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Davi Det Hompson (1939–1996), also known as David E. Thompson, born in
Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwest o ...
, and raised in
Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The his ...
, was a
Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
book artist Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...
,
concrete poet Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...
, creator of
mail art Mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, is an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the postal service. It initially developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence Schoo ...
, sculptor and painter living and working in
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
. Hompson's chosen professional name was a ''nom d'art'' for David E. Thompson and a transposition of the letters of his name.


Early mail art, posters, pamphlets, fluxus books, and performances

An early collaborative audio performance by Davi Det Hompson was his 1969 participation in ''Various—Art by Telephone'', a vinyl LP compilation by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Museum curator David H. Katzive chose sound works by Davi Det Hompson and other notable artists of the time, including
Arman Arman (November 17, 1928 – October 22, 2005) was a French-born American artist. Born Armand Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave (''cachets'', ''allures d'objet'') to ...
,
Richard Artschwager Richard Ernst Artschwager (December 26, 1923 – February 9, 2013) was an American painter, illustrator and sculptor. His work has associations with Pop Art, Conceptual art and Minimalism. Early life and art Richard Artschwager was born to Europe ...
,
John Baldessari John Anthony Baldessari (June 17, 1931 – January 2, 2020) was an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lived and worked in Santa Monica and Venice, California. Initially a painter, ...
,
Dick Higgins Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was a ...
,
Ed Kienholz Edward Ralph Kienholz (October 23, 1927 – June 10, 1994) was an American Installation art, installation artist and assemblage (art), assemblage sculpture, sculptor whose work was highly critical of aspects of modern life. From 1972 onwards, he ...
,
Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...
,
Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
,
Richard Serra Richard Serra (born November 2, 1938) is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures made for site-specific landscape, urban, and architectural settings. Serra's sculptures are notable for their material quality and exploration o ...
, Walter de Maria, and William Wegman for this exhibition. His book art pamphlets, which contained typographically experimental, enigmatic, sometimes wry or sardonic texts, were shown in one-person exhibitions at Scott-McKennis, a 1970s gallery in the Carytown
West of the Boulevard The Museum District, alternately known as West of the Boulevard, is a neighborhood in the city of Richmond, Virginia. It is anchored by the contiguous six-block tract of museums along the west side of Boulevard, including the Virginia Museum of Fin ...
section of Richmond. In 1970, he was included in the exhibition ''
Ray Johnson Raymond Edward "Ray" Johnson (October 16, 1927 – January 13, 1995) was an American artist. Known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, he was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art and was described as
: New York Correspondence School'' at the
Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...
in New York. Among his more than 30 solo shows was one at the Alexandre Iolas Gallery in Manhattan in 1972. In 1972, his exhibition ''P:article:s'' was shown at Eric Schindler Gallery in Richmond. In 1978, along with several other artists affiliated with
Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (also referred to as VCU School of the Arts or simply VCUarts) is a public non-profit art and design school located in Richmond, Virginia. One of many degree-offering schools at VCU, the Scho ...
, Davi Det Hompson founded Richmond's nonprofit arts organization 1708 Gallery at 1708 East Main Street in Richmond's
Shockoe Bottom Shockoe Bottom (also known historically as Shockoe Valley) is an area in Richmond, Virginia, just east of downtown, along the James River. Located between Shockoe Hill and Church Hill, Shockoe Bottom contains much of the land included in Colone ...
. Starting in 1979, he frequently collaborated with the artist
Cliff Baldwin Clifford William "Kip" Baldwin (September 22, 1899 – January 25, 1979) was an American football back who played two seasons in the American Professional Football Association (AFPA), now known as the National Football League (NFL), with the Munc ...
. In the summer of 1982, his work ''You Should See What I've Been Typing'' was on the cover of Art Journal magazine. In 1989, he was
artist in residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...
at
Franklin Furnace Franklin Furnace, also known as the Franklin Mine, is a famous mineral location for rare zinc, iron, manganese minerals in old mines in Franklin, New Jersey, United States. This locale produced more species of minerals (over 300) and more differ ...
in
TriBeCa Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stre ...
, where he curated an exhibition of printed art. He participated in ''Art ex Libris'', an international book art invitational exhibition in 1994 at Artspace Gallery in the
Jackson Ward Jackson Ward is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting to the west of Court End and north of Broa ...
section of Richmond. His correspondence with John Bennett was published in 2011. In 2006, Hompson was part of a group show of Virginia artists in Norfolk, Virginia, and in 2015, a 1978 creation ''Telephone Events par Ben'' by
George Brecht George Brecht (August 27, 1926 – December 5, 2008), born George Ellis MacDiarmid, was an American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer, as well as a professional chemist who worked as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnson ...
,
Ken Friedman Ken Friedman (born September 19, 1949 in New London, Connecticut) is a design researcher. He was a member of Fluxus, an international laboratory for experimental art, architecture, design, and music. Friedman joined Fluxus in 1966 as the youngest m ...
, and Hompson was performed as part of a
Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
festival at le Centre Pompidou in Paris.


Dada, fluxus, and performance art collaborations

Hompson's affiliation with San Francisco's
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...
movement and other
Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
artists such as the Lithuanian-born American
George Maciunas George Maciunas (; lt, Jurgis Mačiūnas; November 8, 1931 – May 9, 1978) was a Lithuanian American artist, born in Kaunas. A founding member and the central coordinator of Fluxus, an international community of artists, architects, composers ...
, creator of ''
Fluxus 1 ''Fluxus 1'' is an artists' book edited and produced by the Lithuanian-American artist George Maciunas, containing works by a series of artists associated with Fluxus, the international collective of avant-garde artists primarily active in the 196 ...
'', was posthumously acknowledged in a review by
John Held Jr. John James Held Jr. (January 10, 1889 – March 2, 1958) was an American cartoonist, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, and author. One of the best-known magazine illustrators of the 1920s, his most popular works were his uniquely styled ...
in 2010. Held wrote, "While the first issue of The West Bay Dadaist, continued the tradition of cut and paste newspaper clippings, the second issue featured art by
Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions arti ...
from England, and Monte Cazzaza, both of whom collaborated in founding
Industrial Records Industrial Records is a record label established in 1976 by industrial music and visual arts group Throbbing Gristle. The group created the label primarily for self-releases but also signed several other groups and artists. The label gave a nam ...
later in the decade. Fluxus artist Davi Det Hompson, Gaglione, and Mac sis' brother Indian Ralph also contributed." He collaborated with other artists, Matt Taggart for example, in producing videos.'' Lessons'', which was scored by Hompson and published on November 17, 2012, was a collaboration with Taggart.


Painting and sculpture

In his later years, he turned less to
conceptual Conceptual may refer to: Philosophy and Humanities *Concept *Conceptualism *Philosophical analysis (Conceptual analysis) *Theoretical definition (Conceptual definition) *Thinking about Consciousness (Conceptual dualism) *Pragmatism (Conceptual pr ...
and
neo-Dadaist Neo-Dada was a movement with audio, visual and literary manifestations that had similarities in method or intent with earlier Dada artwork. It sought to close the gap between art and daily life, and was a combination of playfulness, iconoclasm, a ...
art and more to painting and sculpture, including materials of encaustic, concrete, burlap, and wood in more abstract or non-objective works. His last exhibition, which opened on October 18, 1996, and was still on view at VCU's Anderson Gallery after his heart attack and death, was an "installation piece and a collaborative effort with Cliff Baldwin of Brooklyn, N.Y. entitled ''WRDZ''".


Special collections and retrospectives

In 1999,
Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
's Anderson Gallery featured a retrospective of the works of Hompson, who died December 8, 1996, of a heart attack at age 57 at Richmond's Chippenham Hospital. Other retrospective exhibitions of his art in Richmond were at the Hand Workshop, 1708 Gallery (of which he was a member artist), and Reynolds Gallery, all in Richmond. An exhibition from February 2 to March 2, 2013, at
ZieherSmith ZieherSmith is a New York City contemporary art gallery run by Andrea Smith Zieher and Scott Zieher. Gallery exhibitions have been widely reviewed, including shows by artists Tucker Nichols, Rachel Owens, Rachel Rossin, Christoph Ruckäberle, All ...
Gallery in
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in Manhattan, ''Sure Sure Davi Det Hompson: 1976–1995,'' showed the evolution of his work; the show was curated by Dakin Hart with the assistance of Hompson's widow Nancy Thompson. A Hompson collection of Fluxus art, correspondence, publications, and memorabilia is now held in the Special Collections of the Virginia Commonwealth University Library. The Davi Det Hompson collection at VCU is categorized as Series I: Correspondence; Series II: Book Art; Series III: Oversize Materials, with each object given a specific box, file, and/or catalog number. The preferred citation suggested by the Cabell Library is "Box/folder, Davi Det Hompson Papers, M 251, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University." Correspondence between Davi Det Hompson and artists
Anna Banana Anna Banana (born February 24, 1940 as Anne Lee Long in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian artist known for her performance art, writing, and work as a small press publisher. She has been described as an "entrepreneur and critic", and p ...
, Fletcher Copp, David Sucec, and
Alice Aycock Alice Aycock (born November 20, 1946) is an American sculptor and installation artist. She was an early artist in the land art movement in the 1970s, and has created many large-scale metal sculptures around the world. Aycock's drawings and sculp ...
and poets,
Madeline Gins Madeline Helen Arakawa Gins (November 7, 1941 – January 8, 2014) was an American artist, architect, and poet. Early life and education Gins was born in New York City, November 7, 1941, and raised on Long Island, in the village of Island Park. ...
,
Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian (born May 17, 1941) is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon, 1987, original version Burning Deck, 1980), a ...
, Richard Craven, and
Dick Higgins Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was a ...
are in this collection. Many of his booklets and posters are cataloged and still available from
Printed Matter Printed matter is a term, mostly used by mailing systems, normally used to describe mechanically printed materials for which reduced fees are paid which are lower than first-class mail. Each postal administration has it own rules for what may be p ...
in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Two images of small books with text by Hompson are shown in a review of his work by
Clive Phillpot Clive Phillpot (Born 1938) is a specialist on artists' books, essayist, art writer, curator, and a librarian. Phillpot started his library career at the Charing Cross Public Library in London. Career He is a former librarian at the Chelsea School ...
. Hompson is the subject of a 2011 entry in the web blog ''Fiction Doldrums''. Davi Det Hompson is one of the artists whose diverse art practice is chronicled in the forty-five year history of VCU's Anderson Gallery. The Anderson Gallery collections are now in the possession of the Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell Library.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hompson, Davi Det 20th-century American artists Virginia Commonwealth University faculty American conceptual artists Indiana University Bloomington alumni Artists from Richmond, Virginia Fluxus Anderson University (Indiana) alumni 1939 births 1996 deaths Pseudonymous artists