TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art: 2014 Honoree
Wade Guyton says he makes paintings but does not consider himself a painter, and although only in his early forties, he is already recognized as one of the most influential artists of his generation. Interested in the elastic capabilities of the category of ‘painting’ and what constitutes ‘information’—its transmission and processing—Guyton employs desktop computers, Microsoft Word, bitmapped files, Adobe Photoshop, and DURABrite and UltraChrome inkjet, among other systems, to imaginatively—and persuasively—reimagine painterly form.
Reviewing his 2012 midcareer survey, Wade Guyton OS, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Times art critic Roberta Smith observed that Guyton “is both a radical and a traditionalist…[who] combines the abstract motifs of generic Modernism and the recycling strategies of Andy Warhol and Pictures Generation artists like Richard Prince and Sherry Levine.” Like those artists, Guyton transcends his media beyond its everyday use, employing technology to make art that reproduces itself and generates its own logic.
Guyton adopts an experimental approach to painting by interfering with modern technologies to discover their possibilities; using those processes to complicate the intersection of modernist tradition and abstraction. His work foregrounds the role of the inkjet printer in the age of electronic production and his use of digital technologies raises questions regarding authenticity and chance. The incompatibility of technology and material marked in Guyton’s art acts as an index of process, documenting the physical interaction between the printer, the canvas, and the artist, while producing a highly individual pictorial language.
Wade Guyton was born in Hammond, Indiana. He attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Hunter College in New York, where he currently resides. Wade has had numerous international solo exhibitions in renowned institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Kunsthalle Zürich; the Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Portikus, Frankfurt am Main; the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle; the Vienna Secession; and the Kunstverein in Hamburg. Guyton’s work has also been featured in group exhibitions in venues such as the Lyon Biennial; the Torino Triennale; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Konsthall Malmö; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
Wade Guyton is represented by Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York, who hosted his most recent solo exhibition in early 2014. He is also represented by Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; Gió Marconi, Milan; and Francesca Pia, Zürich. His work has been featured in catalogs, including Wade Guyton OS; Zeichnungen für ein kleines Zimmer; Drawings for a Small Room; Black Paintings; Zeichnungen für ein großes Bild; Wade Guyton, 1er avril – 28 mai 2006, La Salle de bains, 56, rue Saint-Jean, Lyon; Color, Power & Style; Zeichnungen für lange Bild; Guyton, Price, Smith, Walker; and Photographic Objects.
As part of TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art 2014, distinguished artist Wade Guyton will receive the amfAR Award of Excellence for Artistic Contributions to the Fight Against AIDS in recognition of his continuous support of amfAR’s programs. The award presentation will take place during a brunch on Sunday, October 26, hosted by Amy and Vernon Faulconer and Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, and sponsored by U.S. Trust, at The Warehouse. TWO x TWO is honored to have Wade Guyton as the featured artist of our 16th annual event. On behalf of amfAR and the Dallas Museum of Art, we extend heartfelt thanks to Wade and to Friedrich Petzel, Gisela Capitain, Chantal Crousel, Gió Marconi and Francesca Pia for their extraordinary support of this event.
Past TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art honorees include renowned artists Cecily Brown, Peter Doig, Tom Friedman, April Gornik, Mark Grotjahn, Jim Hodges, Elizabeth Peyton, Richard Phillips, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Julian Schnabel, Joel Shapiro, Luc Tuymans, and Christopher Wool.
