David Eckard
Department Head of Sculpture; Associate Professor
Commissary Trade
A Choreography for Broken Bones
Hermit's Bread (Paul's hunger)
1988 BFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Sculpture)
Pronouns: He/Him
David Eckard utilizes diverse materials, techniques and presentational strategies in his studio practice. Futility, function, authority, queer masculinity and persona are the primary notions investigated, critiqued, and exploited in his work. Eckard fabricates fictive artifacts and enigmatic objects with a variety of materials and techniques. These sculptures exist as singular objects, installation components and performance props.
His rendered works on panel and paper are biomorphic, sexualized schematics that address the body as carrier of histories, fantasies, potential and trauma. Through performance, Eckard orchestrates transient theatrics and deploys temporary monuments in civic spaces for incidental audiences.
Eckard has exhibited internationally and his work has been reviewed in Art in America, Sculpture, Flash Art, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and Artnews. He is the recipient of multiple fellowships and awards including the Individual Artist Fellowship (2015, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland, OR), the Hallie Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts (2010, Ford Family Foundation, Portland, OR) and the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship (2010, Portland, OR).