A Closer Look: James Welling

James Welling
Tile Photograph 8, 1985/2013
Silver gelatin print, 10 x 8 in. on 14 x 11 in. paper
Shipped in a 18 x 14 in. mat
Edition of 50, signed and numbered by the artist

James Welling‘s work centers on an exploration of photography, shuffling the elemental components of the medium to produce distinctly uncompromising results. During his career, Welling has experimented with different photographic mediums, including Polaroids, silver gelatin prints, photograms, and digital prints, exploring the tensions of and between representation and abstraction. This dramatic print comes from Welling’s abstract explorations from the 1980s, reproduced by the artist himself as a one-of-a-kind silver gelatin print exclusively for Light Work. Welling has had solo exhibitions at Künstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway; Musée départemental d’art contemporain de Rochechouart, France; Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA; and David Zwirner Gallery, New York, NY, as well as a touring retrospective with the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH. His work was included in the Metro Pictures inaugural exhibition and featured in the 2008 Whitney Biennial in New York. He has also exhibited in group exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Welling participated in Light Work’s Artist-In-Residence Program in 1986.

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