Wild
January 29 to February 22, 2025
Wayne Paige
Adah Rose Bitterbaum, curator
Studio Gallery, Washington, DC
January 29th-February 22nd
Animal Kingdom was a pet shop a short walk away from where I lived in the Logan Square section of Chicago as a child. It provided a wealth of insight to me, an eight-year-old who enjoyed drawing animals, both real and imaginary. Initially, it opened as a conventional pet shop selling puppies, kittens, and tropical fish. Over time, the shop expanded, and more non-traditional and exotic animals were added—Dogs, cats, and goldfish were joined by monkeys, tigers, bats, and exotic birds. During this period, they were confined to cages and other restricted forms of captivity. This eventually ended with an outcry from an enlightened public. Nevertheless, I imagined them in the wild, uncaged, untamed, and drew them as such.
Since 1998, under a sky of imaginary comets and binary numbers, my drawings have also included mountains, waterways, and woodlands populated by bipedal beings engaged in a variety of activities. Dragonflies appeared briefly and then exited during an interim between 2010 and 2011, embodying the natural state of our world’s creatures as unrestrained, wild, and free. Now, after a seventy-plus-year hiatus and unforeseen events, the animals of my youth have returned. They, along with spiritual entities, have taken over the landscape, diminishing the impact of the bipedal beings. Squirrels, bears, and a whole host of other creatures have taken over. By tapping into my childhood memory, the content of my work has expanded and yet remained consistent with the overall focus of my previous work, which is creating art that embraces conflict, dreams, and humor. All takes place under a moonlit sky and in the “Wild”.
My career as a Washington area artist extends back to the early-1970’s and includes thirty-plus solo and duo exhibitions, numerous gallery inclusions, and museum exhibitions that include The Corcoran Art Gallery and The Anderson Gallery in Richmond, Va., along with four exhibitions at American University Museum at the Katzen Center: “Elizabeth French Collection”, “Remember Marc and Komei”; “Washington Art Matters ll: 1940s – 1980s;” and “Communicating Vessels.” Awards include First Prize in The Fairfax Art Council awards, First Prize in The George Washington University Alumni Competition, Arlington Alliance, and a Special Recognition award from The Virginia Commission of the Arts. Collectors of my work include American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Marymount University, the Elisabeth French Collection, Gudelsky Collection, Radio One, and Prudential.
Currently, I am employed as an adjunct art professor at Laurel Ridge Community College in Warrenton, Virginia, and live and work in Washington, D.C.