A Raw Tip THE EXISTENTIAL COOLNESS GRAHAM WILSON IN CONVERSATION WITH VINCENZO DELLA CORTE Vincenzo Della Corte. January 06, 2016 Graham Wilson was born in Louisville in 1987. His turbulent life experiences and the conception of aesthetic and language, his philosophy and eclectism brought him to an artistic synthesis where the deepest meaning and investigation are expressed through a direct, focused, effective gesture. The following conversation is an attempt to look deeper into his universe and to approach one of his most interesting aspects: the adherence between what he is and what he does. Vincenzo Della Corte: Looking at some of your early works, in example the ones from the exhibition Remnants of Arcadia, and comparing them to your latest works, one notices a very radical, yet highly interesting evolution. The new works are much more full of elements, even objects sometimes, and it is generally a much more
materic painting. What experiences / encounters / thoughts brought you to your current aesthetic and use of materials? Graham Wilson: The early works were very much a part of my evolvement. I had made paintings in different varieties for a number of years. It was typical of me to make works, and be consistently dissatisfied with them, then I would cut them out of the frame and move onto the next work. This led to the likelihood of about 1000 paintings in the garbage, I was trying to push forward what I perceived as American painting, but was constantly derivative (if even that) of my idols, De Kooning, Twombly, Pollock and the like. I also noticed what was going on around me, overt fabrication and people making paintings without making paintings, in typically some tawdry fashion, and as much as I can respect a Warholian approach in its originality, I found it unnecessary anymore. I truly believed there was still a way to continue painting only using fundamental materials, i.e. paint and canvas. Through these obstacles I realized my own voice, and my own individuality. I realized a Sisyphean quality in myself where it was necessary for me to constantly push and pull myself to the limits. I originally conceived the strip paintings, in which the original works were actually made from the works in the Remnants of Arcadia show, and as corny as it may sound the process came to me in a cathartic format. Once I made these works I noticed the other material, the scrapings left behind from those works, which I saved, and the scraps of canvas which I also saved. The rest was very intrinsic, that is to say once I had the materials it was simply a problem of what to do with them, a problem I solved relatively quickly.
VDC: After all, the artist's practice is always related to a certain idea of Sisyphean (often exhausting) activity. A good artist never reaches a determined point. In order to generate a new idea, thought, mental / artistic process, one needs to destroy the pre-existing structures, constantly. Is not in your opinion the inherent nature of the artistic thinking a never-ending game of building and destroying? How do you manage your destructive artistic instinct? GW: Yes, I believe that to be true. It seems as an artist you do something, once that thing is exhausted in your mind, you must then contradict yourself...it is a serious and trying reality. Typically, I try to not become dogmatic in my work, in the sense that my answer is not the right answer, or the only answer, in this way I stay open to ideas and concepts, which change as the work, evolves, even if it may prove an earlier work erroneous, for me this is not a problem, rather a solution. I utilize this tool to its fullest extent, I actually quite love to be wrong. VDC: In your works, recently, I saw objects like pieces of car tire, cigarette stubs, other objects... some of the works are quite rough. To what extent are they also a reminiscence of your previous life conditions? Would you be willing to talk about your recent past as art handler and the turn to a full time artistic activity? GW: The materials you mentioned are included in the "A.O." works...typically, they consist of predominantly paint scrapings, which are stripped from canvas in the process of the "DBL" paintings. At the culmination of these works the remnants from the floor of my studio are swept up and bagged, and later become the "A.O." works, as in "Alpha" and "Omega", the beginning and end. They are very much reminiscent of my past life conditions, in the sense that they are signifiers of life and death, as well as rebirth. A story I perhaps know something about, but these are typically things that become apparent much later as an artist. In the beginning its much more transcendental. My time spent art handling was extremely beneficial, I was able to wade through so many levels of contemporary art in a short period of time. I learned very rapidly about what worked, what did not what I did want to do, what I did not It literally let me cut off perhaps what would have been many years of misspent experimentation. The transition to a full time artist has been somewhat trying at times, as much as I enjoy art, I enjoy life. So for there now to be very little separation between the two it's at times a bit trying and I have to do my best not to become unhinged I will say, I am grateful for the fact that I was literally able to buy time, time I hopefully use wisely.
VDC: Life, death, rebirth. How much are you driven by spirituality? If at all, how does your spiritual conception/feeling influence your work? GW: Entirely... I was raised Catholic, and likely first exposed to art through the Church. My mother nears sainthood. I struggled with the modern world much of my young life and likely became an artist because I felt like everything else was wrong. So between catholic guilt, substantial knowledge of classical literature, my own existential crises, love for the Renaissance period, and studies of various religions and cultures, I am highly influenced by spirituality. A bulk of my work deals with the individual, as I feel he is the most important, enacting innate behaviours and giving them a form. I have been trying to develop the shows with an allegorical sensibility, which also include idioms and metaphors that belong to the modern world. I noticed via my research over the past years of literature, many times essentially you are reading the same story over and over again just in a different format, this is something I try and utilize as a tool, and include current elements to make it more digestible to contemporary society. VDC: Could you discuss further/deeper the "allegorical sensibility" you mentioned? What are the «idioms and metaphors that belong to the modern world» you refer to or, better said, that concerning your practice are more relevant? GW: What I mean by this is that each show relatively contains a lesson, in which I use myself as the culprit; typically pertinent to my life... It gives the show a bit of a narrative quality, although usually leaving the answer unsettled. In this way I wanted to stay aligned with the history of art itself, and resolved this through my learnings and investigation of early art history. So rather than give a painting with literal content, I am trying to set up different markers that all correlate. In using the idioms from childhood, per se an example
from the last show, "Aint No 'I' In Team", (which contains a T-Shirt with the text "Team Jeffrey" on it, and a photo of Jeffrey Deitch, crumbled up and an iron that sits adjacent to it) its referential to the absurdity of staking claim to a team but in an extremely egocentric way, another example being the piece "Where 'I' Draw The Line" (a 40 foot wall drawing of simply, a line) which references the line as such an important part of art history but also a line as a barrier for human relationships. My feeling is that by using these idioms and metaphors which are relatable to most people, art savvy or otherwise, it gives them a channel to enter into the work. They automatically have that click of something familiar, and from there they can more readily decipher the piece. VDC: What are, in your opinion, the critical aspects of the contemporary art system? GW: Problems in the art world? I don't want to speak on that. Perhaps were making it a problem to talk about a problem, I am here to deliver my message, and that's what I am focused on. Would I say that art is too focused on monetary issues, that there is too much nepotism, a lack of proper criticism? Of course, I would, but I think we already know this. Anyhow there have been problems in the art world since time immemorial, now it's just a dude in a suit instead of a Pope, or a Cardinal, or a King... As an artist, you are obsessed, you are going to make your work with disregard to problems. I am more obsessed now than ever. Part of the reason I titled the last show, "I Clocked Out When I Punched In", I never get a break, my mind is incessant, I eat, sleep, and drink art. VDC: I completely agree with you concerning the theme of obsession. At the end, putting aside any possible romantic interpretation, it is all about Eros. Looking at works like Gloomy Sunday, 2015, Eye Aye, 2015, Ups and downs, 2015...it is difficult for me to figure out which materials you used. Also a work like Natural
Motion (What goes around), 2015, despite its synthetic appearance, seems to have a complex background. Could you elaborate on the theme of processuality in your work? GW: As I mentioned earlier, the process is a long, and strenuous one, and would take too much of an explanation likely for the response here. There is certainly a process based theme to the works, and they run in a circulating format. One thing is necessary to do another thing, and so on and so on. Granted there are high conceptual elements to each work, but in the beginning it was almost merely a means to an end. It was a way to satisfy myself, to eliminate my hand from the works as much as possible. I did not want to produce works based on dexterity. VDC: The following question is what I could define a Leitmotiv of my conversations: how do you relate to the internet? Does it somehow flow into your work? GW: I would say the Internet has nothing and everything to do with my work. There was a time I despised the Internet, a part of me likely still does, although used in the right way it can be a splendid source of learning. Typically, it is not used in this way and rather is used in a mindless manner which in time can we will see the effects in the next generations of youth. When I began I wanted to show what can be done with two hands, one mind, a heart... and I guess I don't mean this in the sense of making "objects", I mean it in the sense of how far one can push themselves, can you seek contentment via your own fount, can you find happiness within yourself, can I give you that same feeling, point the way for another, even if for a brief second... these are questions that I am dealing with. All this relates in the sense that "all of my works that have become known are simply fragments of one great confession." Technology has unquestionably presented a bigger challenge in this respect.
VDC: Can art have a social function? GW: Art begins when an individual, with the purpose of communicating to other people a feeling once experienced, calls it up again within themselves and expresses it by certain external signs. I purpose this answers your question, does art have a social function... it is its only function. In pertinence to my own experience, I have dealt with issues of selfdoubt, depression, anxiety, heartbreak, deprivation, gender, illness, love, equality, monetization, addiction, religion, materialism, and so on, likely the same issues that a significant percentage of people deal with in the course of their life.. Every artist I believe wants to be understood, just as every individual wants to be understood. This communion between the viewer and the producer is, and has been one of the most powerful tools throughout all of history. VDC: Lastly, is there a phrase you are particularly fond of and that inspires you particularly? GW: «It ain t about how hard you hit. It s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward». Rocky Balboa