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TED WILLIS:
Born Los Angeles, California, 1945.
B.F.A., University of Southern California, College of Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, 1968.
Ted has been making, showing and teaching art for over 50 years and lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
He is the former gallery director of and studio manager for Platform Gallery and Studios and is now a member of the Studio Space Ottawa group.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2016, THE SLEEP OF REASON... Platform Gallery, Ottawa
2014, BILD... Platform Gallery, Ottawa
2013, BUMP... Platform Gallery, Ottawa
2009, SQUIGS AND DOO-WOPS... Snapdragon Gallery, Ottawa
2009, TOYZ... La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
1980, CUT-OUTS... Splash Gallery, Ottawa
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2021-'22-'23...Studio Space Ottawa
2015: GM/DS/TW...Platform Gallery, Ottawa
2012: PLATFORM/PHOTO...Platform Gallery, Ottawa
2012: GROUP SHOW...Platform Gallery, Ottawa
2011: SHAKEN NOT STIRRED... Enriched Bread Artists, Ottawa
2011: POP THAT... Enriched Bread Artists, Ottawa
2010: HERE FOR THERE... La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
2009: LOFT SHOW... Loft Gallery, Ottawa
2009: FRESH... La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
1998: CHINESE SUBMARINES AND THINGS... Irene's Gallery, Ottawa.
1997: THE LOVING EYE..., Irene's Gallery, Ottawa.
1968: NEW FROM L.A..., L.A.County Exhibition Hall, Los Angeles
How does a contemporary painter acknowledge the legacy of over 100 years of abstraction and also create work that is fresh and personal? That is the question that hangs in the air every time I enter the studio.
I have no particular aesthetic or socio-political agenda….I’m not interested in any deterministic definition of art….I use abstract styles and motifs as a visual language…. I want meaning to emerge from my work through the act of painting and not the other way around….I have been influenced by painters such as Matisse, de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Vincent Hawkins, Amy Sillman and others….My working method is tentative, using trial and error, adding and removing, following or rejecting ideas until I’m satisfied with the painting or turn it to the wall….
None of that may answer the original question but it seems to be a good way to begin.