November 10, 2017
David Zwirner is pleased to announce that British painter Rose Wylie has joined the gallery. Wylie creates paintings and drawings that on first glance appear aesthetically simplistic, not seeming to align with any recognizable style or movement, but on closer inspection are revealed to be wittily observed and subtly sophisticated mediations on the nature of visual representation itself. The layers of newspaper that line her studio floor are a frequent source of material for the artist, as she encounters images by chance while working. Drawing from such wide-ranging cultural areas as film, fashion photography, literature, mythology, news images, sports, and individuals she meets in her day-to-day life, Wylie paints colorful and exuberant compositions that are uniquely recognizable. The artist has acknowledged her great admiration for Philip Guston, whose late paintings likewise make use of an idiosyncratic visual lexicon, the directness of cartoonish figures, and a flattened perspective, but simultaneously betray a deep awareness of art history and painterly conventions.
Rose Wylie (b. 1934) studied at Folkestone and Dover School of Art, London, and the Royal College of Art, London, from which she graduated in 1981. Her work has been the subject of renewed critical attention in recent years, including solo presentations at Space K, Seoul (2016); Chapter, Cardiff (2016); Turner Contemporary, Margate (2016); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2015); Städtische Galerie, Wolfsburg, Germany (2014); Tate Britain, London (2013); Haugar Museum, Tønsberg, Norway (2013); Philadelphia University of the Arts Gallery (2012); and Jerwood Gallery, Hastings (2012). The artist’s first exhibition at David Zwirner, London, Horse, Bird, Cat, was held in 2016, and in November 2017, Wylie will be the recipient of a major solo exhibition at Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London. In 2015, a painting by Wylie was included in the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, for which she won the Charles Wollaston Award. Her work can be found in prominent collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Space K, Seoul; Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg; and Tate Britain, London. In 2015, Wylie was elected a Senior Royal Academician. She lives and works in Kent, England.