Will Corr
Will Corr received his Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1994 and his Master of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2002. His works have been shown at numerous national venues, including: the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, the Maryland Federation of Art, and at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, where in 2001, a piece was purchased for the permanent collection. In 2004, he had a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, the Portsmouth Visual Arts Center and was included in a group show at Lurie Fine Art Galleries in Boca Raton, Florida. In 2005, his works were featured in Volume 58 of New American Paintings. In 2006, he will be showing at the Art Center Manatee in Bradenton, FL, Bennett Galleries in Knoxville, TN and at Allyn Gallup Contemporary Art in Sarasota, FL. He has taught for the Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented Summer Program, Salisbury University and was a teaching intern at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Corr’s large motif-driven paintings provide the viewer with historical and social iconography, executed through contemporary applications. The tangible surface of his work has a direct relationship with the underlying layers of under painting and drawing. Often thick impasto passages rhyme with slick damar areas, supporting a framework of linear investigation. Turmoil, struggle, and immediacy are all interacting with each other through layers of time and history. By using a multitude of mediums from traditional oil paint to industrial asphalt, he is able to arrive at a literal metaphor for any given concept. The medium becomes a tangible reference, enabling the subject to become a reality. More often that not, the motifs, imagery and subjects are merely a point in which to begin. Once the process gets underway, the work begins its evolution. When Corr combines these often polar opposite materials, the surface becomes a pool of, not only contrasting elements, but also opposing genres or methods. In other words, notions of Expressionism may be juxtaposed with areas of patterned Pop or highly refined traditionalism could be layered with hints of crudely drawn Folk.
Narration and documentation play vital roles in his work. Like large open journals filled with woven imagery, his paintings speak stories and tales of adventure, emotion and personal devotions. However, what intrigues Corr most about contemporary painting is the daily process. The ritual of pouring liquids and adding pigments to existing layers of materials, often times not knowing the outcome, culminates into an almost alchemical experience. His work almost always relies on automatism and its spontaneous approach to making art. He believes in controlled accidents and their contribution to the overall dynamics of a final composition. He welcomes the unexpected.
