Stripes, rhombuses, chequers or hearts are the shapes William N. Copley uses to humorously depict the battle of sexes. He cryptically sets his figures in an environment of lush decoration. From 18 February 2012 to 10 June 2012 the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden Germany, presented a comprehensive retrospective of the American artist (1919 to 1996). More than 80 works by the artist are shown. From the mid 40ies on, as a gallery owner, artist, author and editor, Copley acted as an important mediator between surrealists and the pop art movement and certainly was one of the most unconventional celebrities of the arts scene.
In the tradition of dada, surrealism and American pop art, William N. Copley ironically deals with the erotic game between man and woman in all its facets. When asked whether he had a theory on his style, he answered in a 1968 interview: “No, it just seems as if I were doomed to explore the tragedy of man and woman. That probably is chaplinesque.
William N. Copley
Kiss me
1965
oil on canvas
99 x 81 cm
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012
William N. Copley
Nuit puerto ricain
1978
acrylic and leather on canvas
168 x 140 cm
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012
William N. Copley
West
1974
160 x 276 cm
acrylic on canvas
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2012
”Just as the solo exhibitions Polke, Richter and Baselitz, previously shown at the Museum Frieder Burda, this special exhibition is based on the works from the collection Frieder Burda. Frieder Burda started collecting works by Copley at a very early stage and now owns a considerable number of works that are shown together for the first time. The exhibition is completed by international loans and works from the estate of the artist some of which are publicly exhibited for the first time.
Copley’s life was not a straight line: his parents passed away early, Copley himself was found on the threshold of a New York hospice in 1919. Two years later, he was adopted by Ira and Edith Copley, wealthy news paper publishers from Illinois. Between 1932 and 1936, Copley was at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, then two years at Yale University. In 1940 he joined the US Army, went to Italy and Africa as a soldier, returned home as a reporter and grew fond of surrealism. In 1947 he taught himself to paint. First, simply to enhance his writing skills, as he wanted to become an author.
A poet should work visually, Copley thought, and a painter poetically. He had deleted the melodious vowels from his name and from then on made the unutterable CPLY his brand and signed his pictures with it.
In Los Angeles he founded a gallery to promote surrealist artists, but failed financially. Copley bought some of his works himself and thus laid the foundations for his art collection which later became one of the most important surrealist collections with works by Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Max Ernst, René Magritte and Yves Tanguy.
The dashing free spirit Copley traveled frequently: from 1951 in Paris, he rated Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and René Magritte among his friends before he returned to the US ten years later and became part of the New York arts scene. He maintained relations with Christo, Roy Lichtenstein and later also with Andy Warhol.
Götz Adriani was the curator of this comprehensive retrospective that paints a new picture of the artist’s various facets, especially through a series of aquarelles never before publicly exhibited.
Adriani describes Copley as follows: “A minimalist with baroque features who remained faithful not only to his peculiar subjects, but also to his cunningly steered artlessness during all his artist life. Mostly, he stuck to clear-cut picture punch-lines and a rather graphical approach. He achieved a remarkable variety in composition and color with his combination of contentual standards and highly abstract abbreviations.”
William Colpey, Marilyn, 1965, Oil on canvas, 89 x 117 cm, private collection
William Copley, Untitled (Car), 1970, acrylic on canvas, 147,5 x 114,5 cm, Museum Frieder Burda
Copley spent the last ten years of his life rather isolated. He used the living room of his house for painting and sailed around in a boat. In 1996 he died at the age of 77 from a stroke. What remains is his work: a keen and entertaining picture of the attraction between men and women.
A comprehensive catalog in german and englisch was published with texts by Götz Adriani, Georg Baselitz, William Copley, Billy Copley, Judith Irrgang, Andy Warhol and others. Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg - Berlin. 256 pages 180 colour images. ISBN 978-3-9811606-4-2
William N. Copley
My Motherland Can Fuck Your Fatherland, 1975
acrylic on linen
44 7/8 x 57 3/4 inches
114 x 146.7 cm
PK 15706
William N. Copley
Untitled, 1982
acrylic on linen
25 x 42 1/2 inches
63.5 x 108 cm
PK 15096
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