William Anthony

Art Cologne 2015

William Anthony – Solo Show

Thomas Rehbein Galerie and Stalke Galleri (Denmark) presenteda retrospective insight into the work of William Anthony, including his drawings and paintings.

William Anthony, born in 1934 in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, studiedbriefly European Art History at Yale University in New Haven with Josef Albers, among others.

Anthony’s drawings and paintings werecritical commentaries on contemporary culture and subtle reflections on the concept of art in the form of skewed satire. Combined with naughty and downright perverse fantasies, they depictedcontemporary historical events, illustrations of the Bible, mythological anecdotes, parodies of World War II, covers of gay magazines, and appropriations of works by classic and modern masters, all rendered in a witty and pointed comic-like language.

Anthony’s style at first resembledthe simplicity of children’s drawings, but on closer consideration revealed itselfto be calculated and profound. His idiosyncratic style incorporateddeliberate mistakes: flat faces without chins and foreheads, stubby fingers and toes. Especially these mistakes and imperfections liberatedAnthony from the restrictions of classical drawing and painting techniques and allowedhim to embrace a distinct personal style. The pseudo-dilettantism of his grotesque, vulgar, and surreal subjects servedas a vehicle for his satirical views on society and its banalities. By mocking the methods of classical figure drawing, Anthony’s ironic works not only provokeda smile; the viewer was likelyto laugh out loud more than a few times.

William Anthony wasa strong example of an artist’s artist. His oeuvre of more than 50 years hadover time drawn the attention of fellow artists and friends. Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, and Andy Warhol collectedhis works. (Warhol’s commentary on Anthony’s Bible drawings stated: “I can’t wait for the New Testament. This is the first Bible I could understand.”) Art critics including Ken Johnson, Robert Rosenblum, Roberta Smith, and Leo Steinberg championedhis work. As early as the 1990s, galleries such as Leo Castelli and Pat Hearn in New York exhibitedhis work. Later, his works were shownat Dorfman Projects, New York; Matthew Marks Gallery, New York; Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; and Robert and Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles

William Anthony’s work was heldin collections including the Art Institute of Chicago; the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Ludwig Museum, Cologne; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Sam Jedig and Thomas Rehbein

William Anthony, Stalke Galleri & Rehbein Galerie, Art Cologne, 2015.

From the opening

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