The Armory Show Jimmy Wright

Press Release

When Jimmy Wright (b. 1944) moved to New York City in 1974, his world changed.  A farm boy from rural Kentucky, Wright had already spent a decade in cities – Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois, where he obtained his undergraduate and graduate education – but the electric atmosphere he encountered on the streets and in the clubs of NY was fuel for a burst of hot artistic activity.  In this solo presentation, Fierman and Corbett vs. Dempsey are pleased to present a selection of the supercharged paintings and drawings that Wright made in that period.  The drawings feature vivid characters he observed in downtown Manhattan, specifically in gay clubs like the Anvil, around the Chelsea Hotel, and at the bar in Max's Kansas City.  At the same time as he was composing these frank and sometimes humorous works on paper, Wright was painting elegant night scenes of the city's buildings and bridges, canvases with spectacular metallic clouds and jet black backgrounds.  These works will be shown for the first time in this booth.    

Artist Page