British artist Rose Wylie (b. 1934) creates paintings and drawings that on first glance appear aesthetically simplistic, not seeming to align with any recognizable style or movement, but on closer inspection are revealed to be wittily observed and subtly sophisticated mediations on the nature of visual representation itself. The layers of newspaper that line her studio floor are a frequent source of material for the artist, as she encounters images by chance while working. Drawing from such wide-ranging cultural areas as film, fashion photography, literature, mythology, news images, sports, and individuals she meets in her day-to-day life, Wylie paints colorful and exuberant compositions that are uniquely recognizable. The artist has acknowledged her great admiration for Philip Guston, whose late paintings likewise make use of an idiosyncratic visual lexicon, the directness of cartoonish figures, and a flattened perspective, but simultaneously betray a deep awareness of art history and painterly conventions.
Read MoreWylie studied at Folkestone and Dover School of Art, London, and the Royal College of Art, London, from which she graduated in 1981. Her work has been the subject of renewed critical attention in recent years, including solo presentations at Space K, Seoul, 2016; Chapter, Cardiff, 2015; Turner Contemporary, Margate, 2016; Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 2015; Städtische Galerie, Wolfsburg, Germany, 2014; Tate Britain, London, 2013; Haugar Museum, Tønsberg, Norway, 2013; Philadelphia University of the Arts Gallery, 2012; and Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, 2012. The artist's first exhibition at David Zwirner, London, Horse, Bird, Cat, was held in 2016. Currently on view at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London is a major solo exhibition of Wylie's work (through February 11, 2017). In 2015, a painting by Wylie was included in the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, for which she won the Charles Wollaston Award. Her work can be found in prominent collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Space K, Seoul; Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg; and Tate Britain, London. In 2015, Wylie was elected a Senior Royal Academician. She lives and works in Kent, England.
Text courtesy David Zwirner.
Related Press Rose Wylie review – childlike bursts of freedom and joy 29 November 2017, The Guardian Memories of her own childhood well up in this strange, discombobulating, exciting exhibition. Wylie was born in 1934 and can remember the blitz. In her painting Rosemount (Coloured) the red outline of a V1 with its square wings flies over a roughed-out map of west London centred on a black silhouette of a factory with the name 'Rosemount'...
Related Press Rose Wylie: 'I want to be known for my paintings – not because I'm old' 22 November 2017, The Guardian Often, a painting's content is described on the canvas in blocky handwriting that is as much a part of the picture as the figures the words snake around or run into. Yet in both thinking and making, the process is slow and considered. 'You can go on for about five hours doing just one little bit. It really can be hours.' Wylie recently had a stint...
Related Video & Audio Episode 2 | Rose Wylie and Russell Tovey 11 July 2018, David Zwirner A conversation about the importance of character, the value of mistakes, and painting from film. In the second pairing in David Zwirner’s Dialogues series, the critically-acclaimed painter—and recent recipient of the Queen’s OBE award—Rose Wylie talks with the actor Russell Tovey from BBC’s Being Human and HBO’s Looking. Wylie, an admirer...
