A detail from a work by Rose Wylie, titled I Like To Be, dated 2020.
A detail from a work by Rose Wylie, titled I Like To Be, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie: Which One

David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by British artist Rose Wylie (b. 1934) at the gallery’s 533 West 19th Street location in New York. Following her acclaimed 2020 solo presentation at the Aspen Art Museum, this will be the artist’s fourth exhibition with the gallery, and the first with David Zwirner in New York.

Drawing from such wide-ranging cultural arenas as film, fashion photography, literature, mythology, history, news images, and sports, Wylie paints colorful and exuberant compositions that are uniquely recognizable. Frequently using images as a prompt, the artist works primarily from memory, resulting in paintings and drawings that are replete with associative afterimages that remain only loosely tethered to their original referents, but tightly connected to the memories as they have developed over time.

 

In this respect, drawing is an important aspect of Wylie’s practice—once she has selected an image or a topic, she typically makes numerous drawings as a kind of mnemonic exercise from which her paintings eventually emerge.

 

As the curator Clarrie Wallis notes, Wylie’s “large pictures are painted in a kind of visual shorthand that is direct and legible. The ability to elicit a range of responses is made possible precisely because of her reduction of form to an essential vibrancy that incorporates, via the very physicality of her medium, not just what the artist sees but an accompanying multitude of thoughts, feelings, and memories. Wylie’s work is a sophisticated transmutation, or sifting of perceptual experience, carrying as it does a wealth of affective and allusive resonances, into the painted form.”

 

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Image: Rose Wylie, I Like To Be, 2020 (detail)

Dates
April 28June 12, 2021
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Disco Girl, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Disco Girl, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
84 5/8 x 63 5/8 inches (215 x 161.5 cm) 
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Green Man, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Green Man, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
82 7/8 x 66 3/8 inches (210.5 x 168.5 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Gun and Trouser, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Gun and Trouser, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
82 1/2 x 63 3/8 inches (209.5 x 161 cm)
An installation view of an exhibition title Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, in 2021.

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition title Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, in 2021.

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

“The painting isn’t about something. I think lots of people don’t understand that. They think it’s the message, which it isn’t. The message is the painting.”

—Rose Wylie

An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Pink Pig and Sausages, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Pink Pig and Sausages, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
83 1/4 x 64 1/8 inches (211.5 x 163 cm)
An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Breakfast, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Breakfast, 2020
Oil on canvas
Left canvas: 72 x 60 1/4 inches (183 x 153 cm)
Right canvas: 72 x 60 5/8 inches (183 x 154 cm)
Overall: 72 x 121 inches (183 x 307 cm)
A detail from a drawing by Rose Wylie, titled Illuminated Manuscript, Adam and Eve, study, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie: Which One, 2

An installation view of an exhibition title Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, in 2021.

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition title Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, in 2021.

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

A painted bronze sculpture in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Pineapple, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Pineapple, 2020
Painted bronze in (2) two parts
137 3/4 x 43 1/4 x 43 1/4 inches (350 x 110 x 110 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Illuminated Manuscript, Adam and Eve, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Illuminated Manuscript, Adam and Eve, 2020
Oil on canvas
72 1/2 x 62 1/4 inches (184.2 x 158.1 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Red Plane and Runway, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Red Plane and Runway, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
82 5/8 x 65 3/4 inches (210 x 167 cm)

“She has always written on her pictures. These words often tumble down, or are flung across and awry, awkwardly, squeezingly, sprawlingly—there are no rules as to how words should make their marks.… They lend her paintings unity; they also serve as mnemonics, reminders of a theme.”

—Michael Glover, Rose Wylie: painting a noun …, 2020

An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Black Pete, Blackbird and Lizard, 2020.

Rose Wylie

Black Pete, Blackbird and Lizard, 2020
Oil on canvas
Left canvas: 72 1/4 x 63 3/8 inches (183.5 x 161 cm)
Right canvas: 72 1/4 x 63 7/8 inches (183.5 x 162.5 cm)
Overall: 72 1/4 x 127 1/4 inches (183.5 x 323.5 cm)
An installation view of an exhibition title Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, in 2021.

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition title Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, in 2021.

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Rose Wylie: Which One, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled I Like To Be, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

I Like To Be, 2020
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts
Left canvas: 82 5/8 x 62 7/8 inches (210 x 160 cm)
Right canvas: 82 5/8 x 64 7/8 inches (210 x 165 cm)
Overall: 82 5/8 x 127 3/4 inches (210 x 325 cm)
An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Under the Sea, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Under the Sea, 2020
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts
Left canvas: 72 1/2 x 63 7/8 inches (184 x 162.5 cm)
Right canvas: 72 1/2 x 62 7/8 inches (184 x 160 cm)
Overall: 72 1/2 x 126 3/4 inches (184 x 322.5 cm)

“Wylie works with Matisse in mind: ‘He said, “Use everything at your disposal.”’ Like Philip Guston, to whom she’s often compared, she engages with the aesthetics of cartoon, unashamedly ramping up certain figurative elements in her paintings.”

—Harriet Baker, interview with Rose Wylie, 2020

An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Fluffy Head, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Fluffy Head, 2020
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts
Left canvas: 72 x 62 1/4 inches 183 x 158 cm
Right canvas: 72 x 59 5/8 inches (183 x 151.5 cm)
Overall: 72 x 122 inches (183 x 310 cm)

Inquire about Works by Rose Wylie

An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An installation view of the exhibition Rose Wylie: Which One at David Zwirner, New York, dated 2021.
An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Black Pete, Blackbird and Lizard, 2020.

Rose Wylie

Black Pete, Blackbird and Lizard, 2020
Oil on canvas
Left canvas: 72 1/4 x 63 3/8 inches (183.5 x 161 cm)
Right canvas: 72 1/4 x 63 7/8 inches (183.5 x 162.5 cm)
Overall: 72 1/4 x 127 1/4 inches (183.5 x 323.5 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Red Plane and Runway, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Red Plane and Runway, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
82 5/8 x 65 3/4 inches (210 x 167 cm)
An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Breakfast, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Breakfast, 2020
Oil on canvas
Left canvas: 72 x 60 1/4 inches (183 x 153 cm)
Right canvas: 72 x 60 5/8 inches (183 x 154 cm)
Overall: 72 x 121 inches (183 x 307 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Illuminated Manuscript, Adam and Eve, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Illuminated Manuscript, Adam and Eve, 2020
Oil on canvas
72 1/2 x 62 1/4 inches (184.2 x 158.1 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Green Man, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Green Man, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
82 7/8 x 66 3/8 inches (210.5 x 168.5 cm)
An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Under the Sea, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Under the Sea, 2020
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts
Left canvas: 72 1/2 x 63 7/8 inches (184 x 162.5 cm)
Right canvas: 72 1/2 x 62 7/8 inches (184 x 160 cm)
Overall: 72 1/2 x 126 3/4 inches (184 x 322.5 cm)
An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled I Like To Be, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

I Like To Be, 2020
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts
Left canvas: 82 5/8 x 62 7/8 inches (210 x 160 cm)
Right canvas: 82 5/8 x 64 7/8 inches (210 x 165 cm)
Overall: 82 5/8 x 127 3/4 inches (210 x 325 cm)
A painted bronze sculpture in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Pineapple, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Pineapple, 2020
Painted bronze in (2) two parts
137 3/4 x 43 1/4 x 43 1/4 inches (350 x 110 x 110 cm)
An oil painting on canvas in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Fluffy Head, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Fluffy Head, 2020
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts
Left canvas: 72 x 62 1/4 inches 183 x 158 cm
Right canvas: 72 x 59 5/8 inches (183 x 151.5 cm)
Overall: 72 x 122 inches (183 x 310 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Gun and Trouser, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Gun and Trouser, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
82 1/2 x 63 3/8 inches (209.5 x 161 cm)
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Disco Girl, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Disco Girl, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
84 5/8 x 63 5/8 inches (215 x 161.5 cm) 
An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Pink Pig and Sausages, homage to Retablos painting, dated 2020.

Rose Wylie

Pink Pig and Sausages, homage to Retablos painting, 2020
Oil on canvas
83 1/4 x 64 1/8 inches (211.5 x 163 cm)

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