Approved: 16.08.2006

William Dick

Artist, Lecturer / academic

Approved: 16.08.2006

Biography – William Dick

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Artist Statement

Biography – William Dick

William Dick was born in Glasgow in 1950. He studied at Glasgow School of Art,1971 -1972, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee 1972-1977 and Saint Martin’s School of Art London 1977-1978. He has exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and bursaries: most notably from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the British Council, UNESCO – Aschberg Scholarship, Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Award and Pilar Juncosa Award. The development of his work has involved highly regarded artist residencies in the UK, USA, Russia, Hungary and the Middle East, amongst these: Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews,  Bemis Center, Omaha, Triangle Artists’ Workshop, New York and a fellowship at Yaddo Artists’ Residence, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA.

He has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions both in the institutional and commercial sectors. Dick’s work is represented in public collections in the UK, USA and Europe.

Statement – William Dick

I am a painter who works with various media on canvas/ paper, and produce prints, which relate directly to these paintings. The scale of my work varies from Works on Canvas, Drawings and Prints, 250 x 250cms to 30 x 30cms, but I feel there is a continuity of theme and technique running through my work no matter the scale.

I have always accepted the notion that there are two distinct forms of abstract painting, namely geometric and organic, and given this, my work explores the questions that arise from exploring a minimalist structure in an expressively painterly way, to produce objects which embrace the purest language of painting. These works transcend the illustrative, treating drawing as a mark making process and by offering themselves as physical objects they, paradoxically, are able to create in the mind of the spectator an imaginary, ambiguous, atmospheric world that is wholly located in the abstract language of painting.

I commence with the fundamental balance in painting between line and colour and have drawn on ancient symbolic shapes from my Scottish heritage. It is purely abstract and the apparent appropriation of forms found in Celtic and other ancient art represents an attempt to create an historical context for my modernist language beyond the confines of the Western Tradition. Regarding colour, I begin from observation of geological form and the substance of land; of dust, sand, mud and rock as well as the outcrop of local street furniture/ architecture; weather along with the effects of weathering and the extreme and exotic colour of lichen, peat and mosses.

My work relies in the process that involves building layers and skeins and glazes of various types of paint over a long period of time. Opacity is juxtaposed with transparency; surfaces and colours are concealed and revealed which results in a tonal complexity which is simultaneously disturbing and poetic. There are no comforting allusions to landscape or still life, thereby evoking pure painting probably at its purest. The materiality of the paintings is crucial to their effect, their success as objects and ultimately, the reaction they provoke in the spectator.

CV & Education

BIOGRAPHY

1950                    Born Glasgow, Scotland

1971-72               Glasgow School of Art

1972-76               Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee

1976-77               Post Graduate, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee

1977-78               St. Martin's School of Art, London 

 

AWARDS

1974                    First Prize Grampian Television Award

1975                    George Duncan Travelling Scholarship

                            Carnegie Scholar, Royal Scottish Academy

1976                    Winsor & Newton Finalist

1977                    Elizabeth T. Greenshields Scholarship

1989                    Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award

1989-90               Artist in Residence, Bemis Foundation, Omaha, U.S.A.

1990                    Salgotarjan Intersymposium, Hungary

                            British Council Award, Hungary

1991                    Artist in Residence, Crawford Arts Centre, St.Andrews

1992                    British Council Award, Moscow, Russia

2001                    UNESCO-Aschberg Scholarship, Amman, Jordan

                            Artist in Residence, Darat al-Funan Art Center, Amman Jordan

                            British Council Award

                            Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Award

2004                    Pilar Juncosa Award, Fundacio Pilar i Joan Miro a Mallorca, Spain

                            Triangle Artist’s Workshop, New York, U.S.A.

2005                    Artist’s Workshop, Szeged, Hungary

2006                    Artist’s Residency, Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.A.

2007                    Artist’s Workshop, Szeged, Hungary

2009                    Artist’s Workshop, Szeged, Hungary

2011                    Artist’s Workshop, Szeged, Hungary

2013                    Artist’s Workshop, Szeged, Hungary

2015                    Artist’s Workshop, Szeged, Hungary

2021                    Uig Open Award, Isle 0f Lewis, Scotland

COLLECTIONS 

                          Aberdeen Art Gallery, Scotland

                          Barclays Bank PLC, United Kingdom

                          The Bemis Foundation, Omaha, U.S.A.

                          City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland

                          Darat al Funun Gallery, Amman, Jordan

                          Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Collection, Dundee, Scotland

                          Dundee Art Gallery, Dundee, Scotland

                          Foundation for Hungarian Graphics Arts, Budapest, Hungary

                          The Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, Scotland

                          The Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie, Scotland

                          Moscow Union of Artists, Moscow, Russia

                          Nogradi Torteneti Muzeum, Salgotarjan, Hungary

                          The Scottish Arts Council

                          University of Dundee, Art Collection, Dundee, Scotland

                          University of Nebraska, Omaha, U.S.A.

                          University of Stirling, Art Collection, Stirling, Scotland

Private Collections - Great Britain, U.S.A., Canada, Holland, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Russia

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023                  Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, UK

2018                  Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr, UK

2017                  Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie, UK

2016                  Haunt, London, UK: 

2007                  Billingham Art Gallery, Billingham, UK 

2007                  Lighthouse, Poole Centre for the Arts, Poole, UK

2006                  St. Jurgen Starkow Mecklenburg, Voerpommem, Germany

2005                  St. Jacobikirche, Strslund, Germany

2003                  Sutton House, London, UK

2002                  Pilgrim Gallery, London, UK

2001                  St. Mary's Woolnoth Church, City of London, UK

2001                  The British Council, Amman, Jordan

2001                  UNESCO Gallery, Amman, Jordan

1997                  Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford, Ireland

1996                  Limerick City Art Gallery, Limerick, Ireland

1996                 Monaghan Museum Gallery, Ireland

1996                 The Economist, London, UK

1996                 Tricycle Gallery, London, UK

1994                 Meffan Gallery, Forfar, UK

1991                Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews, UK

1991                Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, UK

1990                New Gallery, Bemis Foundation, Omaha, USA

1990                Nogradi Torteneti Museum, Salgotarhan, Hungary

1989                Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

1989                 Mark Four Gallery, Lincoln, USA

1989                Seagate Gallery, Dundee, UK

1988                Crescent Arts Workshop, Scarboroug, UK

1988                Southampton Arts Centre, UK

1988               The Crypt Gallery, London, UK

1988               University of Exeter, UK

1988               University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

1987               Artworks Space, London, UK

1987               Eagle Works Gallery, Wolverhampton, UK

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2021- Solace, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, UK, Uig Open, Hulabhaig, Isle of Lewis, UK. 2020 Made at Castle Mills, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, UK - Hidden Gems, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, Time + Space: Beginnings, Bemis Center, Omaha, U.S.A.   2016 - John Moores Painting Prize 2016, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool  2015 - Abstracted, Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie, Glasgow, Scotland, XX Szegedi Muvesztelep,Roek Palace, Szeged,Hungary. 2013 - XIX Szegedi Muvesztelep,Roek Palace, Szeged,Hungary  2011 - Elysian Project Gallery, London, UK, Be a Saint, Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, California, U.S.A.  2010 - XVI. Szegedi Muvesztelep,Roek Palace, Szeged,Hungary, Bemis Center, Omaha, U.S.A.  2009 - 100 x 100. Parkers Box, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.  2008 - XlV Szegedi Muvevesztelep , Muvevesztelep Bartok Bella Muvelodesi Kozpont , Szeged, Hungary   2007 - Xlll Szegedi Muvevesztelep , Bartok Bella Muvelodesi Kozpont Szeged, Szeged, Hungary  2005 - Summer Salon, Gallery V, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A .  2005 - Xl Szegedi Muvevesztelep, Bartok Bella Muvelodesi Kozpont, Szeged, Hungary   2004 - Triangle Open Studios, New York, USA.  2003 - Pilgrim Gallery, London   2003 - Space Open, London.  2003 - William Dick and Janet Patterson, Pilgrim Gallery, London.  2002 - Woolff Gallery, London.  2001 - Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax.  2000 - Camden Open, Camden Lock, London  2000 - Reflections, Southside Arts, Southampton  1998 - Art at Vitalis, London  1998 - Resonant Colours, Coningsby Gallery, London  1998 - Whitechapel Open Studios, London  1997 - Three Painters, Kunsthaus Schaller, Stuttgart, Germany  1997 - Weihnachtsaussterlungen Kunsthaus Schaller, Stuttgart, Germany  1994 - Cuprum VI, Centrum Miedziortyu, Lublin, Poland 1994 - Grafik Forms, Ujpest Gallery, Budapest, Hungary  1994 - International Exhibition, Tarii Crisurilor Museum, Romania  1994 - Print Triennial, Krakow, Poland  1993 - Bradford Open Print Exhibition, Cartwright Hall, Bradford.  1993 - Graphic Biennal, Maastricht, Netherlands  1993 - Kiev - East European - Kiev, St Petersburg, Russia  1992 - Bemis Artists, New Gallery, Omaha, USA..  1992 - Corporate Locations, Omaha, USA