On view: October 18 - November 22, 2003
Opening Reception: October 18, 5 –8pm

Two Decades of Painting

John Willenbecher

In his first New York exhibition in over twenty years, John Willenbecher will show Two Decades of Painting at FiveMyles from October 18 through November 22, 2003. During the 1960s and 70s Willenbecher was known for his work as a sculptor. In the 1980s he turned his attention to painting. This exhibition at FiveMyles, a small-scale survey of his work as a painter, shows work dating from 1984 to 2003. It is the firsttime the paintings have been exhibited in New York.

The works are all in acrylic paint on wooden panels. The artist’s use of wood as a support relates to his earlier three-dimensional work –painted wooden constructions, both free-standing and in relief. The paintings, dynamic and often highly colored, relate to Nature both in its macro-and micro-aspects. Some bring to mind the spectrography of stones and minerals; others seem to relate to the views of geography as seen from satellites. Because the artist constantly turns the paintings while working on them, they do no have a proper side “up” and can be hung in any of four possible ways.

Running concurrently with the exhibition at five myles, the City University of New York Graduate Center will present John Willenbecher’s Recent Small Paintings.The exhibition can be seen in the main floor Exhibition Hallway at 365 Fifth Avenue, New York City, October 21 - November 22, 2003. It is open Monday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm

John Willenbecher is included inthe collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hirschhorn Museum, the Detroit Institute of Art and the Centre Pompidou among others. Solo exhibitions of his work were mounted by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Neuberger Museum in Purchase, the Everson Museum in Syracuse and the Allentown Art Museum. He has also executed large scale public commissions and has twice been a resident at the MacDowell Colony. For twelve years John Willenbecher was a member of the ArtCommission of the City of New York.

DIRECTIONS:

Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.