Christopher Wool

Pessimist

Christopher Wool is a contemporary American painter. In his paintings, Wool contrasts bold stenciled text or abstract brushwork with white backgrounds. In the stenciled works and prints, words run together and breaks arrive at the edges of the canvas, as seen in his Apocalypse Now (1988), which bears the phrase “SELL THE HOUSE SELL THE CAR SELL THE KIDS.”

“With the painting the inspiration comes from the process of the work itself,” Wool reflected. “Like music [making the work] is an emotional experience. It’s a visual language and it’s almost impossible to put words to it.”

Born on September 16, 1955 in Boston, MA, Wool studied briefly at Sarah Lawrence College, but quickly left to enroll at the New York Studio School. A contemporary of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman and others in New York’s downtown art scene in the 1980s, Wool introduced graffiti techniques to his work, later incorporating silkscreens and paint rollers.

Wool's work has been exhibited at numerous institutions around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst am Museum Ludwig in Cologne and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Wool currently lives and works between Marfa, TX, and New York, NY with his wife the painter Charline von Heyl.

Find a collection of original Christopher Wool art on 1stDibs.