William Wegman was born
in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1943. He graduated from the Massachusetts
College of Art, Boston, in 1965 with a BFA in painting, then enrolled
in the Masters painting and printmaking program at the University
of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, receiving an MFA in 1967. After teaching
at various universities, Wegman’s interests in areas beyond
painting ultimately led him to photography and the infant medium
of video. While living in Long Beach, California, Wegman acquired
Man Ray, the dog with whom he began a fruitful twelve-year
collaboration.
Man Ray became a central figure in Wegman’s photography and
videos, known in the art world and beyond for his endearing deadpan
presence. In 1972, Wegman and Man Ray moved to New York. In 1986,
a new dog, Fay Ray, came into Wegman’s life, and soon thereafter
another famous collaboration began, marked by Wegman’s use
of the Polaroid 20 x 24 camera. With the birth of Fay’s litter
in 1989 and her daughter’s litter in 1995, Wegman’s cast
grew. His photographs, videos, paintings, and drawings have been
exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. A retrospective
of his work traveled to museums throughout Europe and the United
States, including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
His most recent exhibitions have gone to Japan, Sweden, and the
Orange County Museum of Art in California. Wegman lives in New York
and Maine.
For additional biographic & bibliographic information:
Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York | Dunn & Brown Contemporary, Dallas
William Wegman on the Art21 blog |
