Adrian Wilson (artist) explained

Adrian Wilson (born 1964) is a British photographer based in New York.

Biography

Early Quantel Paintbox Digital Artist

Wilson studied HND Design (photography) from 1984-1986 at Blackpool and The Fylde College, where, according to Digital Art historian Grant Taylor,[1] he was one of the first photographers to specialize in digital image manipulation. Alvy Ray Smith believes Wilson was the first photographer who specialized in creating images using a $250,000 digital paint system known as a Quantel Paintbox[2] [3] [4] which was launched nine years before Adobe Photoshop. Wilson created one of the earliest photographic memes and was included in the international "Art & Computers" exhibition[5] at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in 1988. Wilson wrote for Computer Images magazine, was a guest speaker on digital art at Camberwell College of Art and created digital art for a range of clients, most notably for Creative Review magazine and the cover of Gold Mother[6] by recording artists James. In 1990, Wilson stopped creating digital art and put his archive into storage.

Wilson has collected a large archive of Quantel ephemera and Paintbox Artwork, including original Paintbox outputs by David Hockney, Larry Rivers, Jennifer Bartlett, Sidney Nolan and Howard Hodgkin. Wilson donated digital copies of the preslviously unseen artwork to the David Hockney Foundation and Sidney Nolan Trust, where he also lent exhibits and co-curated their Paintbox Exhibition in 2024.

After scanning his archive, Wilson created a Quantel Paintbox website and a 3D virtual gallery, plus donated archive material to the US Computer History Museum and the UK's National Science & Media Museum. Wilson marked the 40th anniversary of the Paintbox's launch by writing an article for TVtech[7] magazine and curating an exhibition at the British Computer Society of selections from his Paintbox artwork archive for the Computer Arts Society. On January 10, 2022, Blackpool School of Art, where Wilson first learned how to use the Quantel Paintbox, opened the first solo exhibition[8] of his 1980's images.

Allowing a new generation of artists to create new work for free, Wilson discovered four discarded Paintboxes and has restored three to working order in his New York Studio. One of the Paintboxes is currently on loan to Blackpool School of Art, where Wilson first learned to use the Paintbox in 1985. Wilson has created new Paintbox animated idents for the Vintage Computer Federation and InfoAge Museum which can be found on his quantelpaintbox Instagram page.

Photography

Wilson specializes in photographing interiors[9] and was the photographer for all Mondiale Publishing[10] magazines, shooting hundreds of nightclubs[11] between 1988 and 2000. In 2004, Wilson moved to New York,[12] where he currently shoots for clients including LVMH[13] The New York Times[14] and Architectural Digest.[15]

Galleries and art installations

Adrian Wilson salvaged a large collection of art from Manchester's textile warehouses in the 1980s, part of which is now displayed[16] in the Science & Industry Museum in Manchester and the Museum of Art and Photography[17] in Bangalore.

Wilson has given various talks on the collection, including at Typecon[18] and as an expert on the Antiques Roadshow when it visited Manchester. In 2015, Wilson created "The Inutilious Retailer",[19] an interactive art exhibit which was open for 10 months on Ludlow Street, NYC and won a Store of the Year award.[20]

In 2018, Wilson created the "Space X Gallery" which he hid above a fake Boring Company start-up office in a derelict building in the Lower East Side,[21] a one-man "Introspective"[22] show about Jerry Saltz and a Native American art exhibition titled "Artonement".[23]

Wilson opened the first gallery in Jean Michel Basquiat's last studio and home[24] at 57 Great Jones St, NY and named it The "Same Old Gallery"[25]

Art

Wilson is mostly known for his street art,[26] [27] specifically his makeover of NYC street and subway signs to honor icons such as David Bowie,[28] Prince.[29] Eddie Van Halen,[30] Aretha Franklin,[31] which the MTA made into a permanent tribute. Wilson never signs his work and only admitted the works were his[32] following his attainment of U.S. citizenship in 2020.

Following the $450 million sale of the much restored Salvator Mundi and an $800,000 complete set of Supreme skateboard decks, Wilson created the "Supreme Mundi", which in 2019 sold as the world's most expensive skateboard.[33]

In response to COVID-19, Wilson created several pandemic-related pieces (now in permanent collections at the Royal College of Art and V&A Museum[34] [35]) and collaborated with Heidi Hankaniemi to create a "Hazmask suit and dress" [36] to promote mask wearing which went viral.[37]

In 2021, Wilson purchased one of the last 5 remaining Quantel Paintboxes in North America and restored it to working order.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2016-03-31. When the Machine Made Art – Grant Taylor traces the origins of computational creativity. 2021-11-22. CreativeApplications.Net. en-US.
  2. Web site: Denning. Roland. The Quantel name is legendary. This is its story, and ultimately what happened to it. 2021-02-08. www.redsharknews.com. en.
  3. Web site: TV Technology Magazine.
  4. Web site: Heller. Steven. 2021-05-10. The Daily Heller: The Box That Designers Thought Out Of. 2021-11-22. PRINT Magazine. en-US.
  5. Web site: Persaud. Aaron. 2014-01-03. IxArt: A timeline of digital art (The Fundamentals of Digital Art), pages 14 - 16 with extended online links (part 2). 2021-02-08. IxArt.
  6. Web site: Roberts. Chris. BBC - Music - Review of James - Gold Mother. 2021-02-08. www.bbc.co.uk. en-GB.
  7. Web site: Adrian Wilson . 2021-11-04 . How Quantel's Paintbox Revolutionized TV Graphics 40 Years Ago . 2022-05-15 . TVTechnology . en.
  8. Web site: 2022-01-23 . Was the World's First Meme Created at Blackpool School of Arts? . 2022-05-15 . Visit Fylde Coast . en-GB.
  9. Web site: Adrian Wilson - New York and Mexico City based Interior and Architectural Photographer. 2021-02-08. www.interiorphotography.net.
  10. Web site: Mondiale Publishing. 2021-02-08. www.mondiale.co.uk.
  11. Web site: Liscia. Valentina Di. 2021-06-16. Photos Capture Golden Age of Discos "Before Bottle Service and Bland Design". 2021-11-22. Hyperallergic. en-US.
  12. Web site: ABC News Adrian Wilson, graphic in nature. ABC News.
  13. Web site: 2016-05-24. Peter Marino clads Hublot store in black metal panels. 2021-02-09. Dezeen. en.
  14. News: Moon. Freda. 2020-02-03. Mexico's Last Countercultural Coast (Published 2020). en-US. The New York Times. 2021-02-08. 0362-4331.
  15. Web site: Loos. Ted. Leroy Street Studio Crafts an Ultramodern Home in the Hamptons. 2021-02-08. Architectural Digest. en-us.
  16. Web site: What's on. 2021-02-08. Science and Industry Museum. en.
  17. Web site: Home. 2021-02-08. MAP. en-US.
  18. Web site: Photographer Adrian Wilson to Speak at TypeCon2010. 2021-02-08. TypeCon. en-US.
  19. News: Welcome to the New York store with nothing to sell – in pictures. en-GB. The Guardian. 2021-02-08. 0261-3077.
  20. Web site: And the Store of the Year is…. 2021-02-08. Chain Store Age. en.
  21. Web site: staff/claire-lampen. 2018-12-19. Elon Musk Not Working On A Hyperloop Out Of This LES Basement. 2021-02-09. Gothamist. en. 2021-02-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20210214114427/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/elon-musk-not-working-on-a-hyperloop-out-of-this-les-basement. dead.
  22. Web site: "Jerry Saltz An Introspective" Exhibition. 2021-02-09. www.nyartbeat.com.
  23. Web site: Calabro. Words by Kristy. 2018-11-22. Artonement: An American Retrospective. 2021-02-08. soldmagny. en.
  24. Web site: Jean-Michel Basquiat's Studio and Apartment Art Nerd New York. 2021-02-08. art-nerd.com.
  25. Web site: Grieve. Same Old Gallery debuts tonight on Great Jones Street with Al Diaz and SAMO©. 2021-02-08.
  26. Web site: Heller. Steven. 2018-10-04. Ceci N'est Pas l'Art, Or Is It?. 2021-02-08. PRINT. en.
  27. Web site: Un artista urbano intervino Miami Art Week y casi nadie lo notó. 2021-02-08. www.vice.com. es.
  28. Web site: 2017-01-10. Just for One Day: When I Painted 'David Bowery' as Tribute to David Bowie. 2021-02-08. Bowery Boogie. en-US . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210923181900/https://www.boweryboogie.com/2017/01/just-one-day-painted-david-bowery-tribute-david-bowie/ . 2021-09-23.
  29. Web site: Meier. Allison. 2016-04-22. The Most Beautiful Subway Station in the World: NYC Pays Tribute to Prince. 2021-02-08. Hyperallergic. en-US.
  30. Web site: Aswad. Jem. 2020-10-12. 'Van Halen Ave.': Artist Transforms New York Subway Station Into Tribute to Late Guitarist Eddie. 2021-02-08. Variety. en-US.
  31. Web site: staff/ben-yakas. 2018-08-15. Photos: Franklin Street Subway Station Turned Into Makeshift Aretha Franklin Tribute. 2021-02-08. Gothamist. en. 2020-11-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20201109001052/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/photos-franklin-street-subway-station-turned-into-makeshift-aretha-franklin-tribute. dead.
  32. Web site: Richardson. Kemberly. 2020-10-20. You've seen his work before, now a New York City street artist is revealing his identity. 2021-02-08. ABC7 New York. en.
  33. Web site: 2019-03-13. 'Supreme Mundi' Skateboard Sold for $20,000: Get The Details Here. 2021-02-08. Highsnobiety. en.
  34. Web site: 440 Repurposed WWII VD posters — Design in Quarantine. 2021-02-08. designinquarantine.com. en.
  35. Web site: 454 Pandemic Penguin book covers — Design in Quarantine. 2021-02-08. designinquarantine.com. en.
  36. Web site: 2020-10-16. Two Artists Made Glorious Outfits From PPE and Took Them Out on the Town in New York—See Images of Their Adventures Here. 2021-02-08. artnet News. en-US.
  37. Web site: SubwayCreatures on Instagram: "They made a Covid mask suit/dress #subwaycreatures (@plannedalism @heidihankaniemi)". https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CFdAf6WBaPX . 2021-12-26 . registration. 2021-02-09. Instagram. en.

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