William Conger

For the member of the Wisconsin Senate, see William F. Conger.
William Conger
Photo of artist William Conger, in 2016.
William Conger, in 2016.
Born1937
Dixon, Illinois, US
EducationUniversity of New Mexico, University of Chicago, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Known forPainting
StyleAllusive Abstraction
WebsiteWilliam Conger

William Conger (born 1937) is a Chicago-based, American painter and educator, known for a dynamic, subjective style of abstraction descended from Kandinsky, which consciously employs illogical, illusionistic space and light and ambiguous forms that evoke metaphorical associations.[1][2] He is a member of the "Allusive Abstractionists," an informal group of Chicago painters self-named in 1981, whose paradoxical styles countered the reductive minimalism that dominated post-1960s art.[3] In 1982, critic Mary Mathews Gedo hailed them as "prescient prophets of the new style of abstraction" that flowered in the 1980s.[4] In his essay for Conger's fifty-year career retrospective, Donald Kuspit called Conger art-historically daring for forging a path of subjective abstraction after minimalism had allegedly purged painting of an inner life.[5] Despite being abstract, his work has a strong connection to Chicago's urban, lakeside geography and displays idiosyncratic variations of tendencies identified with Chicago Imagist art.[6] A hallmark of Conger's career has been his enduring capacity for improvisation and discovery within self-prescribed stylistic limits.[7][8]

Conger has shown at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (MCA), the Krannert Art Museum, and Jonson Museum, and in numerous solo exhibitions in Chicago and beyond.[3] His work has been discussed in national publications such as Artforum,[9] Art in America,[10] Arts Magazine,[11] and ARTnews,[12] and major dailies[13] including the Chicago Tribune[14][15] and Los Angeles Times.[16] He has been recognized by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, City of Chicago Public Commissions, inclusion in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, and purchases by public and private collections.[17] In addition to his art career, Conger has taught and chaired art departments at DePaul University and Northwestern University, and written about art.

  1. ^ Ostrow, Saul, "William Conger's Metaphysics," catalog essay, New York: Vendome Gallery, 2014.
  2. ^ Karabenick, Julie. "An Interview with Artist William Conger," William Conger: Paintings 1958–2008, Chicago: City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, 2009, p.24–45.
  3. ^ a b Farr, Margaret. "William Conger," Art in Chicago 1945-1995. Museum of Contemporary Art, ed. Lynne Warren, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996, p. 247. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  4. ^ Gedo, Mary Mathews. "Abstraction as Metaphor: The Evocative Imagery of William Conger, Richard Loving, Frank Piatek, Miyoko Ito", Arts Magazine, p. 112-117, 1982.
  5. ^ Kuspit, Donald. "Always Abstractly True to Himself: William Conger's Paintings," William Conger: Paintings 1958–2008, Chicago: City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, 2009, p.6–23.
  6. ^ Brunetti, John. "William Conger: Iron Heart City," catalogue essay, Chicago: Roy Boyd Gallery, September, 2002, p. 3–9.
  7. ^ Brooke-Schliefer, Kristin. "William Conger," ARTNews, December 2000, p. 163.
  8. ^ Bonesteel, Michael. "William Conger," Art in America, November 1985, p, 169-71.
  9. ^ Morrison, C.L. "William Conger," ArtForum, Summer, 1978, p. 79.
  10. ^ Nance, Kevin. "William Conger at Roy Boyd Gallery," Art in America, December 2007, p, 164.
  11. ^ Gedo, Mary. "The Secret Idol...," Arts Magazine, December 1981, p. 116-24.
  12. ^ Moser, Charlotte. "William Conger," ArtNews, September, 1985, p. 119-120.
  13. ^ Schulze, Franz. "William Conger," Chicago Sun-Times, April 7, 1978, p. 76.
  14. ^ Artner, Alan. "William Conger," Chicago Tribune, Dec. 21, 1975.
  15. ^ Artner, Alan. "William Conger keeps it fresh," Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2001, Section C, p. 32.
  16. ^ Wilson, W. "Chicago Connection," Los Angeles Times, Feb. 20, 1977, p. 78.
  17. ^ Smithsonian Archives of American Art. William F. Conger papers, Retrieved May 1, 2018.