statement:
In
Will Berry´s abstract exercise every decision –gesture, mark, support,
pigment, format– is conscious, it emerges from a selection process that
the idea requires in painting. He does not marginalize subjectivity,
although this is not evident; he draws his experiences only to erase
them through painting. His work engages the changes in light and color
of the city, its built architecture and density of people, combined with
quotes of nature observable when the visual contamination is edited.
Impulse is a word that is not in the lexicon of this painter; patience is, as well as, discipline and perseverance, and form the basis of his pictorial exercise of veiling and covering up again figures and drawings that reside behind the last layer of pigment on linen, applied spontaneously finishing the painting.
Victor Zamudio-Taylor
Exhibition catalog, Como Agua Fria, Caja Blanca Gallery, Mexico City, 2009
exhibitions:
Ahead of Ourselves
Light of the Luberon
Rituals: A Benefit for the Elephant Sanctuary
Zeitgeist Gallery Print Portfolio 2008
artist's website:
En el ejercicio abstracto de Berry cada decisión-gesto, marca, soporte, pigmento, formato-es cociente, surge de procesos de eliminación que requiere la idea en pintura. No marginaliza la subjetividad aunque esta no se evidente, traza sus vivencias solo para borrarlos con pintura. Su labor obedece a los cambios de luz y cromáticos de la urbe a su densidad arquitectónica y a las aglomeraciones de ciudadanos, a las citas de naturaleza que se observan cuando se edita la contaminación visual. Impulso es una voz que no aparece en el léxico del pintor. En contraste, la paciencia y una ardua labor fundamentan su ejercicio pictórico de velar y cubrir de nuevo figuras y dibujos que habitan detrás de la ultima capa de pigmento sobre lino, misma que aplica con espontaneidad cerrando así como remate el cuadro.
WILL BERRY
1954, Nashville, TN
Lives and works in Mexico City
Education
1993 MFA Painting, Boston University, Boston MA
1981 BA Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
1976 BA English literature, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014 Oro Sobre Azul Zafiro, curated by Sandra Cerisola, Franz Mayer Museum, Mexico City
I Saw the Sun, curated by Victor Zamudio-Taylor and Sandra Cerisola, Page Bond Gallery,
Richmond,VA
2013 The Night of the Iguana, curated by Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2011 New Works, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2010 Music of the Stones, William Berry, Museo Universitario del Chopo, UNAM, Mexico City
2008 La Luz de Los Colores, Vanderbilt University Law School, Nashville, TN
2007 The Pull of the Air, Bentley Projects, Phoenix, AZ
2006 Cambio de Tiempo, William Berry, Museo Nacional de la Estampa, (MUNAE), Mexico City
New Work, Will Berry, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 Réquiem (for VZT), curated by Raul Zamudio, ARTR Trafico de Arte, Mexico City
2013 Gold Rush, curated by John A Reyes, Bentley Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
2011 NOW: Works from The Jumex Collection, curated by Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Instituto
Cultural Cabanas, Guadalajara
Illuminate, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
La Muerte Blanca, Galería de Arte de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público,
Mexico City
2010 Efecto Drácula: Contemporary Art & Youth Cultures, curated by Victor Zamudio-
Taylor, Museo Universitario El Chopo, UNAM, Mexico City 2009
Cold Press, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Como Agua Fría, curated byVictor Zamudio-Taylor Caja Blanca, Mexico City
Grants, Commissions, Art Projects
2011 Music of the Stones, William Berry, documentary,The Pacific Ring of Fire – Mexico
and Guatemala, Prospect TV Production for French-German Public Television Arte
camera: Jürgen Hansen, editor: Frédéric Frankel. Four part series that presents peoples
and cultures along the Pacific Ring of Fire, their ceremonies, rituals,and mythologies.
Soubes, France
2007-2011
Music of the Stones, a multi-disciplinary project studying visual pattern and its potential
for music composition, funded by Stavros Niarchos Foundation, New York, NY,
administered by North American Art Projects and Research Corporation, Franklin, TN
2009 Fuente de la Luz, design for mural in mosaic for Victor Manuel Borras, Chiconcauc, MX
2008 Las Salinas, design for mural in mosaic for Four Seasons Hotel, Punta Mita, Jalisco
Selected Catalogs
Now: Works from The Jumex Collection, Instituto Cultural Cabañas, Guadalajara, 2011
Aperturas, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, 2010, Efecto Drácula, curated by
Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Mexico City, 2010
Music of the Stones, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Mexico City, 2011
Selected Collections
La Colección Jumex, Ecatepec, MX
Try-me, Richmond, VA
Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA
Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City
Museo de Arte de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, Mexico City
Museo Nacional de la Estampa, Mexico City
Tennessee State Museum, Bridgestone-Firestone Trust, Nashville,TN
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsvillle, ALA
EMI, New York
Vanderbilt University Law School, Nashville, TN
University of the South, Sewanee, TN
Four Seasons Hotel, Punta Mita, JAL
Andreas Dracopoulos, New York
Bárbara Garza Lagüera de Braniff, Mexico City
Miguel Ortiz Monasterio, Mexico City
Nathan Followill and Jessie Baylin, Nashville, TN