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John Willis

About

John Willis

Willis

Associate Professor, Printmaking

jowillis@hartford.edu
 johnwillisstudio.com
davidsongalleries.com

MFA, Printmaking, University of Hartford
BFA, Printmaking, University of Hartford

At age 15, when I first visited the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minn., I did not know what to expect, especially concerning the pieces on view—abstract works of art. The idea of pictorially expressing an idea without reference to reality was powerful and overwhelming. At that moment abstraction became my vehicle for visually expressing myself.

As I pursed my career as an artist in Minneapolis, my work focused on large indoor and outdoor sculptures. My professional career in Minnesota culminated with a four-person exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art entitled Inside Out.

I moved to Hartford, Conn., in 1982 to pursue my career as an artist. At first I continued my focus on sculpture, but gradually shifted my concentration to printmaking and drawing, which are my preoccupations today.

Recently my work has been shown at the International Print Center New York, and First Street Gallery in New York, NY. In June 2016 I had a one-person exhibition, Conflicted Space, at the Davidson Galleries in Seattle, Wash. While in Seattle, I taught a Master Artist Program class in printmaking at the Pratt Fine Art Center.

Gallery

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Exhibitions
One Person/Two Person

2016

  • Conflicted Spaces, Davidson Gallery, Seattle, Wash.

2013               

  • Squeeze Play, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, Conn.

2011               

  • JohnWillis / Reconciliation Preview, Joseph Byrne’s studio, Hartford, Conn. 
  • Drawing Dialog and Other Conversations, Slipe Gallery, Hartford Art School,University of Hartford, West Hartford, Conn.

2008               

  • The Power of 2: Drawing & Dialogue, John Willis and Joseph Byrne, Flaten Art Museum Gallery, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.

2007

  • JohnWillis Prints, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Ark.  
Group

2016               

  • Artists Choose Artists, First Street Gallery, New York, N.Y.

2015               

  • ICPNY New Prints 2015/Summer, International Center for Prints New York, New York, N.Y.

2014

  • Summer Gallery Artist, Davidson Gallery, Seattle, Wash.

2012               

  • Student / Artist / Instructor / Friend, Paper New England, Silpe Gallery, Hartford Art School, West Hartford, Conn.

2011               

  • ICPNY New Prints 2011/Winter, International Center for Prints New York,New York, N.Y.

2010               

  • Second National Monotype/Monoprint Juried Exhibition, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Mass.

2008               

  • Admire/Inspire/Aspire, Paper/New England, Hartford, Conn.

2007               

  • Focus Hartford: A Collection of Works on Paper, Paper/New England, West Hartford, Conn.
  • Hartford Eight, New Arts Gallery, Litchfield, Conn.

2006                

  • 25th National Print Exhibition, Silvermine Guilds Art Center,New Canaan, Conn.
  • 50th National Print Exhibition, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ
  • Does It Work For Me Anymore? (Drawing exhibition with Joseph Byrne, Charles Cajori, Barbara Grossman, and John Willis), Gallery on the Green, Canton, Conn.
  • 2006 National Printmaking, The College of New Jersey, Trenton, NJ
  • 63rd Annual Connecticut Artist Exhibition, The Slater Museum, Norwich, Conn.
Visiting Artist/Lectures/Juror/Workshops

2016               

  • Artist Talk: How I Got Here? Pratt Fine Art Center, Seattle, Wash.
  • Master Artist Program: Additive and Reductive Monotype I, Pratt Fine Art Center, Seattle, Wash.

2013               

  • Artist Talk: Squeeze Play, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, Conn.

2008               

  • Visiting Artist and student workshop, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.

2007               

  • Juried senior exhibition, Connecticut College, New London, Conn.

2006               

  • Visiting Artist and student workshop, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Mass.
Collections
  • Aetna Life and Casualty, Hartford, Conn.
  • Ensign Bickford, Co., Simsbury, Conn.
  • Bank of Boston Trustee Collection, Boston, Mass.
  • General Mills, Minneapolis, Minn.
  • Private Collections including site-specific outdoor sculpture commissions