Projects Archives - Page 2 of 4 - WILLY BO RICHARDSON

January 15, 2021June 30, 2023

Santa Fe Literary Review

The Santa Fe Literary Review is an annual in-print literary journal. SFLR features work by local, national, and international writers and artists. This years Review includes fiction by Tommy Orange, recipient of the 2019 PEN/Hemingway award for his debut novel, There There.

In conjunction with the review is an exhibition of works by visual artists at SFCC Visual Art Gallery. I’m showing a large 13 foot triptych as well as the small painting on wood panel featured on the cover of the Review.

The Spaces Between
Reception and reading: Thursday October 17, 5-7pm
October 15-November 21

SFCC Visual Arts Gallery
6401 Richards Ave
Santa Fe, NM 87508
Continue reading “Santa Fe Literary Review”

August 1, 2020June 30, 2023

Albuquerque Museum Permanent Collection

Richard Levy Gallery is pleased to announce the accession of Number 1,” 1999 to the permanent collection of the Albuquerque Museum. The Albuquerque Museum Permanent Collection features artists living in or influenced by the South West region and includes masterworks by Georgia O’Keeffe, Raymond Jonson, Fritz Scholder, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.

Number 1 was the first of what developed into a multi-decade process. Mid-way through his MFA thesis at Pratt Institute, Richardson stopped painting, turned his paintings to the wall, and started over, beginning with vertical strokes in defiance to the notion at the time that “painting was dead”.

Continue reading “Albuquerque Museum Permanent Collection”

April 1, 2020December 26, 2025

Interview from the Nüart Gallery Editorial

Q. How do you see this body of work in relation to past exhibitions?

I am especially excited about this current body of work on the level of process. I’ve been making innovative changes in leaps and bounds over the last 2 years. I began using acrylic airbrush and spray guns for my value studies. These are the first layers that provide structure for subsequent layers painted in oil. The combination of spray gun and brushwork is really starting to come together. I’m doing things I didn’t even know were possible just a few years ago!

Q. Intentional mindfulness and solitude are active, prominent expressions in your work. Abstract sentiments such as these can mean many different things to different people. What do they mean to you in your paintings?

It’s not an accident that early modern humans painted in caves. Painting is inherently solitary. I am inspired by the first cave paintings, to the lush robes of medieval altarpieces, to the inventiveness of the Renaissance, to the destruction and open mindedness of the abstract expressionism, to the return to materials of the minimalism. I seek to navigate through social and political upheaval and blaze a path through historically relevant passageways. To be mindful is to be able to make a stand. To declare, “this is the way! I found a path!”

November 8, 2019June 30, 2023

Contemporary Art of the Southwest

Several of my paintings are included in the new book Contemporary Art of the Southwest, by Ashley E. Rooney. Foreword written by Julie Sasse, Chief Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tucson Museum of Art. The book’s intent is to take a fresh look at the insightful ways artists have interpreted life in the Southwest.

Book Signing
May 17, 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Artisan
2601 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Twenty three artists will be present. Join me at Artisan in celebrating the publication, and meet the artists!
Artists attending:

Jim Alford, Andrea Cermanski, Susan Contreras, Carlos Carulo, Upton Greyshoes Ethelbah, Jeanie Gooden, Geoffrey Gorman, Natasha Isenhour , Michael Kessler, Michael Kessler , Ellen Koment, Max Lehman, Arthur Lopez, Carole LaRoche, Margi Lucena, Mario Quilles, Nancy Reyner, Willy Bo Richardson, David Rudolph, Paul Shapiro, Jack Slentz, Carl Winters, Stephen Wood

September 30, 2019December 1, 2025

SITE Santa Fe SPREAD Finalist

Willy Bo Richardson was honored to be one of the eight SITE Santa Fe SPREAD finalists. SPREAD is a community dinner that funds artists’ projects and creative initiatives. SPREAD seeks to provide micro-grants for innovative projects and artworks conceived by New Mexico-based artists.

The 5.0 project was initiated with a request for proposals by SITE. Artistic merit and innovation were emphasized “We shifted the focus this time to really encourage studio-based artists,” said SITE Santa Fe director and chief curator Irene Hofmann. “We had many applicants, and the eight finalists are in different stages of their careers but all committed studio-based artists. So it will be a different kind of presentation as we hear artists talking about their work and what inspires them rather than pitching particular projects.”

A wide range of media is represented in the artistic endeavors of finalists Janet Abrams, Chris Collins, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Jane Lackey, Mindy McGovern, Tom Miller, Willy Bo Richardson, and Lucrecia Troncoso. The winning artist can use the SPREAD grant to support ongoing work.

Transcript from Richardson’s speech (you’ll just have to imagine the slide show):

My first recorded work of art was an arc of family shoes. This was made when I was still crawling. I’ve always been attracted to beauty, simplicity and symmetry. These are the same principles we use to explore the world around us, and to build fantastic things- like particle accelerators. This is a process of discovery. The scientific method. In my painting practice I found an efficient way to work with these principles. I am looking for order without ignoring complexities.

Continue reading “SITE Santa Fe SPREAD Finalist”

December 25, 2018July 17, 2025

Phillips Auction Watercolors Video

Phillips de Pury Watercolors from Willy Richardson on Vimeo.

phillips auction watercolors video

The “Watercolors“ show, curated by Kristin Sancken, Phillips de Pury featured abstract and figurative works by a diverse group of artists. It included emerging young painters like Annika Connor, Andrea Mary Marshall, and Alexis Rockman as well as such heavyweights of the art world as Eric Fischl.

The show’s breadth was impressive as it attempted to examine the perception of watercolor as a fine art medium and the issues of value (art historical, economic and aesthetic) surrounding the medium and its relationship to oils.

The exhibition was held at Phillips de Pury’s Chelsea location. Video of the opening night featuring my work from the “That’s Where You Need to Be” series.

ON VIEW: 1 -19 OCTOBER 2012
LOCATION: 450 West 15th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10011
This exhibition was organized in conjunction with Active Ideas Productions, also in partnership are galleries 303, Ricco Maresca, Bravin Lee Programs, Greenberg Van Doren, Halsey McKay, Tripoli, Salomon Contemporary, and Nicole Klagsburn.

April 14, 2018May 1, 2024

Nüart Gallery: Artist Spotlight 2023

Interview from the Nüart Gallery Editorial

Q: What does a typical day in the studio look like for you?

A: One of Pablo Picasso’s best known quotes is, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” I’d like to unpack the word “work” throughout this interview.

I start by collecting information. Some might call it “piddling around”. For example I’ll ask the question, “what is a white wall?” Then I’ll spend the next week testing different hues of white paint and explore lighting on different walls. As I piddle, I have music playing in the background, and when a good song comes on, I save it in a playlist. This new playlist will become part of the foundation for a new painting series.

This first chapter in my studio practice also includes looking, and playing with ideas around possible supports, materials and scale. I think about new methods and experiments I want to take part in. Inspiration comes in the form of a title and color parameters for the new series.

The next chapter may be what some call “work”. I am no longer gathering information, but processing. I stretch and prime, lay down colored grounds, and begin working with the first value studies. I have a sense of where I want to go, and which colors I will use, but I don’t know how it will unfold.

The final chapter is the most exciting. When the glaze layers are really taking shape, I work in a state of awe and gratitude. I lose track of time, I lose track of myself. Continue reading “Nüart Gallery: Artist Spotlight 2023”