Anthony White 

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"" Societal relevance in the age of the internet has the ability to create power structures contingent on one’s virtual/artificial portrayal of status and wealth. This is frequently observed by those endorsing consumerism, materialism and brand identity. I make work that is heavily rooted in investigating the role of envy within these complex, invisible structures. What are the reasons we prescribe importance onto objects and ideas that we choose to present to the world, especially filtered through social media? In these areas, remnants of personal habits, designer
goods and obsolete technology coalesce to form an identity of one’s attachments and desires.
These domestic and digital settings are the stage for sensational self-portraits which aim to cast a reputable portrayal of our lifestyles, building characteristics that blur the lines between fact and fiction.
Diverse personas are uploaded, edited, and curated, creating the code for selfies––an artifice of existence that often misguides interpretations and rouses titillation. Throughout my examination of domestic and digital spaces, I am frequently overwhelmed with advertisements for ineffective
services, arbitrary nostalgic products, ‘limited edition’ rarities, brand logos, mass-produced banal ‘toys’, contemporary souvenirs, hypes and obsessions; all reflect such desirable goods as necessities. These devices are used to create a vibrant mirage that sensationalizes one’s ego, lifestyle and fantasies.
Today, we are all tethered and synced to the speed of the internet. Social media is a space that
displays our relationship to and investment in technology. It is here where glamorizing personal experiences and highlighting accomplishments is in the individual’s complete control. Our technology is capable of cataloguing and timestamping the information captured on our devices
by an operating system’s iconic rubric––refresh icon, touch up tools, AF Lock, etc. I use these distinct icons as marks and gestures to tell time within my own work, where each icon
references an editing tool that is also subject to change and reflects the device's system as it updates over time. In simple terms, you are able to recognize the technological era from which it came from based on its design and capabilities.
Assembly lines and artificial materials are fundamental to the production of the endless ‘stuff’ that fills out our lives, which I simulate in my practice. The assemblages, still-lifes and portraits I create are meticulously spun using PLA (polylactic acid), a biodegradable plastic that is heated at 200 degrees, melted, and extracted through a device comparable to a hot glue gun.
Commonly used in 3D printing, the intended use of this material is to recreate tangible objects of any kind. I use this material color by color, line by line; though working by my own hand, I identify with the ‘machine’ that operates in an assembly line-like routine. The contradiction between the quality of mass produced, everyday objects and exorbitant items is at the foundation of this exploration. The work teeters between adolescence and adulthood, intertwining an abundance of luxury and low-brow icons and symbols that camouflage the absolute one might claim: that they are exactly who they are. This investigation shows that we are an accumulation of what society determines relevant, and that we are subject to constant change". 

 

He is a 2018 alumnus of Cornish College of the Arts, the first in his family to complete four years of professional training. White’s work is meticulously spun from common PLA plastic resulting in representations of manipulated and glamorized portraits, consumerism, and brash, instagram-style images as viewed through the lens of a cell-phone.
He is a 2020 Neddy Award finalist and was the 2018 second place recipient of the AXA Art Prize juried by prominent international museum curators, at the New York Academy of Art, in NYC. In 2019 White presented a solo booth at EXPO Chicago, received the Special Recognition award from Seattle Art Museum’s Betty Bowen Committee, and completed the PLOP residency in London, UK. In 2019 Frye Art Museum and Crocker Art Museum acquired work by Anthony for permanent collection. White was selected as Amazon’s 2020 Artist-in-Residence . He is currently in the process of curating a museum exhibition that will launch in 2021 at the Museum of Museums in Seattle.

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EDUCATION
2018 BFA, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA

ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2020 LOOKING GLASS, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
2019 BLACK FRIDAY, PUBLIC Gallery, London, UK
2019 EXPO Chicago 2019, Profile Section, Greg Kucera Gallery, Chicago, IL
2018 Smoke and Mirrors, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
2018 Tier 2: SOLD OUT, Glass Box Gallery, Seattle, WA
2018 Hate Pissing Alone, The Factory, Seattle, WA
2018 Capitol Hill Art Walk Pop-Up, studio e, Seattle, WA; curated by Parker Steel

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Neddy Award Finalist Exhibition, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle, WA
TBD Signs of the Times, König Gallerie, Berlin, Germany; curated by Anika Meier
2020 Making a Better Painting: Thinking through Practice, Rona & Eric Hoffman Gallery, Portland, OR
2020 Museum of Love, The Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; curated by Jordan Watts (@love.watts)
2019 Seattle Art Fair, Greg Kucera Gallery, Centurylink Field, Seattle, WA
2018 Seattle Art Fair, Greg Kucera Gallery, Centurylink Field, Seattle, WA
2018 1 Room, studio e, Avalara Hawk Tower, Seattle, WA; curated by Dawna Holloway
2018 After Exit, SMART OBJECTS, Landers, CA; curated by Chadwick Gibson and Derek Paul Jack Boyle
2018 Triad Exhibition III, True Measure, Grapefruits and OV Project Space, Portland, OR; curated by Sam Klickner
2017 Digital Gestures, OV Project Space, Portland, OR; curated by Marguerite Bailey and Erin Johnson
2017 On The Passage, DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY; curated by AICAD/NYSRP

JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2018 XL Catlin 2018 Exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute; Linda Warren Projects, Chicago; and New York Academy of Art; juried
by Ian Alteveer of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Jennie Goldstein of the Whitney Museum of American Art; Laura Hoptman of
Museum of Modern Art; and Kara Vander Weg of Gagosian Gallery

GRANTS AND AWARDS
2020 Neddy Award Finalist, Recognized by the Behnke Foundation and Cornish College of the Arts; unrestricted Cash Award
2019 Kayla Skinner Special Recognition Award Recipient, Betty Bowen Award Committee, Seattle Art Museum; unrestricted
$2,500 Cash Award
2019 COSA Award Recipient (Champion of Seattle Arts Award); unrestricted $5,000 Cash Award
2019 Nominated candidate for the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s 2019 Painters & Sculptor Grant
2018 2nd prize, XL Catlin 2018 Exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute; Linda Warren Projects; Chicago, and New York Academy of Art; juried by Ian Alteveer of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Jennie Goldstein of the Whitney Museum of American Art; Laura
Hoptman of The Museum of Modern Art; and Kara Vander Weg of Gagosian Gallery
2017 Lillian Miller Educational Foundation Grant Recipient
2016 Lillian Miller Educational Foundation Scholarship Recipient

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COLLECTIONS
2019 Acquisition, and addition to the permanent collection of The Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
2019 Acquisition, and addition to the permanent collection of The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2021 Cultural Performer Nominee for Guest Speaker at EXPO 2020 Dubai at U.S. Pavilion
2021 Guest Artist Lecturer at Columbia College Chicago, Fine Arts Department
2020 Guest Artist Lecturer at Portland State University, MFA Program
2019 Advisory Board Member for Grants and Scholarships from the Lillian Miller Educational Foundation
2018 Artist Installation Assistant to Casey Curran for Light Cell/Rainbow Machine, Eau Claire, WI
2017 Artist Studio Assistant to William Powhida for After the Contemporary, New York
2017 Artist Studio Assistant to John Powers, New York
2017 Artist Studio Assistant to Tom Fruin, New York
2017 Artist Studio Assistant to Red Bull Arts Gallery for Bjarne Melgaard’s The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment, New York

CURATORIAL WORK
2021 In Crystallized Time, Museum of Museums, Seattle, WA
2021 While Supplies Last, TBD, Seattle, WA*
2019 While Supplies Last, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA*
2019 ULTRA LIGHT BEAMS, Mount Analogue Gallery, Seattle, WA
2019 While Supplies Last, Mount Analogue Gallery, Seattle, WA*
2018 While Supplies Last, Don’t Blame the Youth, Seattle, WA*
2018 While Supplies Last, Georgetown Carnival, Seattle, WA*
2018 While Supplies Last, Amandine Bakeshop (studio e gallery), Seattle, WA*
2017 While Supplies Last, Amandine Bakeshop (studio e gallery), Seattle, WA*
*A recurring group art show located in Seattle, Washington featuring original small works on paper by over 350 young, emerging, and already established artists (local, continental and international).

PUBLICATIONS
2020 Chinese Magazine Modern Weekly. September 2020 Issue interview by Jessica Xu. September
2020 Numeró Homme Berlin. Luxus Issue #12 interview by Anika Meier. June
2019 The New York Times. In Seattle, Creating Community by Collecting Art and Artists by Paulette Perhach. January
2019 The Seattle Times. Meet Anthony White, the rising Seattle artist who’s also creating buzzy shows of other artists’ works by
Gayle Clemans. February
2019 Seattle Magazine. Seattle Pop Artist Puts Plastic in the Spotlight by Gwendolyn Elliott. January
2018 Seattle Metropolitan. Plastic Meets Instagram at Anthony White's Exhibition by Stefan Milne. December
2018 The Stranger. Anthony White's Eye-Popping Paintings by Jasmyne Keimig. December
2018 City Arts Magazine. Plastic planet: Anthony White elevates trash and trashes luxury by Margo Vansynghel. August

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