Thrill After Thrill: Thirty Years of Wayne White

Exhibition Website

Jun 30 2017 - Dec 31 2017

Populated by larger than life puppets, wildly vivid paintings and fantastical sculptures, this summer exhibition promises to be fun, entertaining and engaging for children of all ages.

Wayne White is more than your average artist—he is a set designer, an art director, a comic book artist, a puppeteer, a painter, a sculptor—the list is endless. His work for the riotous Pee Wee’s Playhouse earned him three Emmys; he has been acclaimed for his sets on Beakman’s World and music videos for The Smashing Pumpkins and Peter Gabriel.

Characterized by a playfully satirical take on the art world, Wayne’s paintings and sculptures also draw on his nostalgia for his Southern roots. If you like your artists a little rebellious, your artwork a little mutinous and your exhibition completely exciting, this is the place for you!

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

Whether or not you go, Wayne White: Maybe Now I'll Get The Respect I So Richly Deserve shines the spotlight on the clever and warped world of artist Wayne White. From Wayne's early days as a production designer and puppet maker for the iconic TV show "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" to his unmistakable and exquisitely rendered text paintings is a comprehensive view of Wayne White's oeuvre.

Wayne is a unique wordsmith, brilliantly juxtaposing irreverent and humorous phrases over existing thrift store paintings that together create a completely original and fictional landscape. Influenced by both his upbringing in rural Tennessee and a very sophisticated knowledge of art history. Wayne White's sensibility is completely singular and distinctive.

Wayne White's warped and perspectival words integrate into seemingly benign pastoral landscapes, creating a completely surreal experience. Wayne's expert painting chops and detailed attention to lighting and reflection place the "new" text directly in its "original" setting. Text paintings such as "Donald Judd was a Son of a Bitch Wrecked His Train in a Whorehouse Ditch," "Poon," and "Maybe Now I'll Get The Respect I So Richly Deserve" are a welcome departure from the more-often-than-not self-aggrandizing art world.

Wayne White: Maybe Now I'll Get The Respect I So Richly Deserve

  • American
  • Contemporary
  • Wayne White

Exhibition Venues & Dates