William J. O’Brien

Session 1: Wednesday, May 12- Tuesday, May 18

Chicago-based artist William J. O’Brien’s idiosyncratic and exuberant forms are born out of an improvised and intuitive studio practice, rich in material experimentation. Through drawing, painting, sculpture, and ceramics, O’Brien explores the traditional and historical application of materials, but also employs play to refute such definitive uses. Inspired by modernism, as well as the history of material usage of outsider art, his multidisciplinary practice is a search for identity and genuine expression through material and process. O’Brien has had solo exhibitions at venues including Atlanta Contemporary; the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Wisconsin; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Cleveland Clinic, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He has received awards from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and Artadia.

1] Installation View: Shame Spiral, Atlanta Contemporary, May 9, 2019 – August 4, 2019. Also Pictured: Untitled, 2019, Mixed media, 72 x 40 x 16 inches; Untitled, 2019, Painted steel, muslin, acrylic, ink, lights, ceramics, mixed media 16 x 18 x 18'. Photo Credit: Erin Jane Nelson

2] Ceramic, 2017, 15.5 x 10.5 x 10.25 inches, Photo credit: Evan Jenkins

3] Shape Shifters, 2020, Colored pencil and ink on paper, 40 x 26 inches