David Salle in the studio at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York, 1993
Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002
Photographer: James McHUGH

David Salle was born in Oklahoma in 1952 and grew up in Kansas. He developed an interest in art at an early age and attended life-drawing and other art classes outside normal school hours from the age of eight. After completing school he studied at the California Institute of the Arts where he received his BFA in 1973 and his MFA in 1975. Having completed his formal training, Salle relocated to New York where he developed a broad range of working methods that included relief printing on canvas.

In 1994 he worked at Tyler Graphics on the multimedia print series High and low. Featuring magazine excerpts in a collage effect, these prints recall Salle’s early days in New York during which he worked in the art department of a pornography magazine. In 1995 Salle directed the film Search and destroy, produced by Martin Scorsese.The High and low prints reflect this interest in cinema, invoking ideas of montage and splicing.
Emilie Owens

Further reading

Chronology
 

1952
Born in Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America

1970–75
Attends California Institute of the Arts, Valencia receiving Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1973 and Masters of Fine Arts in 1975

1975
Moves to New York City, New York; begins to teach drawing at Ocean County Community College, Tom’s River, New Jersey

1976
First European solo exhibition at Fondatión Corps de Garde, Groningen, The Netherlands

1977–80
Appointed Assistant Professor, Hartford Art School, West Hartford, Connecticut

1979
Receives Creative Artist Public Service grant, New York State Council on the Arts

1981
Becomes jointly affiliated with Mary Boone Gallery and Leo Castelli Gallery (both New York City); teaches drawing and painting at the School of Visual Arts, New York City

1982
Included in Dokumenta 7, Kassel, West Germany; Eight artists: the anxious edge, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Body language: figurative aspects of recent art, organised by Hayden Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; Image scavengers: painting, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1983
Included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1984
Included in exhibition, An international survey of contemporary painting and sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York City; included in travelling exhibition, The heroic figure, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas (travels)

1985
Designs sets and costumes for play, Birth of a poet, by Kathy Acker, Ro Theater, Rotterdam; included in Biennale de Paris, Grande Halle du Parc de la Villette, Paris, France; included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1986
Receives John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship; designs sets and costumes for American Ballet Theater’s The Mollino room, at Kennedy Center, Washington, DC; travelling exhibition, David Salle, originating at Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; included in Biennale of Sydney, Australia

1987
Completes set design for The tarnished Angels, performed by Le Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris, in Italy

1988
Travelling exhibition, David Salle: pinturas y acuarelas 1980–1988, originating at Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, Spain

1989
Completes scenery and costume design with Jeff Koons for Contempt, The Armitage Ballet, New York City

1990
Included in travelling exhibition, High and low: modern art and popular culture, organised by Museum of Modern Art, New York City

1991
Included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; travelling exhibition, Devil on the stairs: looking back on the eighties, at Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia

1992
Included in exhibition, Allegories of modernism, contemporary drawing, at Museum of Modern Art, New York City

1993
Included in Venice biennale, Italy;included in exhibition, The portrait now, at National Portrait Gallery, London, England

1994
Completes High and low series, mixed media prints at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York.; exhibition, David Salle and April Gornik, Guild Hall Museum, Easthampton, New York

1995
Director of feature film, Search and destroy, a satire produced by Martin Scorsese, starring Dennis Hopper and Jason Ferraro

1996
Receives commission for Crystal river, Osaka, Japan

1998
Receives commission for Renzo Piano’s DaimlerChrysler Corporation building, Berlin, Germany

1999
Travelling exhibition, Retrospective,organised by Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2000
Solo exhibition, Retrospective,Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico

2004
Solo exhibition, David Salle: split worlds, Stella Art Gallery, Moscow, Russia David Salle currently lives and works in New York City and Bridgehampton, New York

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Kate Buckingham, 2006
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.

Further information will be added to this site as the National Gallery proceeds with its research and documentation.

Last updated June 2013