William Wylie’s work focuses on the physical, psychological and temporal specifics of landscapes. Driven by an interest in the “concept of Place,” Wylie’s landscapes capture more than geographical locations: they dig beneath the surface to investigate spatial practice, which the artist describes as “our consumption of space as well as our movement through it.”

William Wylie’s photographs and short films have been shown both nationally and internationally. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, and Yale University Art Museum, among others. He has published five books of his work: Riverwalk, Stillwater, Carrara and Route 36 and Pompeii Archive (The Possibility of Ruins). His awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a VMFA Professional Fellowship and the Yale Gallery of Art’s Doran / LeWitt Fellowship in 2012 and 2014. He lives in Charlottesville where he teaches photography and is a Commonwealth Professor of Art at the University of Virginia.

Born Harvey, IL, 1957

Commonwealth Professor of Art, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.

EDUCATION

1989    MFA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1986    BFA, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.

AWARDS

2014    Yale University Art Museum Doran/LeWitt Italian Residency
2012    Yale University Art Museum Doran/LeWitt Italian Residency
2011     Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship
2005   John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship
2004   Universita delgi Studi Roma Tre Award
City of Denver Public Art Commission
2003   Mead Honored Faculty Teaching Award (University of Virginia)
2001    Colorado Book Award (for Riverwalk)
1998    Artist Fellowship, Colorado Council on the Arts
1996    Larimer County Exchange Project Grant
1992    Emerging Artist Grant, North Carolina Arts Council

PUBLICATIONS

2020   A Prairie Season, Flood Editions, Chicago, IL
2018    Pompeii Archive (The Possibility of Ruins), Yale University Press, New Haven, CN
2017    As the Crow Flies, Terri Weifenbach and William Wylie, Blitz Gallery, Tokyo, JPN
2010    Route 36, Flood Editions. Chicago, IL
2009   Carrara, CAP/Columbia, Chicago, IL
2002   Stillwater, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ
2000   RiverWalk, Explorations along the Cache la Poudre River, University Press of Colorado, Boulder, CO
1989    Arboretum, hand-bound book of palladium prints, edition of 10

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions in all caps)

2022
Other People’s Pictures: Selections from the Robert and Kerstin Adams Collection, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Antiquity & America: Artists, Collectors, and the Ancient Mediterranean, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME

2021
Down the Line, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
THIS / THAT, A Dialog for Alighiero e Boetti, GoCA, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, CO
New Light Encounters and Connections, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Architecture Shape & Color, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2020
STRUCTURES AND SPACE, Blitz Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
THE POSSIBILITY OF RUINS, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2019
THIS / THAT, A Dialog for Alighiero e Boetti, Ruffin Gallery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
The Carter Collection, Amon Carter Museum of Art, Fort Worth, TX
20/20, PBG 20th Anniversary Exhibit, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
POMPEII ARCHIVE, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Blitz Collection: Landscapes, Blitz Gallery, Tokyo, Japan2019
THE EDGE OF SPACE, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
POMPEII ARCHIVE, Fralin Museum of Art, University of Virginia, VA
Olin Hall Biennial, Roanoke College, Roanoke, VA

2018
POMPEII: PHOTOGRAPHS AND FRAGMENTS, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
POMPEII ARCHIVE, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, TN
Unexpected Encounters, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
SHADOWS OF THE FUTURE ANTERIOR, William Wylie / Lewis Baltz, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
Hot, Hot, Hot, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
WILLIAM WYLIE: RECENT WORK, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
POMPEII ARCHIVE, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

2017
Who Are We? Identity and the Contemporary Photographic Portrait, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, TN
Esser. McCaw. Mann. Wylie., Neal Guma Fine Art, Charlottesville, VA
THINGS THAT APPEAR, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Immaginando l’Italia, Palazzo die Priori, Perugia, Italy
Scrimmage, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH
Nature / Culture, Amon Carter Museum of Art, Fort Worth, TX
Immaginando l’Italia, Contemporary Art Center, Umbertide, Italy
Keeping Watch, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
View Find 6, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Scrimmage, Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, IA

2016
8 + 1, Atelier Victor Dahmen, Cologne, Germany
Sixteen Sixteen, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
AS THE CROW FLIES (William Wylie and Terri Weifenbach), Blitz Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
POMPEII ARCHIVE, Koeln-Art Gallery, Cologne, Germany
CARRARA CAPITALS, Fralin Museum of Art, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Something in the Way: A Brief History of Photography and Obstruction, New Orleans Museum of Art, LA
Traded, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
UNSEEN POMPEII, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
Scrimmage, The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Trawick Contemporary Art Awards, Bethesda Contemporary Art Center, MD
View Find 5, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
ROUTE 36, Axis Photo Marche, Tokyo, Japan
THE ANATOMY OF TREES, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Close Readings, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, TN
Focal Points: New to the Photography Collection, Amon Carter Museum of Art, Fort Worth, TX

2015
Fusion: Art of the 21st Century, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Scrimmage, University Art Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
View Find 4, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2014
Beyond Reach, Koeln-Art Gallery, Cologne, Germany
Virginia Portfolio, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
View Find 3, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2013
ROUTE 36, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
THIS HEAVY VEIL, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Photographs from the Collection, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX
View Find 2, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2012
1979:1–2012:21: Jan Tichy Works with the MoCP Collection, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
AMERICAN PLACES, Richmond International Airport, Richmond, VA
Grand Celebration, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
ART342, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
View Find, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2011
American Landscape: Contemporary Photographs of the West, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
AN UNFAMILIAR WORLD, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
ROUTE 36, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Nine Visions, Danville Museum of Fine Arts, Danville, VA

2010
AMERICAN PLACES, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, CO
CARRARA, hous projects, Los Angeles, CA
Archive, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
STILLS, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY
21st Century Collection, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA
FORGED POWER: Video works by Ferran Mendoza and William Wylie, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Recent Contemporary Acquisitions, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO

2009
ANATOMIA, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Material Afterlife, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapid, MI
Casa / Mondo, Foianofotografia, Foiano, Italy
Recent Acquisitions, The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
High Modernism: Alfred Stiegliz and His Legacy, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX
Summertime…, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY

2008
CARRARA, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Small Claims, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Beyond Representation, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Mutual Attractions (curated by Andy Grundberg), University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
Winter Selections, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY

2007
CARRARA, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY
Four Virginia Artists, University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
CARRARA, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Public / Private, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY

2006
CARRARA, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
100 Great American Photographs, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX
American Eden, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY
The Intimate and the Sublime, Recent Landscape Photography, Saint Louis Art Museum, MO
The Art of Documentary Photography, Arts Center in Orange, Orange, VA
A Complex Eden, Museum of Fine Art, St. Petersburg, FL

2005
STILLWATER, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Elevator Films Project, Denver Convention Center, Denver, CO (permanent installation)

2004
The Museum: Conditions and Spaces, University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
Masterworks of American Photography, Amon Carter Museum. Fort Worth, TX
American Landscapes: Four Views, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Water, Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Fotofest 2004, Travis Tower, Houston, TX

2003
GEOGRAPHY OF SCARS, Hanes Art Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
STILLWATER, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
EVIDENCE, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA

2002
STILLWATER, University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
RIVERWALK and OTHER PICTURES, Regis University, Denver, CO
The Writer’s Eye, University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
Abstraction in Photography, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX

2001
RIVERWALK, Colorado Center for the Book, Denver, CO
SITE: CARRARA, Foiano Fotografia III, Foiano, Italy
Postcards from the West, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY
Landscape Legacy, Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins, CO

2000      THE RIVER’S EDGE, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
A LONG, THIN COMMON, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY
Current Works 2000, Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO
Recent Acquisitions, The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

1999
CACHE la POUDRE, Colorado State Capitol Building, Denver, CO
The West After Yesterday: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Photographs, Carol Keller Gallery, Denver, CO
Invitational, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY
Hard Play, New Installations and Environmental Sculpture, Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art and P.S. 28, Fort Collins, CO
This Tiny Spaceship, This Planet Earth…, Ron Judish Fine Arts, Denver, CO

1998
Contemporary Perspectives of the West, Harmony Park Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
Artist Fellowship Exhibition, traveling exhibit of CCA Fellowship recipients shown at Western Colorado Center for the Arts, Grand Junction and Cortez Center for the Arts, Cortez, CO
Three Landscape Visions, Alliance for the Visual Arts, Logan, UT
1997         Current Works ‘97, Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO
Art Equinox, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT

1996
RIVERWALK, OneWest Art Center, Fort Collins, CO
Larimer County Exchange (collaborative exchange between artists and community members),
OneWest Art Center, Fort Collins, CO
Colorado ‘96, Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, Colorado Springs, CO

1995
Rethinking the Natural, Laguna Gloria Museum of Art, Austin, TX

1994
Re:Place, Portland Community College, Portland, OR

1992
Davidson College, Fine Arts Gallery, Davidson, NC
Photographic Book Art in the United States, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio and Texas Women’University, Denton, TX
Southern Environmental Exhibition, Appalachian Environmental Arts Center, Highlands, NC
ARBORETUM, Olympic College, Bremerton, WA

1991
University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Cone Center Gallery, Charlotte, NC
University of Colorado, Workspace Gallery, Boulder, CO
Artist Book Biennial, Oregon State Library, Salem, OR

1990
Southeastern Spectrum, Associated Artists Sawtooth Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC
Illuminance Show, Lubbock Fine Arts Center, Lubbock, TX

FILM/VIDEO SCREENINGS

2019        Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA
2017         aCinema, Milwaukee, WI
2016        Digital Media Gallery, Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA
2015         Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA
Scrimmage, University Art Museum, Colorado State University, CO
2014         Photoszene, Cologne, Germany
2013         Visualize, University Art Museum, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
2012         Visions du Reel, International Film Festival, Nyon, Switzerland
2010         Industrial59, First Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
2009       European Media Art Festival, Osnabruek, Germany
Foianofotografia, Foiano, Italy
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapid, MI
2008       Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA
Look3 Festival, University of Virginia Art Museum, VA
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2007       Museum of Modern Art, NY (w/Kevin Everson)
Shadow Film Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Film at Redcat, Disney/CalArts Theater, Los Angeles, CA
2005       Denver Convention Center, Denver, CO (permanent installation)
2004       Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
Capitol One Corporation, Richmond, Virginia
Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona
City of Denver Public Art Collection, Colorado
Colorado Historical Museum, Denver, Colorado
Davidson College Art Museum, Davidson, North Carolina
deCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Elgin Community College, Chicago, IL
Fralin Museum of Art, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Graham Nash Editions, Los Angeles, California
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
List Art Center, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museo del Marmo, Carrara, Italy
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Nevada Museum of Art, CLUI Archives, Reno, NV
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey
St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, Missouri
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
The Sol and Carol LeWitt Collection, Chester, CT
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
Vanderbilt University Art Gallery, Nashville, TN
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

 

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2019   Arnold and Augusta Newman Lecturer, Lowe Art Museum, Univ of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Featured Speaker, Society for Photographic Education Annual Conference, VCU, Richmond, VA
Visiting Artist, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Visiting Artist, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
2018   Visiting Artist, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Visiting Artist, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Stieren Arts Visiting Scholar, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
Visiting Artist, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Visiting Artist, Critic and Artist Residency Series, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
2017   Visiting Artist, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
2016   Visiting Artist, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Visiting Artist, Nihon University College of Art, Tokyo, Japan
Visiting Artist, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
2015   Curator, Collection: Sol LeWitt and Photography, Fralin Art Museum, University of Virginia, VA
2014   Artist in Residence, Sandhills Institute, Rushville, NE
2013   Curator, Looking at the New West, Fralin Museum of Art, University of Virginia, VA
Visiting Artist, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK
Artist Talk, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
2012   Artist in Residence, ART342, Fort Collins, CO
Speaker, St Louis University Prison Program, St. Louis, MO
Visiting Artist, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
2011    Curator, Southern Views / Southern Photographers, University of Virginia Art Museum, VA
Speaker, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Speaker, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
Visiting Artist, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
2010   Visiting Artist, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO
Visiting Artist, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Visiting Artist, New York State College at Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2008  Speaker, Smithsonian Museum of American Art Lecture Series, Washington, DC
Visiting Artist, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
2007  Visiting Artist, Italia Nostra, Carrara, Italy
Visiting Artist, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
2006  Artist in Residence, The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Wendover, UT
Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, Italy
Instructor, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, C
Juror, Rocky Mountain Biennial, Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins, CO
2005  Visiting Artist, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Visiting Artist, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, CO
2004  Artist in Residence, The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Wendover, UT
Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, Italy
Instructor, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass Village, CO
Visiting Artist, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, NC
2003  Visiting Artist, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Presenter, Society for Photographic Education National Conference, Austin, TX
2002  Instructor, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass Village, CO
Speaker, Amon Carter Museum Lecture Series, Fort Worth, TX
Visiting Artist, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
Instructor, Platinum/Palladium Workshop, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
Visiting Artist, Regis University, Denver, CO
2001   Visiting Artist, Foiano Fotografia III, Foiano, Italy
2000  Visiting Artist, Hollins University, Roanoke, VA
1999   Visiting Artist, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Artist in Residence, Young Audiences, Inc. (Colorado Public Schools)
1996   Participating Artist, Larimer County Exchange Project, CO
1995   Visiting Artist, ARTBEAT, Portland Community College, OR
1994   Visiting Artist, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
1992   Visiting Artist, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Visiting Artist, Olympic College, Bremerton, WA

“Wylie’s strength in relation to current art is his inherent interest in material and shifting analogies. In photography, this has recently meant a return to formalism and a reinvestigation (and expansion) of the traditional genres of still life, portraiture, and landscape. Wylie, for years, has identified in natural vistas iconic forms and geometries. In the case of the Carrara works, Wylie presents images that speak to more minimalist sculpture tropes (Donald JudD) than to Italy through the eyes of Ansel Adams. The images of the men who work in the quarries constitute a response to the block to the blocks while simultaneously speaking to a renewed interest by many artists in portraits in situ, where people at work represent a particular location and state of being. Together they map a five-year exploration of a new kind of “geography”, as Wylie calls it, one that unites a person with place, creating a symbiotic whole that is both elegant and deeply arresting.

Leah Stoddard
Director, Second Street Gallery
Charlottesville, Virginia