square stop, Massachusetts Transportation Authority /
Cambridge Arts Council, MA
Selected Grants and Awards:
2007 Mississippi Govenor's Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts
1997 Honorary Doctor of Arts & Letters, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
1993 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Corcoran Gallery and School of Art, Washington, DC
1992 Honorary Doctor of Arts & Letters, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
1990 Honorary Doctor of Arts & Letters, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
1989 Individual Artist Grant, National Endowment for the Arts
1987 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
1986 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
1980 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
1973-75 Workshop Activities Grant, National Endowment for the Arts
1971 Solomon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
1969 Norman W. Harris Prize, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1967 Individual Artist Grant, National Endowment for the Arts
Teaching:
1958-67 Washington, DC Public School System
1964-67 Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC
1967-82 Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, MD
1982-85 University of Maryland, Professor of Art
1985-89 Carnegie Mellon University, Professor of Art
Selected Public Collections:
American Federation of Art Museum Collection, New York
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Ballinglen Arts Foundation, County Mayo, Ireland
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Museum Boymans - van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
Carnegie Library, Washington, DC
Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, WI
Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
Howard University, Washington, DC
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
The Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC
Louisiana Museum, Sweden
Madison Art Center, Madison, WI
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
Menil Collection, Houston, TX
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MI
Mott Warsh Collection, Flint, MI
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Museum of African Art, Washington, DC
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
National Museum of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Oberlin University, Oberlin, OH
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
Rockefeller Collection, New York, NY
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
David and Alfred Smart Museum, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
Szepmuveszeti Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Tate Gallery, London, England
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY