Soundings
Ever since the mid 19th century, when early photographs of Egypt’s ancient monuments brought widespread attention to the historic civilization, Western audiences have periodically succumbed to Egyptomania. The discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922 fueled another round of interest. The 1976 American museum tour of the boy-pharaoh’s golden funeral mask revived the mania once again, leading to byproducts ranging from pricey Tut
trinkets to Steve Martin’s hilarious Egyptian skit.
David Gilhooly’s personal “frogomania” is unique. His colorfully
glazed frog mummy, which predates the Tut vogue of the later 1970s, is one of many images from the artist who styled himself as “the Frog King.” “The frog really represents clay to me,” he said. “A lump of clay is frog-like even before you touch it.” Gilhooly’s frog
world took various shapes, many of them reflecting famous images. Frog Mummies joined Frog Victoria, Frogs’ Last Supper, frog Buddhas, and other amphibian parodies.
Gilhooly claimed these treatments of “great art” interested him because he had not “done” art history during his studies at University of California, Davis, where he began working in clay
in the mid-1960s. He maintained that he was making popular art for an audience who knows nothing about art at all. During a long teaching career at UC Davis and in Canada, he advised
his students, “You should make what you want and what does something for you. If it does something for you, it is irresistible. It doesn’t need support from other people to accept it.” CCE
Soundings
Ever since the mid 19th century, when early photographs of Egypt’s ancient monuments brought widespread attention to the historic civilization, Western audiences have periodically succumbed to Egyptomania. The discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922 fueled another round of interest. The 1976 American museum tour of the boy-pharaoh’s golden funeral mask revived the mania once again, leading to byproducts ranging from pricey Tut trinkets to Steve Martin’s hilarious Egyptian skit.
David Gilhooly’s personal “frogomania” is unique. His colorfully glazed frog mummy, which predates the Tut vogue of the later 1970s, is one of many images from the artist who styled himself as “the Frog King.” “The frog really represents clay to me,” he said. “A lump of clay is frog-like even before you touch it.” Gilhooly’s frog world took various shapes, many of them reflecting famous images. Frog Mummies joined Frog Victoria, Frogs’ Last Supper, frog Buddhas, and other amphibian parodies.
Gilhooly claimed these treatments of “great art” interested him because he had not “done” art history during his studies at University of California, Davis, where he began working in clay in the mid-1960s. He maintained that he was making popular art for an audience who knows nothing about art at all. During a long teaching career at UC Davis and in Canada, he advised his students, “You should make what you want and what does something for you. If it does something for you, it is irresistible. It doesn’t need support from other people to accept it.” CCE
Archive Label 2003 (version 1):
Gilhooly’s interest in frog mythology is evident in his series of clay sculptures done between 1969 and 1982. In the frog culture he created, frogs evolved in place of humans. The Mummy of Frogtosis II is ancient Egyptian in style with scenes of Egyptian frog gods decorating a frog sarcophagus.
A California native, Gilhooly studied with and assisted Robert Arneson, a major ceramic artist who came to attention with the 1960s California Funk movement. The movement is known for its humorous and sometimes irreverent subjects, bright colors, and expressive use of the medium, which is often clay. Gilhooly’s own work exemplifies this tradition.
Archive Label 2003 (version 2):
David Gilhooly uses the frog in his ceramic works, often in humorous and entertaining ways. The Mummy of Frogtosis II is typical of his frog series of clay sculptures made between 1969 and 1982. Gilhooly created an entire frog mythology where frogs evolved instead of humans. The Mummy of Frogtosis is in an ancient Egyptian style with scenes of Egyptian frog gods decorating a frog sarcophagus in hieroglyphic manner.
