Marita Dingus

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Marita Dingus
Born1956
Seattle
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTyler School of Art at Temple University (BFA), San Jose State University (MFA)
Known forSculptures made from recycled and found objects, environmental artist
StyleMixed Media
SpousePreston Hampton
AwardsIrving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement
Websitemaritadingus.com

Marita Dingus (born 1956) is an African-American artist who works in multimedia, using found objects.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Seattle, Washington, in 1956, Dingus earned a BFA in 1980 from Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, and an MFA at San Jose State University in 1985.[2]

She married Preston Hampton in 2012.[3]

Career[edit]

Untitled Bowl (2005), Smithsonian American Art Museum, on loan from the Boise Art Museum

Early in her career Dingus was represented by Portland, Oregon's Fountain Gallery, which was helpful in getting her work out to a much wider audience.

Critical reception[edit]

Dingus' work has been favorably reviewed by critics. New York Times critic Ken Johnson noted Dingus is "a worthy lesser-known talent."[4] Tacoma News Tribune critic Rosemary Ponnekanti wrote, "Seattle artist Marita Dingus opens the Kittredge Gallery season with 'They Still Hold Us,' work that, through discarded and cast-off materials, references the persistence of cultural injustices that affect people of color."[5]

The Museum of Glass described Dingus' art from found objects: "Throughout her career, Dingus has chosen to make her creations with recycled materials, which adds an essential element to her already multi-layered and thought-provoking pieces. Exhibiting internationally and locally, Dingus’ work is a commentary on the slave trade, recycling, and the politics of poverty."[6]

Regina Hackett of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said, "Seattle's Dingus is open-minded about what constitutes her material. Basically, it's whatever she lays her hands on and includes zippers, strips of cloth, light-bulb sockets, paper clips, tooth guards, paint brushes, bits of wire, computer innards, bent silverware, pacifiers, colored tape, paint, plastic and coarse thread."[7] Hackett added, "After two residencies at Pilchuck Glass School, she's making singular use of the medium. Some of her babies have glass faces with painted features, others have glass torsos also, fat and silky forms with an inherent sense of wiggle. It's a pleasure to walk into the room and feel these forms in active engagement around you."[7]

Artist statement[edit]

“I consider myself an African-American Feminist and environmental artist. My approach to producing art is environmentally and politically infused: neither waste humanity nor the gifts of nature. I am primarily a mixed media sculptor who uses discarded materials. My art draws upon relics from the African Diaspora. The discarded materials represent how people of African descent were used during the institution of slavery and colonialism then discarded, but who found ways to repurpose themselves and thrive in a hostile world. I seek to use recovered materials, reconfiguring and incorporating them into pieces of art where possible and appropriate, and to mitigate waste and pollution in all my work. This is a creative challenge, but a commitment I incorporate into my professional and personal activities.”[8]

Awards[edit]

In 2018, Artist Trust announced Dingus as the recipient of the Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.[9] In 2017 she was named a Legacy Artist (Experimental Media) of the Museum of Northwest Art.[10] She was also honored in 2005 with the Morris and Joan Alhadeff PONCHO Artist of the Year award.[11] Earlier in her career, she received a Visual Art Fellowship from the Artist Trust in 1994, and a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship in 1999.[11][12]

Selected public artworks and collections[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kittredge Gallery Presents Artists Marita Dingus and Sarah Gilbert · Campus News · University of Puget Sound". www.pugetsound.edu. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  2. ^ "About Marita Dingus" (PDF). Seattle Art Museum. 201. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  3. ^ "Washington, Marriage Index, 1969-2014". www.ancestry.com. December 17, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  4. ^ Johnson, Ken (January 30, 1998). "Art in Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  5. ^ "Critic's Picks: Marita Dingus at Kittredge, book art at the Collins, downtown theater tours and quilts at American Art Company". thenewstribune. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  6. ^ "Creating Connections Curriculum: Marita Dingus, About Face". Museum of Glass. 2004. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Conceived of bits and pieces, Marita Dingus' babies are simply adorable". seattlepi.com. July 21, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  8. ^ "Marita Dingus at Traver Gallery". Traver Gallery. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  9. ^ "Artist Trust Announces Marita Dingus as the 2018 Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award Recipient". artisttrust.org. May 29, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  10. ^ "Sept. 13, 2017: MoNA Luminaries Artist Awards | MoNA". www.monamuseum.org. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "A History: Creative Fusion Mentor Artists". UCDS Schools. Summer 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  12. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Marita Dingus". Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  13. ^ "ArtsWA My Public Art Portal | Artist Collection | Marita Dingus". ArtsWA My Public Art Portal. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  14. ^ "Tacoma Art Museum emuseum - Online Collection". Tacoma Art Museum. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  15. ^ "Seattle Art Museum emuseum - Online Collections". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  16. ^ "Vulcan Real Estate Artwalk: "Winds of Change: We Are Still Here" by Marita Dingus & Preston Hampton". Vulcan Real Estate. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  17. ^ "The Art of Being: Feelings, Memories, and Imagination". Museum of Glass. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  18. ^ "Douglass-Truth Branch Art". Seattle Public Library. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  19. ^ "Five Women Artists: Marita Dingus". Whatcom Museum. March 24, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  20. ^ "Recycled Child (2009) by Marita Dingus, located at Seattle Central College, Seattle, WA". ArtsWA, Washington's State Art Collection, www.arts.wa.gov/my-public-art-portal. Retrieved June 19, 2021.

External links[edit]

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