Bill Walton's Studio

September 7 – December 4, 2011
Reception: Wednesday, September 7, 6-8PM
Exhibition walkthrough with curator Ingrid Schaffner: Wednesday, September 7, 5PM, ICA Members Only

The Institute of Contemporary Art presents Bill Walton's Studio in the Project Space. This exhibition recreates the unique environment of the minimalist artist, a key figure in the Philadelphia art community for nearly 50 years.

Walton, a commercial printmaker by trade and later an instructor at Moore College of Art and Design (1974-1990), was often more interested in the materials used for printmaking—wood, lead, steel—than in the finished product. His studio contained an exhibition area so he could display his work in progress in order to judge whether or not it was finished, a crucial part of his studio practice. At the time of his death in 2010, Walton's studio was a small miracle of order. Tools and materials were arranged as carefully as works of art. Indeed it was not always simple to tell the tools from the work, to judge whether an artful arrangement of screws and bolts was waiting to be used or to be admired.

Listen

ICA's exhibition catalogues, transfers, and displays the elements of Walton's studio, from finished work to workbench to cassette tapes and coffee cups. Using plywood slats and weathering techniques, ICA faithfully re-creates the studio's painted wooden floor, down to the way Walton filled the seams in the area that was his exhibition space.

In today's art world, where so many artists work digitally and conceptually, this installation gives visitors insight into the hands-on, craft-oriented way a traditional artist hones his craft.

This exhibition is organized by ICA Senior Curator Ingrid Schaffner, and is accompanied by a brochure publication.

RELATED PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Sunday, December 4, 2pm
Bill Walton: Gifting the Studio
Share memories, receive ephemera, and help complete the transfiguration of Bill Walton, a key figure in the Philadelphia art community for nearly fifty years. Hear how his animating spirit affects artists working today as ICA's recreation of his unique studio environment prepares to close.

ICA is grateful to the Edna W. Andrade Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation for their generous support. We acknowledge the generous sponsorship of Barbara B. & Theodore R. Aronson for the exhibition brochure, and are grateful to the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation for funding public educational programs in conjunction with this project. Additional support has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; The Dietrich Foundation, Inc.; the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art; friends and members of ICA; and the University of Pennsylvania. General operating support provided, in part, by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. ICA receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. We are grateful to John Ollman and the Fleisher/Ollman Gallery for their in-kind support. ICA acknowledges Le Meridien Philadelphia as our official UnLock Art partner hotel.

images: (Top, middle left and right): Bill Walton's Studio, 2011, Philadelphia. Photo by Karen Mauch. (Bottom): Bill Walton,Untitled, n.d. clamp, brass, aluminum, copper, 4 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches. Collection of Kirk Kirkpatrick and John Wind.