Statement

Will Corr’s large motif-driven paintings provide the viewer with historical and natural iconography, executed through contemporary applications. The utopian imagery reflects the quintessiential Ameriacan dream and the quest for contentment. 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. 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.

Bio

Will Corr was born in 1972 in Birmingham, AL. He studied the visual arts from 1981-1990 at the Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented in Virginia Beach, VA. This vigorous, intensive art program set a foundation in art and art history at an early age. He later went on to receive a BA in Studio Art in 1994 from Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, VA and his MFA in Painting in 2002 from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. He has taught for Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD, was a teaching intern at the Maryland Institute College of Art and taught two summer programs for the Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented.

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 a piece was purchased for the permanent collection. In 2004, he had a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia and the Portsmouth Visual Arts Center. In 2005, his works were featured in Volume 58 of New American Paintings and in early 2006; he had a solo-exhibition at the Art Center Manatee in Bradenton, FL. He has been included in group shows at Lurie Galleries in Boca Raton, FL, Las Olas Fine Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Target Gallery in Alexandria, VA and various other exhibitions. In 2008 he is showing in a two-person exhibition at the Red Door Gallery in Richmond, VA.

Corr’s works are represented in numerous private and corporate collections throughout the United States and he continues to be extremely prolific from his studio in Holmes Beach, FL.

Press

“It was a dark day for Hampton Roads when artist Will Corr relocated to sunny Florida. Fortunately for us, his occasional returns have been bright spots in the artistic landscape, including one-person shows at both the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia and TCC’s Visual Art Center…his is intelligent work, visually appealing and thoughtful, though never pedantic."

— Portfolio Weekly, July 2006, by Betsy Dejulio

“Will Corr’s paintings are big…some canvases reach heights of 7 feet. The work on these large rectangles is generally minimalist…with small hints of forms like stars, planes…But they are simply put – gorgeous.”

— The Weekly Planet, January 2006, by Cooper Lane Baker

“He draws childlike images of houses…applied in rows, without the clumsiness of folk art. His line, though free, is always sensitive and accurate. The works are a mysterious blend of innocent symbol and sophisticated technique…There is a peculiarly American innocence and honesty about his work.”

— Flair Magazine, July 2005, by Mary Mulhern

“Corr’s seemingly simple and serene paintings are actually quite intense behind the scenes…they are experiments without recipes, created with spontaneity and uncertain outcome…To a large degree, it is Corr’s comforting palette that makes his works widely appealing.”

— Tampa Bay Metro Magazine, June 2006, by Nancy Kipnis

“In Corr’s monolithic structures, we see painting reach beyond its original perimeters – painting as object, painting as installation, painting as means of reflection. Easily identifiable imagery floats in a sea of abstraction, enough of a tease to visually tempt even those who prefer more representational work.”

— Portfolio Weekly, February 2004, by Catherine Dorsey

“Corr’s paintings are large; none of the pieces in the exhibit have a dimension of less than 6 feet. He uses oil-based paints on wood and canvas, often adding layers of other materials: asphalt, charcoal and sawdust…Will is a phenomenal young artist who is locally raised and beginning to make waves nationally.”

— The Virginia Pilot, January 2004, by Laine Rutherford

“Corr often goes for simple forms rendered with childlike figurative scratches and brusque brushwork…Sparely rendered on large canvases, these images inevitably have an immediate visual impact…The artist’s evident love of the act of painting comes across quite movingly here, creating a work worth lingering over.”

—Baltimore City Paper, August 2001, by Mike Giuliano