Oral history interview with Laddie John Dill, 2016

Biographical Note

Laddie John Dill was born in Long Beach, California in 1943. After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute in 1968, Dill became a printing apprentice and worked closely with established artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns. A central figure in the California Light and Space movement, he has received numerous fellowships including from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Dill's work is in the permanent collections of institutions around the world. He lives and works in Venice, CA where he maintains a studio

Scope and Contents

Dill describes collaborating with Rauschenberg on a group project called Light Show where a number of artists installed temporary, light-based works outside in Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles. Dill recalls Rauschenberg asking for an invitation to Dill’s studio and then introducing him to Ileana Sonnabend and Leo Castelli, which led to his first show. Dill talks about his move to New York, where he stayed with Jasper Johns. He discusses helping Rauschenberg assemble a Cardbird piece at the opening of the Walker Art Center

Subjects

• Artist--Interviews.
• Castelli, Leo.
• Chouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles, Calif.)
• Dill, Laddie John--Interviews.
• Glass in art--Exhibitions.
• Glass sculpture, American--20th century
• Interviews.
• Johns, Jasper, 1930-
• Light and space (Art movement)--United States--California--20th century.
• National Endowment for the Arts.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
• Sonnabend, Ileana.
• Vanderscoff, Cameron, interviewer.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2016