Wegman World

Wednesday's Postcard

Kids' Art!

Looking Back: Fay at Pace

William Wegman, Fay / Ruscha, 1987

CRITICS' CHOICES; Photography

By Andy Grundberg
Published: December 27, 1987

The New York Times

 Humor and art are not always allies, especially when it comes to photographs of dogs. But William Wegman's new color pictures at Pace/ MacGill Gallery (11 East 57th Street, through Jan. 16) manage to make us laugh and think at the same time. In ''Hatched,'' for example, we see the artist's new pet Weimaraner, Fay Ray, wrapped in red-faced aluminum foil, looking somewhat like a Christmas gift and somewhat like a half-opened bonbon. In other large-format Polaroids we see Fay Ray wearing sneakers, roller skates, false eyelashes and a wig.

Read the rest of the article here.

Wednesday's Postcard

Chip

 
William Wegman, Pup Prop, 1995

 

Chip was born May 19, 1995, the first of Batty's four boys.  His birth was not without drama. He emerged outside the sac, apparently not breathing. Having been through it before with Chundo during Fay’s delivery, we pretty much knew what to do. He would have to be jumpstarted. With lots of rubbing, pinching, swinging, after ten long minutes my wife Christine's heroic efforts got him to breathe. 

William Wegman, Furog, 1995

Three days later I photographed him with Batty with the 20 x 24 polaroid camera. One picture stands out in my mind. An odd and somewhat blunt version of the classic Madonna and child portrait.   

William Wegman, Chip and Battina, 1995

Six months later I would photograph him  as Tamino in the Magic Flute in a photo series for the Houston Grand Opera. It still amazes me how much costume weight Chip could carry without the slightest effect on his expression.

 
William Wegman, The Magic Flute, 1996

Even with hats! Maybe that part of his brain failed to develop during the traumatic events of his birth. Remind me to ask Oliver Sacks about that next time I see him.       

 
William Wegman, Stanley, 1999

 

William Wegman, Leader of the Pack, 2000

In the early 90’s I made children’s’ books with Fay and her offspring, Batty, Crooky, and Chundo. Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, an alphabet book, a book of shapes, a book of numbers…all versions of classic children’s books.  

With Chip I headed off in a new direction, with my own original stories guided by Chip’s personality. He would need a new wardrobe. I found the right shirt for him at a Salvation Army in Hudson, NY, near where many of the books and films were made (notably, Farm Days, Surprise Party, My Town, and Chip Wants a Dog).

 
from Chip Wants a Dog

His wistful look guided much of the texts for these works.  One could never write a purely happy ending peering into those somewhat sad dreamy eyes. In Chip Wants a Dog, he plays a dog obsessed only child of an upstate couple played by his real mother Batty and his (pretend) father (real uncle) Chundo.

He wants a dog, but for all the usual reasons  given to children he is denied. To give it an upbeat spin I thought long and hard and came up with this: Chip goes to bed has a dream and in his dream he becomes a dog. When he awakes he is no longer wearing clothes…he has become a dog.

 
from Chip Wants a Dog

 

A great and powerful runner. I photographed him running in a field.  He loved to run. In the photo he looked, and was, truly happy.

Chip free of clothes was majestic and many of the polaroid 20 x 24 work from the next years explored that. Perhaps the most beautiful is this black and white 20 x 24 taken in 1998:

William Wegman, Looking Back, 1998

 

That being said, he did have a way with hats. 

 

 

William Wegman, Gent, 1999

 

-- WW

Looking Back: A Return to Painting

William Wegman, Dock Scene, 1986

 

ART: WILLIAM WEGMAN, PHOTOGRAPHER AS PAINTER

By VIVIEN RAYNOR
Published: January 10, 1986
NEW YORK TIMES

IT'S not surprising that William Wegman should have majored in painting or that he began his career in the mid-1960's producing shaped canvases a la Frank Stella. There have been plenty of photographers who started out as plain old artists (Laszlo Moholy-Nagy is one stirring example) and even more videoists. What is remarkable is that Wegman, having made his reputation with cameras, should, after some 25 years, suddenly return to painting - not abstractions, but small figurative works and at the rate of about two a day.

Read the rest of the article here.

Wednesday's Postcard

Looking Back: Wegman World

William Wegman, Pat, 1997

AT HOME WITH: WILLIAM WEGMAN; A Family That Goes On 8 Feet and 8 Paws

By JULIE V. IOVINE
Published: June 10, 1999

THE NEW YORK TIMES

 THOSE citronella eyes, set in a velvety gray pelt, stare out from every corner of the Wegman studio, a sprawling converted nursery school in Chelsea. It is also the family home of William Wegman, the conceptual artist and dog-theme merchandiser, whose fans respond to his outpouring of videos, PBS programs, books, commercials, posters and kitchen magnets as if answering the siren call of a high-pitched dog whistle. He is just now finishing a memoir (to be published Oct. 1) of life with Fay Ray, one of the Weimaraners who inspired him.

Read the rest of the article here.

"No one stands a chance against Bobbin."

Werk!: The Armitage Gone Variety show, which WW and Bobbin have a small dance piece in, was reviewed in the NY Times yesterday. Here's what Gia Kourlas had to say about Bobbin's performance:

"Though on the slight end of Ms. Armitage’s creative spectrum, like any sideshow attraction this program has its draws, namely in “Daydream,” a work she choreographed for Bobbin, one of Mr. Wegman’s dogs. This stoic Weimaraner is placed on a platform center stage with his body covered so that it appears to be supported by stationary legs. From behind, arms pop out; dancers join him for duets (first tap and then ballet). With an occasional yawn, his impassive expression overshadows everyone and everything on the stage. Voguers? Krumpers? No one stands a chance against Bobbin."

Read the rest of the article here.

Werk!: The Armitage Gone Variety Show

William Wegman has colloborated with choreographer Karole Armitage to create a performance for "Werk!: The Armitage Gone Variety Show" which opens this week. Read more about the show on Hyperallergic.

Show and ticket information can be found here.