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Artist Statement:
I want my work to be
immediate and fresh, never
final but new with each
encounter. I strive to create
art that is viewed as an
experience or a
journey...seeing, waiting,
doubting, discovering,
creating, destroying, opening,
closing, starting, ending.
I am drawn to art that can
be interpreted differently by
each viewer and interpreted
anew with each viewing. I
strive to create art that
possesses these qualities,
which would explain why most
of my recent work is
considered "abstract" or
"non-representational".
The discipline to free an
image from conventional
expectations without
surrendering the emotional
drama of the human spirit will
always be my pursuit. For me,
the challenge of painting is
to penetrate and break through
inherent preconceived
expectations of art which may
stifle the personality, or the
spirit, and to present a fresh
new way of "seeing".
In the process of
creating, my art is sometimes
transformed incrementally,
from realistic or
representational subject
matter to an expressionistic
or emotional image as I
progress. At other times I may
approach an empty canvas with
the intention of bypassing any
"subject matter", pursuing a
more random expression.
Throughout the years my
art has gone through many
phases from realism...
Further Information
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Artist Exhibitions:
I have paintings on
exhibit in the "C.S. Lewis
Festival Juried Fine Art
Exhibition" at the Crooked
Tree Arts Center in Petoskey,
Michigan Nov. 9 - Dec. 1,
2007.
I have a solo exhibit of
recent work at "One Trick
Pony" 136 E. Fulton St. Grand
Rapids, Michigan, Nov. 5...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Reviews:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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William Alexander Biography:
| Biographical information for William Alexander can be found below. The artist may choose what information to display. Sometimes the artist chooses not to display personal information to the general public. |
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Age
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46
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| Gender |
Male
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| Status |
Single
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| Children |
99
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| Religion |
Christian |
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| Education |
Undergraduate Degree |
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| Hobbies / Interests |
Jazz, Classical, Opera, Theater, Tennis |
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| Favorite Artistic Medium |
Painting Oil
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| Favorite Arthistory Movement |
Cubism - (1908 - 1920)
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| Favorite Visual Artist |
William Blake
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| Favorite Work of Art |
Three Musicians - Picasso
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| Biggest Artistic Inspiration |
Blake, Turner, Rouault, Chagall, Picasso |
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| Why Did You Become An Artist |
I didn't become an artist...I was born an artist. |
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| Your Personal Biography |
My mother tells me that I was obsessed witevision or playing board games, I would bh making images as soon as I could hold a crayon, although I later had no interest in coloring books. Instead, I would color my own drawings. While my family was watching television or playing board games, I would be in the next room or upstairs or outside making art, of which little has survived.
Easily distracted by my surroundings and the characters around me, my grades in school were never exemplary. I was accepted into the Memphis Academy of Art (now Memphis Art College) in Tennessee based on what the entry board considered a great portfolio of drawings and paintings. I had applied to MAA on a whim having seen their ad in a design magazine and always having an interest in living in a southern city.
After completeing my first year at MAA with the satisfaction of experiencing southern culture first hand, I wanted to experience the life of an artist in the big city and applied to Columbia College in Chicago. I was also accepted at Columbia on the strength of my portfolio and not my grades at MAA, having been more into the Memphis scene than my studies. Staying fairly secluded and keeping my distance from the social/party scene at Columbia, I earned perfect grades, making the Dean's List both terms.
It was during this period of my life that small-minded people, both within and outside of academia were saying things like "What will you do with a degree in art, drive a taxi?" or "Commercial art is the only field an artist can make a living in." I gave in to these negative thoughts and changed my major of study from Fine Art to Graphic Design.
I then completed my BFA at Grand Valley State College (now Grand Valley State University) not far from my hometown of Whitehall, Michigan to enable me to be involved in the lives of my newly added nieces and nephews and my autistic brother who was having problems at the time.
After working in Graphic Design, both free-lance and for a number of firms throughout the midwest for fifteen years, I faced the fact that designing things for commercial purposes was not challenging my creativity. It was then that I set up my easel, re-stocked my art cabinet and began to paint, exhibit and promote my art.
I have had five solo exhibits since 2006 and my work has been included in over fifty regional shows and exhibitions, and numerous public and private collections. I will never stop creating. |
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