
William Betts
Swimmers III, Miami Beach, version 2, 2019

William Betts (b. 1964) explores the possibilities of the digital age by using innovative …

William Betts uses painting to explore images in the age of surveillance. He creates his work like a pointillist painter, carefully applying hundreds of acrylic dots to canvas to mimic the pixelated images captured by CCTV, or translating a single row of pixels from a digital photo into abstractions with an uncannily organic quality. Betts updates this method for the current century, using software and a CNC machine to deconstruct and replicate the image. “I look at images as a collection of data,” he has said, adding, “I use that data, either abstracting it or modifying it or manipulating it, to arrive at the image that I want.” By bringing these mundane snapshots of everyday life into the gallery, Betts casts the viewer as voyeur and reminds us that we are constantly being watched.


William Betts (b. 1964) explores the possibilities of the digital age by using innovative techniques that include the use of proprietary software, and a self-designed complex robotic paint application system. This technology applies drops of paint to the canvas one color at a time - one drop at a time. Up close the …

William Betts uses painting to explore images in the age of surveillance. He creates his work like a pointillist painter, carefully applying hundreds of acrylic dots to canvas to mimic the pixelated images captured by CCTV, or translating a single row of pixels from a digital photo into abstractions with an uncannily organic quality. Betts updates this method for the current century, using software and a CNC machine to deconstruct and replicate the image. “I look at images as a collection of data,” he has said, adding, “I use that data, either abstracting it or modifying it or manipulating it, to arrive at the image that I want.” By bringing these mundane snapshots of everyday life into the gallery, Betts casts the viewer as voyeur and reminds us that we are constantly being watched.