Tony DeLap
Born in Oakland, California, in 1927, DeLap studied at several Bay Area colleges, including the San Francisco Academy of Art before he moved to Southern California in 1965. DeLap attended the Claremont Graduate School and became a Professor at the University of California, Irvine, from 1965 to 1991. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was employed to work on trade shows exhibitions and practiced freelance graphic design while applying his talents at painting and sculptures. In fact, it was during his time as a designer, making displays for trade shows that could easily be constructed and taken apart, that he came up with the idea of making portable sculpture.
The idea of portable sculpture, constructing something temporal, went hand in hand with some of the basic tenants of conceptualism that were beginning to get traction in art at the time—that it was the idea that was important, not necessarily the object. In the case of DeLap, it is the illusion that is important, an interesting twist to the notion of the idea.
Works in Our Collection
Tony DeLap
Zirca the Wizard
Wood, aluminum, and acrylic, 2005
44 x 34 x 2 3/4 inches
Gift of Tony and Kathy DeLap
2018.005.001
Tony DeLap
Florine, Child of the Air
Lithograph, 1977
20 7/8 x 21 1/8 inches
Gift of Terry Gulden and Renée Comeau
2015.004
Tony DeLap
Pyramid (Paris Series)
Collotype and lithography, 1984
5 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches
Gift of Tom and Barbara Peckenpaugh
2012.009.008
Tony DeLap
Napoleon’s Tomb (Paris Series)
Collotype and lithography, 1984
6 7/8 x 4 3/8 inches
Gift of Tom and Barbara Peckenpaugh
2012.009.007
Tony DeLap
La Grand Roue (Paris Series)
Collotype, lithograph, and letterpress, 1984
5 x 7 1/4 inches
Gift of Tom and Barbara Peckenpaugh
2012.009.006
Tony DeLap
The Floating Lady (Paris Series)
Collotype, lithograph, and letterpress, 1984
4 1/2 x 6 7/8 inches
Gift of Tom and Barbara Peckenpaugh
2012.009.005
Tony DeLap
Cathedral Door (Paris Series)
Collotype, lithograph, and letterpress, 1984
7 1/4 x 5 1/8 inches
Gift of Tom and Barbara Peckenpaugh
2012.009.003
Tony DeLap
The Mysterious Globe
Wood, canvas and acrylic, 1986
65 1/2 x 51 x 3 1/2 inches
Gift of The Mark and Hilarie Moore Collection
1991.008
Tony DeLap
Flip Flop
Mixed media, 1962-63
22 x 12 x 4 inches
Gift of Ruth and Murray Gribin
2001.010.038
Tony DeLap
Houdin’s House
Aluminum, paint and glass, 1967
72 x 72 x 144 inches
Gift of the LAM Contemporary Collectors Council
1994.001
