David Gilhooly

1943–2013

David Gilhooly (1943–2013) was born in Auburn, California, and studied biology and anthropology before turning to art at the University of California, Davis, earning a B.A. in 1965 and an M.A. in 1967. There he assisted ceramicist Robert Arneson, working alongside Peter Vandenberge, Chris Unterseher, and Margaret Dodd, a group that became founding figures of the Bay Area Funk Art movement. He is best known for an extensive body of frog sculptures — parodying ancient civilizations, religion, and politics — and, from the early 1980s on, for satirical food-themed pieces such as doughnuts, hamburgers, and pizzas. He taught watercolor at San Jose State College (1967–1969) and ceramics at the University of Saskatchewan (from 1969) and York University in Toronto (from 1971), with further teaching stints at UC Davis, California State University, Sacramento, and Linfield College in Oregon. His work is held by the Laguna Art Museum, the Oakland Museum of California, the Whitney Museum of American Art, SFMOMA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, among others. He died in Newport, Oregon, in 2013.

Links: https://www.annexgalleries.com/artists/biography/805
https://modernegallery.com/artists/david-gilhooly/
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/david-gilhooly-1805

Films: Interview: David Gilhooly

Sources: Annex Galleries. "David Gilhooly." Accessed October 14, 2026. https://www.annexgalleries.com/artists/biography/805.

Moderne Gallery. "David Gilhooly." Accessed October 14, 2026. https://modernegallery.com/artists/david-gilhooly/.

Smithsonian American Art Museum. "David Gilhooly." Accessed October 14, 2026. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/david-gilhooly-1805.