Outset Early in the 1960s he attended art courses at
Murray State University (
Murray, KY), and the Aspen School of Contemporary Art (
Aspen, CO). In 1964 he moved to Illinois during four years, to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he became exposed to the ideas of
imagist master
Ray Yoshida and some of his pupils (including Philip Hanson,
Christina Ramberg, and
Roger Brown). After a lapse including stays in "Little Egypt" (
Carbondale, IL) and
Los Angeles, CA, and land-travel across
Eurasian countries, he moved to his permanent residence in
Bowery,
New York in 1974.
Climax Wright's move to New York City in 1974 concurred with the height of
punk and
gay culture upsurge. His participation in the queer nightlife flourishing in the city gave him the opportunity to artistically capture some of its grungy atmospheres, creating a body of work that received recognition years later, when his piece
Anvil #1 (ink, pen, inkwash on paper
) made its way to the
Whitney Museum permanent collection, and whose subject may reminisce the spirit of earlier
whore scenes he had depicted in Chicago. A detailed exhibition of many of his works is available online.
Critique Art writer
Johanna Fateman discerns on stylistic traits (
voluptuous, ebullient, funny) and masterly influences (Bosch, Goya, Toulouse-Lautrec, Yoshida) perceivable in Wright's artwork. David Fierman, in turn, finds his drawings "fantastical and brutally real, sophisticated and youthfully playful". Referring to his oeuvre on the subculture of gay bathhouses and clubs, the artist once ascertained that such scenarios were
too rich visually not to record.
Membership He is a member of the Pastel Society of America where he has served as President since 2013, the advisory editorial boards of The Pastel Journal magazine and The Artist’s Magazine and the 1866 Founder’s Circle at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His teaches summer courses at the Ox-Bow School of Art, and sponsors art students at Southern Illinois University.
Exhibitions Wright's artwork has been the object of many solo exhibitions in the US, among them: • 1994 - “Sunflowers,” Midtown Payson Galleries, New York, NY New York Magazine 18 Apr 1994, page 165 • 1999 - “Jimmy Wright,” Lizan-Tops Gallery, East Hampton, NY • 2001 - “Jimmy Wright: Recent Work,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY • 2004 - “Jimmy Wright: Radiant, an overview 1963-2004,” Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL. • 2005 - “Jimmy Wright: An Overview, 1964-2004,” Eagle Art Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, KY • 2006 - Works on canvas and paper by Jimmy Wright. Argazzi Art, Lakeville, CT • 2007 - “Lost Women,” Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, IL • 2009 “Jimmy Wright: Twenty Years of Paintings and Pastels,” Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, MO • 2016 - Jimmy Wright, New York Underground, Fierman, NYC • 2016 - Jimmy Wright: New York Underground, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, IL • 2019 - “The Queen’s Court,” Fierman Gallery, New York • 2019 - Jimmy Wright solo, M+B Gallery, LA • 2022 - "Flowers for Ken", Fierman Gallery, Pike St, New York His art has also been exhibited at international shows in several countries including Austria, UK, Canada, China and Japan. == Honors ==