DAVID GILHOOLY

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TV Set with Rabbit Ears: Chicago art critic forced to swallow a frog


A fierce challenger of the seriousness of the art world, David Gilhooly focused on absurd imagery to parody culture, politics, and religion through an alternative world of ceramic frogs and other creatures.

Gilhooly stressed that his work be accessible so that “even my most maiden old aunt or my most drugged-out cousin can get at the meaning of the work or at least experience it!” – resulting in a contentious relationship with elite art critics.

He was forever annoyed at this particular review by Hilton Kramer, regarding the 1981 exhibition ‘Ceramic Sculpture: Six Artists’ at the Whitney Museum: “An impoverished sensibility, condemned to sustain itself on silly and unrewarding jokes, can be observed in Mr. Gilhooly’s work.