Charlie White
Encyclopedia
Charlie White is a Los Angeles-based artist.
White received his BFA in 1994 from the School of Visual Arts
, New York, and received his MFA from Art Center College of Design
, Pasadena, California
, in 1998. He is the Director of the MFA program at the Roski School of Fine Arts, University of Southern California
in Los Angeles.
and Jeff Wall
. This narrative focus can be perceived in his first photographic series In a Matter of Days (1999) and Understanding Joshua (2001) which employ a pictorial play between reality and fiction that is occasionally taken to grotesque extremes. Understanding Joshua is a series of photographs of a puppet, meant to represent ontological insecurity, who is placed in the midst of various human relationships in order to reflect the discomfort of those interactions. In 2003 White exhibited And Jeopardize the Integrity of the Hull (2003), a series of eleven photographs that moved away from narrative tableau towards a new form of photographic flatness, looking at popular notions of religion, entertainment, privacy, and pop culture through an infantilized lens. Three years later White exhibited Everything is American (2006), a series of works in which he reconstructs and re-creates historical instances of collective trauma
and national anguish, such as the Manson Family murders in 1969 and the 1978 Jonestown massacre. Whatever their own innate brutality, the subjects represented in Everything is American are also shown to be victims, though none of White's images are truly innocent. Even at their most anonymous and lyrical, each subject bears the undercurrent of violence. In 2008 White exhibited Girl Studies, a series consisting of a 35mm short film titled American Minor, an experimental animation titled OMG BFF LOL, and a series of new photographs that move away from the use of the tableau and the fictional narrative. Girl Studies is the culmination of three years of research and production that expand far beyond the works exhibited. The series marks the broadest range in White’s practice to date and further evolves his specifically American cultural critique and his ongoing interest, from 2003 forward, in the American teen as image and idea.
Most recently White was included in Art in America NOW, organized by the Guggenheim and presented at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art. White’s work was included in The Puppet Show at the ICA Philadelphia and The Old Weird America at Houston Contemporary Art Museum, and it will be included in Nine Lives: Visionary Artists in Los Angeles, curated by Ali Subotnik, at the Hammer Museum in March 2009.
White’s film American Minor was accepted into the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Charlie White is currently represented by Brändström Gallery, Stockholm; Loock Gallery, Berlin; and fa Projects, London. From 1999–2006, White exhibited with Andrea Rosen in New York.
Hysteric Four, Published in 1999, Publisher: Hysteric Glamour Japan. (limited edition)
Charlie White Photographs, Published in 2001, Publisher: Goliath Books Germany.
And Jeopardize the Integrity of the Hull, Published in 2003, Publisher: TDM Paris (limited edition)
Charlie White, Published: 2006, Publisher: DOMUS ARTIUM Spain. Exhibition Catalog, essays by Jan Tumlir
Monsters, Published: 2007, Publisher: powerHouse Books. Essay by Sally O’Rielly, with an interview by Benjamin Weismann
American Minor, Published: 2009, Publisher: JRP | Ringier. Essays by Christoph Doswald and Dorothea Strauss.
in 2004 for the single "Evil", from the album Antics. He also directed the lead single for the band's 2010 self-titled release, "Lights".
Charlie White took part in the adicolor web campaign, which invited young directors to make a short web film based on a color. White selected the color PINK, and worked with musician Greg Weeks
, using Weeks’s track Made for the soundtrack.
White received his BFA in 1994 from the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
, New York, and received his MFA from Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
, Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, in 1998. He is the Director of the MFA program at the Roski School of Fine Arts, University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in Los Angeles.
Background
Charlie White grew up in Philadelphia, with one parent living in NYC. White attended CAPA, the high school for Creative and Performing Arts, in Philadelphia. Later, while a student at School of Visual Arts in New York, White worked as an assistant to artists Laurie Simmons and Carroll Dunham and studied with Marilyn Minter. After graduating from SVA, White moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to attend Art Center College of Design, where he studied with artists Steven Prina and Christopher Williams, and received his MFA in 1998. While a student, White created the project Femalien, a pornographic pictorial that was published in CHERI magazine. The magazine was sold at an exhibition at the Andrea Rosen Gallery in November/December of 1996.History of works 1999–2008
Using a combination of fiction, artifice, and make-believe to represent the human condition,he killed 1.000 people many of White's photographs explore America’s social fictions and the tensions in identity and perception they generate. White’s earlier works shared a relationship with the directorial forms of photography practiced by such artists as Gregory CrewdsonGregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer who is best known for elaborately staged scenes of American homes and neighborhoods.-Life and career:Crewdson was born in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY...
and Jeff Wall
Jeff Wall
Jeffrey "Jeff" Wall, OC, RSA is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale back-lit cibachrome photographs and art-historical writing. Wall has been a key figure in Vancouver's art scene since the early-1970s...
. This narrative focus can be perceived in his first photographic series In a Matter of Days (1999) and Understanding Joshua (2001) which employ a pictorial play between reality and fiction that is occasionally taken to grotesque extremes. Understanding Joshua is a series of photographs of a puppet, meant to represent ontological insecurity, who is placed in the midst of various human relationships in order to reflect the discomfort of those interactions. In 2003 White exhibited And Jeopardize the Integrity of the Hull (2003), a series of eleven photographs that moved away from narrative tableau towards a new form of photographic flatness, looking at popular notions of religion, entertainment, privacy, and pop culture through an infantilized lens. Three years later White exhibited Everything is American (2006), a series of works in which he reconstructs and re-creates historical instances of collective trauma
Collective trauma
A collective trauma is a traumatic psychological effect shared by a group of people of any size, up to and including an entire society. Traumatic events witnessed by an entire society can stir up collective sentiment, often resulting in a shift in that society's culture and mass actions.Well known...
and national anguish, such as the Manson Family murders in 1969 and the 1978 Jonestown massacre. Whatever their own innate brutality, the subjects represented in Everything is American are also shown to be victims, though none of White's images are truly innocent. Even at their most anonymous and lyrical, each subject bears the undercurrent of violence. In 2008 White exhibited Girl Studies, a series consisting of a 35mm short film titled American Minor, an experimental animation titled OMG BFF LOL, and a series of new photographs that move away from the use of the tableau and the fictional narrative. Girl Studies is the culmination of three years of research and production that expand far beyond the works exhibited. The series marks the broadest range in White’s practice to date and further evolves his specifically American cultural critique and his ongoing interest, from 2003 forward, in the American teen as image and idea.
Exhibition history
White’s work has been exhibited internationally in museums such as the Center of Contemporary Art of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; ZKM Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe, Germany; Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, China; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Oberösterreichisches Landesumuseum, Linz, Austria; Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne, Australia; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York; and ICA Philadelphia, PA.Most recently White was included in Art in America NOW, organized by the Guggenheim and presented at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art. White’s work was included in The Puppet Show at the ICA Philadelphia and The Old Weird America at Houston Contemporary Art Museum, and it will be included in Nine Lives: Visionary Artists in Los Angeles, curated by Ali Subotnik, at the Hammer Museum in March 2009.
White’s film American Minor was accepted into the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Charlie White is currently represented by Brändström Gallery, Stockholm; Loock Gallery, Berlin; and fa Projects, London. From 1999–2006, White exhibited with Andrea Rosen in New York.
Publications
Numerous monographs, books, and limited editions have been published about White’s work:Hysteric Four, Published in 1999, Publisher: Hysteric Glamour Japan. (limited edition)
Charlie White Photographs, Published in 2001, Publisher: Goliath Books Germany.
And Jeopardize the Integrity of the Hull, Published in 2003, Publisher: TDM Paris (limited edition)
Charlie White, Published: 2006, Publisher: DOMUS ARTIUM Spain. Exhibition Catalog, essays by Jan Tumlir
Monsters, Published: 2007, Publisher: powerHouse Books. Essay by Sally O’Rielly, with an interview by Benjamin Weismann
American Minor, Published: 2009, Publisher: JRP | Ringier. Essays by Christoph Doswald and Dorothea Strauss.
Music videos
Charlie White created a music video for the band InterpolInterpol (band)
Interpol is an American indie rock and post-punk revival band from New York City. Formed in 1997, the band's original line-up consisted of Paul Banks , Daniel Kessler , Carlos Dengler and Greg Drudy . Drudy left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Sam Fogarino...
in 2004 for the single "Evil", from the album Antics. He also directed the lead single for the band's 2010 self-titled release, "Lights".
Charlie White took part in the adicolor web campaign, which invited young directors to make a short web film based on a color. White selected the color PINK, and worked with musician Greg Weeks
Greg Weeks
Greg Weeks is an American singer-songwriter based in Philadelphia. His music has been described as folk, acoustic, psychedelic and experimental. He is best known as a founding member of the psychedelic folk-rock band Espers. Weeks has released four solo albums and has guest-recorded with many...
, using Weeks’s track Made for the soundtrack.
External links
- Video: Nine Lives Panel Discussion Hammer Museum, Los Angeles March 15, 2009
- Charlie White Homepage
- Audio interview at NPR
- Interview at Coolhunting.com
- Charlie White, short story NYT