art.wikisort.org - Artist

John Mercer Wesley (November 25, 1928 – February 10, 2022) was an American painter, known for his flat-style of painting and associated with the Pop art, Surrealism, and Eroticism movements.[1][2][3]

John Wesley
Born	John Mercer Wesley (1928-11-25)November 25, 1928 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	February 10, 2022(2022-02-10) (aged 93) New York City, New York, U.S.
Known for	Painting
Movement	Pop Art, Surrealism, Eroticism
Spouse(s)	Jo Baer ​ ​ (m. 1960; div. 1970)​ Hannah Green ​ ​ (m. 1970; died 1996)​
Partner(s)	Patricia Broderick (1997–2003; her death)
Children	2

The spareness of his technique often seems more akin to the school known as Minimalism, however, and indeed his closest personal associations were with artists such as Dan Flavin and Donald Judd, the latter of whom wrote a laudatory essay on Wesley's early work and later set aside a space for him at his complex in Marfa, Texas.[4] Wesley himself considered his work to be aligned with Surrealism, and many of his paintings since the 1960s have taken this dimension yet further, while retaining an extremely limited range of colors and a sign-like flatness.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Wesley was born in Los Angeles, California, on November 25, 1928, to Elsa Marie Patzwaldt and Ner Wesley.[1] His parents were separated at the time of his birth, and he was initially raised by his father until his death from a stroke in 1934. Wesley then lived in an orphanage for a year, until his mother remarried and assumed custody of him.[1]

In his early career he worked at the United States Post Office, as a dishwasher and as a draftsman at the Northrop Aircraft Company.[4] After holding a series of odd jobs, he began painting at the age of 22. When he decided to paint he had no formal training in art.[4]

Career

Wesley's first exhibition consisted mostly of large-format acrylic paintings of imaginary seals and stamps; he would retain the flatness and limited color range of these works, but would move into the depiction of bodies and cartoon characters, the latter of which led him to be grouped with Pop Art as the 1960s progressed.^{[citation needed]}

Several retrospectives of his work have been held, including one at the MoMA PS1 (formally P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center) in 2000.[4] He was invited to design the cover for the catalogue of the 2006 Armory Show, and his recent paintings were given a substantial amount of space at the Fredericks and Freiser Gallery booth, which represented him. Replicas of his paintings were also featured in the window of the Hermès boutique on Madison Avenue for the duration of the show.

Personal life and death

Wesley was married to Jo Baer from 1960 to 1970.[4] In 1970, he married the American writer Hannah Green until her death in 1996.[5] The playwright and painter Patricia Broderick, who died in 2003, was his partner for the last six years of her life.[6]

Wesley died at his home in Manhattan, on February 10, 2022, at the age of 93.[1]

References

Further reading

• Heiss, Alanna (2000). John Wesley: Paintings 1961–2000 (1st ed.). New York: Distributed Art Publishers. ISBN 0-9704428-1-5.

External links

External image
Wesley at the opening of his retrospective in conjunction with the Venice Biennale, June 2009

• Wesley's page at Fredericks and Freiser

На других языках

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[de] John Wesley (Maler)

John Mercer Wesley[1] (* 25. November 1928 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien; † 10. Februar 2022 in New York City, New York) war ein US-amerikanischer zeitgenössischer Maler und Grafiker. Er gilt als in seinem Stil eigenständiger, vom Comic inspirierter Künstler, der mit seinen US-amerikanischen Themen und der häufig obsessiven Erotik in seiner Kunst die Pop Art und jüngere Generationen von Malern entscheidend mitgeprägt hat.

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- [en] John Wesley (artist)

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