William MacKendree
William MacKendree is an American artist. He was born in Augusta, Georgia in 1948. He studied Philosophy and Visual Arts at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Following the completion of his university degrees, he left the U.S. to live and work in Greece between 1975 and 1982. Biography. His time in Greece was shared between Thessaloniki and the island of Paros. There were many trips of discovery throughout Greece and the Balkan Peninsula, as well as Turkey, North Africa, and the Mediterranean world. The encounters with Archaic Greek sculpture and Minoan Painting left deep impressions, above all for  their provocative simplicity and essence of line. The potential for the figurative within the context of the dominant minimalist visual culture of contemporary art may well have germinated from the initial visual shocks of this imagery. Here was an art that embodied both graphic dynamism and the impulse to vital forms and themes. His six years in Greece provided a relatively isolated cocoon for research and experimental trial-and-error ; moving steadily closer to a way to flesh out his first personal, near-archaic, works. It was soon after his arrival in Paris that he made the group of paintings  that constituted his first gallery exhibition, in 1984. In the aftermath there appeared articles on these works in art magazines such as ‘Eighty’, Opus International, Flash Art, and Art in America. He was invited to participate in the international survey of contemporary art ‘Anniottanta’ at the Museum of Modern art of Bologna in 1985. That same year, he received the Prix de Peinture at the Salon International d’Art Contemporain in Montrouge, and his work was acquired by the Musée Nationale d’Art Moderne et Contemporaine, the Centre Pompidou, in Paris. Exhibitions in Vienna, Innsbruck, and Rome were held in 1986, and  he also began a long-running collaboration with Michael Woolworth publications, creating numerous prints and artist’s books in the intervening years. Other collaborations and commissions have subsequently become an integral facet of his visual production. Mural projects were realized for the Reims Urban Transport headquarters (1998), for the City of Paris (2000), La Grande Arche de la Défense (1991), as well as for private companies in France. The Centre Regional d’Art Contemporain of Toulouse presented the first large institutional survey of his work in 1990. Since then there have followed regular intervals of exhibitions in galleries throughout Europe. Exhibitions . Solo exhibitions 2012 Galerie Vidal-Saint Phalle, Paris Galerie Storrer, Zurich Galerie La Navire, Brest 2011 Galerie Placido, Paris 2009 Galerie La Navire, Brest 2007 Galerie Erich Storrer, Zurich 2005 Galerie La Navire, Brest Le Quartz, Brest 2004 Galerie Vidal-St.Phalle, Paris Galerie La Navire, Brest 2002 Art Koln, Galerie Vidal-St. Phalle, Paris 2001 Galerie Vidal-St. Phalle, Paris 2000 Galerie Nanky De Vreeze, Amsterdam F.I.A.C., Michael Woolworth Publications Group exhibitions. 2012 'Ressources Humaines', Les Abattoirs, Musée d'Art Contemporain, Toulouse 'Louyétu', Maison des Arts, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Carjac 2011 ‘Drawing Now’, Salon du Dessin Contemporain ; Carrousel du Louvre , Paris Galeries Vidal-St. Phalle, La Navire, Placido ‘Woolworth Publications’, Nomad Gallery, Brussels 2010 ‘Vingt Ans Apres’, Galerie Vidal-St. Phalle, Paris ‘Art en Edition’, l’Espace Topographie de l’Art, Paris 2009 ‘Que du Papier’, Galerie Placido, Paris 2007 ‘Sweet Powder’, Aître Saint Maclou, Ecole Regionale des Beaux Arts, Rouen 2006 ‘Quinze Ans, Quinze Artistes’, Galerie Vidal-St. Phalle, Paris 2005 ‘Print it, Damn it’, Museo del Grabado, Fuendetodos 2003 ‘Jazz’, Université de Brest, Brest 2001 ’10 Ans Aprês’, Galerie Vidal-St.-Phalle, Paris 1999 ‘Jeux de Genres’, Espace Electra, Paris Public commissions. 2006–2008 Mural Installations, Verlingue Courtiers en Assurance, Quimper 2000  Wall Mural, City of Paris, rue des Dames 1998 Mural Installation, Transport Urbain de Reims Headquarters References. Publications 'William MacKendree/Vinyl Vocabulary', published by Hirmer Verlag, Munich, 2012; texts by Alain Mousseigne, Laurie Hurwitz, 156 pages, 100 color reproductions