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Artist Biography:
Bill Freeland (American, b. 1929. www.billfreeland.com) In his work, Bill Freeland offers metaphors to reorient the viewer to nature, environment, and the basic rituals of living.
Freeland works both two and three dimensionally to create forms that hover between artifacts and abstraction. He has described himself as "an abstract realist, searching for a new form of realism," and his pieces reflect this vision.
Bill Freeland was born in 1929 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1955 he graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 1957 he studied painting with Hans Hoffmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. During the 1960’s Freeland painted prolifically. At this time, he also worked dimensionally constructing wall-mounted and freestanding sculpture that incorporated dimensional forms of polychromed wood, metal and plexiglas. In 1969 Freeland became a professor at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. During the 1970’s and 80’s Freeland continued to explore sculpture with three large bodies of work inspired by time spent in Holland, New Mexico and Ireland. In 1990 he was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus of Moore College. After being awarded a fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in 1992, Freeland began living and working in Ireland.
Freeland currently divides his time between Chester County, Pennsylvania, and County Mayo, Ireland. He has had numerous one-person exhibitions at distinguished venues including the Royal Hibernian Academy of Art, Dublin; Taylor Galleries, Dublin; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; the Delaware Art Museum; and Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, New York.
Freeland’s work has been included in numerous public collections including: Allied Irish Bank, the American Express Company, the ARCO Company, the Delaware Art Museum, ITT, the Lannan Foundation, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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Studied:
Hans Hofmann School; Provincetown, MA; 1957.
University of the Arts; Philadelphia, PA; 1955. | | |
Books:
1999, Conor Fallon, Patrick Murphy, Bill Freeland and Ritual, RHA Ashford Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (color), Exhibition Catalog
1989, Robert M. Murdock Bill Freeland, Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, New York, NY (color), Exhibition Catalog
1987, Elaine King Perspectives from Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (color), Exhibition Catalog
1982, Nancy Graves, Margot De Wit and Marsha Moss Sculpture 300, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA (color), Exhibition Catalog
1978, Bruce St. John Bill Freeland, Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY (color), Exhibition Catalog
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Museums:
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
Montclair Museum, Montclair, New Jersey
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Exhibition Record (Museums, Institutions and Awards):
1992 Ballinglen Arts Fellowship (residency), Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
1991 National Sculpture Award of Merit, by Donald Kuspit, Deland Art Museum, Deland, FL
1991 Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellowship Award
1989 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
1984 University of Delaware Purchase Prize, Newark, DE
1981 Moore College of Art Faculty Development Research Grant, Philadelphia, PA
1978 Hereward Lester Cooke Foundation Grant
1973 Delaware Art Museum Multiple Edition Sculpture Commission, Wilmington, DE | | |
Exhibition Record (Galleries and Art Shows):
2007, RHA Annual, Dublin, Ireland
2006, List Gallery, Swarthmore College, Solo Exhibition
2005, Taylor Galleries, Dublin, Ireland, Solo Exhibition
2004, RHA Annual, Dublin, Ireland
2004, Garrubbo Bazan Gallery, West Chester, PA, Solo Exhibition
2001, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, Solo Exhibition
2000, Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
1999, Ashford Gallery, Royal Hibernian Academy of Art, Dublin, Ireland, Solo Exhibition
1997, Bucks County Sculpture, James A Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA
1997, The Ballinglen Experience, Royal Hibernian Academy, Gallagher Gallery, Dublin Ireland
1994, American Artists in Ireland, The American Embassy, Dublin, Ireland
1992, Art '92, Dolan/Maxwell. London, UK
1991, Dolan/Maxwell, Philadelphia, PA, Solo Exhibition
1991, National Sculpture, Deland Art Museum, Deland, FL
1989, Dolan/Maxwell, New York, NY, Solo Exhibition
1988, Sculpture from the Permanent Collection, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1987, Black, Siegeltuch Gallery, New York, NY, Center for Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
1987, Perspectives from Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon Univeristy Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1986, Oscarsson-Siegeltuch Gallery, New York, NY, Solo Exhibition
1985, Morris Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Solo Exhibition
1984, Sculptural Ideas, Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, NY
1983, Students Select, Yale Univeristy, New Haven, CT
1982, Gallery Group, Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, NY
1981, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA, Solo Exhibition
1980, Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY, Solo Exhibition
1978, Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY, Solo Exhibition
1972, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE, Solo Exhibition
1967, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, Solo Exhibition
1959, Little Gallery, Princeton, NJ, Solo Exhibition | | |
Memberships:
Chelsea Arts Club, 1997-, Member
Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 1990, Professor Emeritus | | |
Magazine and Newspaper References:
2004 Philadelphia Inquirer, "Bill Freeland at Garrubbo Bazan Gallery"
2001 Philadelphia Inquirer, "Bill Freeland at West Chester University"
1999 Irish Times, "Home is Where the Art Is"
1999 Arts West Magazine, "Process and Ritual: An Interview"
1985 Philadelphia Inquirer, "With Restraint He Uses Stone to Evoke Ireland"
1984 Christian Science Monitor, "Sculptural Ideas"
1983 Money Magazine, "Collectibles"
1981 New York Times, New York Reviews
1981 Christian Science Monitor, "The Many Masks of Modern Art"
1980 New York Times, Art Reviews
1980 Christian Science Monitor, "Discovering a World of Galleries – In One Building"
1978 Arts Magazine, Reviews
1978 Village Voice, "Bill Freeland and David Phillips" | | |
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