Wiley Wallace’s Debut Solo Museum Exhibition ‘Lucid Fate’ | September 10, 2021 – January 2, 2022 at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum


WILEY WALLACE
‘Lucid Fate’
Opening Reception: 6-10 PM

On view September 10, 2021 – January 2, 2022 at:
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum
One East Main Street Mesa, Arizona 85201

Phoenix painter Wiley Wallace creates luminous and ostensibly radioactive worlds intersecting the real and imagined. Under a neon-hued glow, his realistic and surreal renderings of children and adults are placed amid Arizona landscapes, creating “near-magical” references of the supernatural. Through narratives of connection and communication, Wallace’s imagery suspends the viewer with a playful and macabre innocence.

‘Lucid Fate’ is Wallace’s debut solo museum exhibition.

Presented in co-operation with Thinkspace Projects

“The Persistence of Memory: Salvador Dali and His Influence” at Muckenthaler Cultural Center

The Persistence of Memory: Salvador Dali and His Influence

On view March 4 through April 8

The Muckenthaler Cultural Center
1201 W. Malvern Avenue
Fullerton, California 92833

You know the name, you’ve seen the melting clocks and you remember the mustache. Salvador Dali (1904-1989) resides somewhere in the upper echelon of famous artists – the ones that need only one name. His dreamy, surreal paintings, sculptures, literary works and films pushed the boundaries of reality and explored the subconscious mind, echoing his outlandish public persona. Dali, a controversial, glittering, intense artist and theorist, was always one step ahead of everyone else. His artworks shocked and dazzled, twisted reality and found their way into the most impressive art collections around world. As Dali’s career progressed and his antics grew more outlandish, the quality and authenticity of his work came into question. This only fueled the public fascination with this mysterious and eccentric artist.

Despite the controversies and farcical behavior, Dali remains an immense influence on artists around the globe. Like so many other boundary-pushing visionaries, Dali’s visual manifestation of the subconscious has influenced the artworks, practice and aesthetics of generations of artists. The Muckenthaler Cultural Center is proud to host this original exhibit on one of the seminal artists of the 20th century and the artists that carry on his extraordinary spirit. On display to the public from March 4- April 8, 2021 in the Muckenthaler Galleries by appointment.

Featuring work from the following Thinkspace Family members:
Anthony Clarkson
Anthony Solano
Curiot
Dan Lydersen
Hilda Palafox (aka Poni)
Ian Robertson-Salt
Koz Dos
Nicola Caredda
Spenser Little
Wiley Wallace

View available works from the exhibition here.

The Muckenthaler Cultural Center:
Walter and Adella Muckenthaler built the 18 room mansion in 1924 atop this hill in Fullerton and it served as the center of their citrus and nut farming business, as well as their family home, for more than four decades. In 1965, their son Harold Muckenthaler donated the mansion and the surrounding 8.5 acres to the city with the proviso that his childhood home be used to provide the public with experiences that stimulate creativity and imagination, while conserving the heritage and architecture of the estate. And in 1999, The Muckenthaler Mansion received designation by the National Registry of Historic places. Today, though the City of Fullerton maintains ownership of the property, it is managed by The Muckenthaler Cultural Center Foundation and its elected Board of Directors.

https://themuck.org

Love for Wiley Wallace on Juxtapoz

Our current exhibiting artist Wiley Wallace is currently featured on Juxtapoz.com. The New Contemporary Art publication highlights Wallace’s style and themes in the piece which features work from the showing exhibition, “Stay Connected.

Playful and ambiguous, his luminous and ostensibly radioactive worlds suggest a metaphysical interest in the possibility of alternate realities: the endlessly shapeshifting and protean nature of fantasy at the intersection of the imagined and “real.” Wallace’s paintings combine realistic rendering with elements of the surreal, and near-magical references that include eerily cast light sources bordering on the supernatural.  – Juxtapoz

Visit Juxtapoz.com to read the full piece NATURE IN DREAMS: WILEY WALLACE SURREAL ACRYLICS @ THINKSPACE PROJECTS.

Opening Reception of solo exhibitions from Juan Travieso, Wiley Wallace and Alvaro Naddeo

Thank you to all that came out to celebrate the opening reception of our new solo exhibitions from Juan Travieso, Wiley Wallace and Alvaro Naddeo. Congratulations to each artist on their beautiful new bodies of work that will be on view now through July 21st.

Both Travieso and Wallace have new murals down in Long Beach as part of this year’s POW! WOW! Long Beach mural festival which wrapped up this past Sunday.

If you find yourself in Long Beach to enjoy the murals, be sure to also swing by the Long Beach Museum of Art for Vitality and Verve III, which Travieso has also contributed to.

Check out our interviews with  Juan Travieso, Wiley Wallace, and Alvaro Naddeo discussing their inspiration behind their individual body of work.

Photos courtesy of Birdman 

Interview with Wiley Wallace for “Stay Connected”

Thinkspace is proud to present Phoenix-born painter Wiley Wallace’s upcoming body of work Stay Connected, alongside Juan Travieso in the gallery’s main room. Wallace combines realistic renderings with elements of the surreal, and near-magical references that include eerily cast light sources bordering on the supernatural.  In anticipation of Stay Connected, our interview with Wiley Wallace discusses the shows inspiration, his creative process, and the childhood catalyst that lead to the adult artists.

Join us for the opening of “Stay Connected”, Saturday, June 30th from 6 to 9 pm.

SH: Tell us about this show. What is the inspiration? What were you exploring in the work?

WW: The show is called ‘Stay Connected’. There were a lot of sources of inspiration for this new series of paintings. Some of those sources are really hard to put into words, but a clear source is my kids; how they experience technology, movies, books, holidays. Trying to see the way things are today through my children’s eyes. The world today seems equal parts fascinating and frightening. It’s also exploring how to tell a story, but keeping that story open-ended, using symbols that are loaded, but ambiguous enough that there can be several interpretations.

SH: Where do you source inspiration? How do you capture those ideas for pieces; do you have a sketchbook on hand or is it just a note to yourself in your phone?

WW: I draw in a sketchbook a good amount. I take a lot of photos of my kids on our family adventures.

SH: How do you plan out your compositions?

WW: After creating source material, I then piece everything together and layout the composition in Photoshop and Cinema 4D. Once I feel like the composition is telling a story, then I’ll try to paint it.

SH: What excites you about your work / creative process?

WW: I really like painting. I like the process of painting. I enjoy sitting and listening to music, or an audiobook or podcast and the feeling of making something simultaneously. Being able to zone out and create something feels amazing.

SH: What frustrates you about your work / creative process?

WW: Nothing really. It’s fun.

SH: If you could be a character in any movie for a day; who would you be in what film and why?

WW: Not a parent from a Disney movie.

SH: How do you approach developing work for an exhibition? Do you immediately jump into work on it, or are you more of a procrastinator?

WW: We have 3 kids, so I schedule the time months in advance. There has to be a very specific calendar with mini-deadlines that help get to the next point.

SH: What is your Meyers-Briggs or Zodiac Sign? Does it influence your work / artistic process?

WW: I’m a Cancer sign. I guess I like being quiet and at home, creating when I can. I’ve never done a Meyers-Briggs test.

SH: Has there been an artistic catalyst in your life? Something, someone, some event that made a significant impact on you that has lead you to where you are now.

WW: I grew up in a mom & pop sign shop. My parents spent all day making, painting, and installing signs. Me and my brother were always down there, making and painting stuff in a big industrial work space. We would build things, play with paint, make messes. Sometimes we got to pitch in and help my parents on jobs. Growing up in that environment had a significant impact on me.