California based artist, Warrington Colescott, opens tomorrow (03/13/09) at Perimeter Gallery.  Colescott, while not a household name, is by no means a stranger to the art world as you can see from his partial bio below.  Colescott may very well be a name you’ll be more familiar with in time as people begin to reflect upon an amazing body of work.  As an example of this, the Milwaukee Art Museum has the largest collection of work by Warrington Colescott, and they are preparing a major book and exhibition for November 2009.

Colescott’s work employs a wonderful sense of perspective and narrative that belies its simple drawing style and overt childlike cartoonish treatment.  His paintings are snapshots of historical events, places, re-creations of famous paintings, or creations based on politics, current events and perhaps mixed with  his own fantasy.  They are incredibly facinating narritives, packed with insight, historical detail that allow you to revist these works over and over and find something new.

Bio from Annex Galleries

Warrington Colescott was born in Oakland, California in 1921. His parents, Warrington, Sr. and Lydia Colescott moved to Oakland from Louisiana in 1920. Earning his B.A. and M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, he continued with studies at the Grande Chaumiere, Paris, and the Slade School of Art, London. He received prestigious fellowships with a Guggenheim in 1959, followed by a Fulbright in 1966, and National Endowments for the Art Artists Fellowships in 1976, 1979, and 1983.

Colescott was a Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin at Madison between 1949 and 1978 and was named Professor Emeritus in 1986. His early graphics were abstractions created in the medium of serigraphy. By the early 1960s he turned his focus on intaglio printmaking and his imagery evolved into social satire and commentary. He has produced a number of narrative satires, including one on the history of printmaking.

Perimiter Gallery
210 W. Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60654
(312)266-9473   fax: (312)266-7984
Tue-Sat    10:30am-5:30pm

March 12th, 2009 Subscribe to the RSS feed!