Art critic Dave Hickey, known for book ‘Air Guitar’, dies

By SAM METZ
AP / Report for America

Dave Hickey, a prominent American critic whose essays covered topics ranging from Liberace to Norman Rockwell, has died. The brash style and mixing of high- and low-brow culture that characterized his work earned him legions of fans and leaves a lasting influence on a generation of artists and critics. Art historian Libby Lumpkin says her husband died Nov. 12 at home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after years of heart disease. He was 82. Hickey, who won a MacArthur “Genius” grant in 2001, wrote prolifically about topics ranging from Norman Rockwell paintings to basketball player Julius Erving.