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William Wegman (photographer)
Encyclopedia
Weimaraner
The Weimaraner is a dog that was originally bred for hunting in the early 19th century. Early Weimaraners were used by royalty for hunting large game such as boar, bear, and deer. As the popularity of large game hunting began to decline, Weimaraners were used for hunting smaller animals like...
s in various costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s and poses.
Life and career
Wegman reportedly originally intended to pursue a career as a painter. He received a Bachelor of Fine ArtsBachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in painting from Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art and Design is a publicly-funded college of visual and applied art, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest art schools, the only publicly-funded free-standing art school in the United States, and was the first art college in the United States to grant an artistic degree...
in 1965 and a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
degree in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 1967.
While teaching at California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach is the second largest campus of the California State University system and the third largest university in the state of California by enrollment...
, he acquired the first and most famous of the dogs he photographed, a Weimaraner he named Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
(after the artist and photographer). Man Ray later became so popular that the Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
named him "Man of the Year" in 1982. He named a subsequent dog Fay Ray (a play on the name of actress Fay Wray
Fay Wray
Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...
).
On January 29, 1992, Wegman appeared on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
Starring Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
and showed a video clip of "Dog Duet," his 1975 short of Man Ray & another dog slowly and mysteriously peering around. Wegman explained that he had created the video by moving a tennis ball around, off-camera, thus capturing the dogs' attention http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/59/artist_wegman.html. The same year, he did 3 network ID's for Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....
starring the dogs on pedestals.
William Wegman was artist-in-residence at Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in Andover, Massachusetts
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
in spring 2007 where his work featured on campus in the Addison Gallery of American Art
Addison Gallery of American Art
The Addison Gallery of American Art, as a department of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, is an academic museum dedicated to collecting American art...
.
Wegman has also been an artist in residence at Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art and Design is a publicly-funded college of visual and applied art, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest art schools, the only publicly-funded free-standing art school in the United States, and was the first art college in the United States to grant an artistic degree...
in Boston, Massachusetts where his Circus series was created with the College's 20x24 inch Polaroid camera. He received the College's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1987.
William Wegman made his appearance on Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
's "Dogs 101
Dogs 101
Dogs 101 is a show that airs on Animal Planet. It is centered on Dogs and what they are like.- Plot :Dogs 101 features 6 breeds of dogs per episode. This show explains each breed of dog and features opinions by experts ranging from trainers to groomers to veterinarians...
".
Exhibitions and critical context
Wegman's photos are well respected in the art world, are held in permanent collections of the Hammer MuseumHammer Museum
The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center, or the Hammer Museum as it is more commonly known, is an art museum in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California...
, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is a museum located in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, featuring several art collections. For seventy years, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts has been a showcase for the visual arts in Central Alabama...
and the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
. His photos and videos have also been a popular success, and have appeared in books, advertisements, films, as well as on television programs like Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. In 2006, Wegman's work was featured in a retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Norton Museum of Art
Norton Museum of Art
The Norton Museum of Art is an art museum located in West Palm Beach, Florida. Its collection includes over 5,000 works, with a concentration in European, American, and Chinese art as well as in contemporary art and photography.-History:...
, and the Addison Gallery of American Art
Addison Gallery of American Art
The Addison Gallery of American Art, as a department of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, is an academic museum dedicated to collecting American art...
. The Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
explored 40 years of Wegman’s work in all media in the 2006 retrospective William Wegman: Funney/Strange.
The exhibition also ran at the Wexner Center for the Arts
Wexner Center for the Arts
The Wexner Center for the Arts is The Ohio State University’s multidisciplinary, international laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art...
in 2007.
On Sesame Street
Wegman's dogs first appeared on Sesame Street in 1989. Fay Ray starred in segments like "Old McFay Counts to 40". In February 1996, descendants Battina, Crooky, Chundo, and Chip starred in new segments based on nursery rhymes. Wegman told Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, "They are only [being shot] maybe 30 seconds at a time. The rest of the time they're sitting around, rather blasé about life."
Segments include:
- "Old McFay Counts to 40", 1989, with Fay Ray as Old McFay.
- "Little Miss MuffetLittle Miss Muffet"Little Miss Muffet" is a nursery rhyme, one of the most commonly printed in the mid-twentieth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20605.-Lyrics:-Alternative Lyrics:...
", 1996, with Crooky as Little Miss Muffet. - "Jack and JillJack and Jill (song)"Jack and Jill" is a classic nursery rhyme in the English speaking world. The origin of the rhyme is obscure and there are several theories that attempt to interpret the lyrics. The rhyme is known to date back to at least the 18th century. The song is sometimes titled "Jack and Gill", particularly...
", 1996, with Crooky as Jill, and Chundo as Jack. - "Jack SpratJack Sprat"Jack Sprat" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19479.-Lyrics:The most common modern version of the rhyme is:...
", 1996, with Chundo as Mrs. Sprat, and Chip as Jack; Wegman notes this is the first time that his dogs played characters, not their gender.
Partial filmography
- Dog Duet (1974)
- Dog Baseball (1986)
- Blue Monday '88 (1989) (New OrderNew OrderNew Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
Music Video) - Dog on Pedestals (1992) (3 network ID's for NickelodeonNickelodeonNickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....
) - Alphabet Soup (1995)
- Fay's 12 Days of Christmas (1995)
- The Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold (1996, screened at Sundance)http://www.imageexchange.com/mvx10/engine.cgi?cid=K13W2TOlX9SJEo98zbDqk4Y7cY&store=wegman&page=default&body=sku1&sku=5211
- William Wegman's Mother Goose (1997)
- Front Porch (1999)
- Farm Days
- Fay
- How Do You Get to MoMaQns?
- Milk/Floor (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Stomach Song (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Randy's Sick (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Pocketbook Man (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Talking Fish (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Out and In (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Rage and Depression (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Massage Chair (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Crooked Finger/Crooked Stick (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Deodorant (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Growl (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Spelling Lesson (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Drinking Milk (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Starter (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Bad Movies (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- House for Sale (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
- Horseshoes (released on "Selected Video Works 1970-78")
Public art
- La Jolla Vista View http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artists/wegman.shtml (1988) was Wegman's first major outdoor permanent sculpture, a part of the Stuart CollectionStuart CollectionThe Stuart Collection is a collection of public art on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. Founded in 1983, the Stuart Collection's goal is to spread commissioned sculpture throughout the campus, including both traditional sculptures and integration with features of the campus...
on the campus of the University of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San DiegoThe University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
.
External links
- Biography, interviews, essays, artwork images and video clips from PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
series Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 1 (2001). - amNew York Flash Interactive on Wegman's art
- William Wegman World
- Salon article on William Wegman
- "Reading Two Books," 1971 photo at the Hammer Museum
- "Skyscraper," 1990 at the LACMA
- "Untitled (Gallop)," 1988 at the Smithsonian American Art Institute
- The Creative Time Gallery article on William Wegman
- UBS Art Collection page on William Wegman
- WegmanStore.com- Official Web Store
- William Wegman in the Video Data Bank
- Wegman DVDs
- "La Jolla Vista View," 1988 at the Stewart Collection, UCSD