John Lytle Wilson
John Lytle Wilson (born February 9, 1977 in Rock Hill, South Carolina) is an artist, best known for his brightly-colored paintings of cartoon robots, monkeys and unicorns engaged in combat or flight and sometimes invading kitschy landscapes from thrift store paintings.
Wilson spent part of his childhood in China, where he became fascinated with a children's book series entitled The Monkey King. He graduated from the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts. He then studied art at Birmingham-Southern College. He graduated in 1999 and he stayed in Birmingham for a year. He then spent another year in China before enrolling in graduate school at Florida State University in 2001. He completed his Master of Fine Arts there in 2004 and remained on staff for the next three years.
In 2008 Wilson moved back to Birmingham with his wife, Liz. He taught in the Wallace State and UAB art departments before joining the faculty at Birmingham-Southern College in 2013. He currently teaches painting and introduction to design.
Wilson has exhibited locally at Artwalk, Clay Scot Gallery, Boutwell Studios, Magic City Art Connection and Rojo. He was also artist-in-residence at Gallery 621 in Tallahassee and has been shown in the Vienna Biennale, the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences, and numerous other galleries.
In 2011, he and Wes Frazer opened the Acme Gallery on 2nd Avenue North. In 2013 Wilson mounted a solo exhibition, "The Shrine of the Most Glorious Future" at the UAB Art Gallery. Wilson has painted large-scale murals for exterior of 5th Row on Morris Avenue and for the interior of the 1917 Clinic on 4th Avenue South.
References
- Simpson, Janet Elizabeth (February 15, 2010) "Artist in Residence - Joyn Lytle Wilson". Pavo
- Harvey, Alec (May 26, 2011) "Artists quick to create for storm aid fundraiser." The Birmingham News
- McKewen, Augusta (June 18, 2013) "A Lytle unconventional" Weld for Birmingham
- Lewellyn, Walter (November 20, 2013) "Reinventing Birmingham: Following Warhol's lead, Birmingham's art scene is on the cusp of greatness." Weld for Birmingham
- Chandler, Alyx (November 2019) "John Lytle Wilson: Bringing Robots to the Magic City." Iron City Ink
- Arango, Alex (June 29, 2022) "Robots on the Horizon: : Talking with artist John Lytle Wilson" Connect Savannah
External links
- John Lytle Wilson website
- John Lytle Wilson weblog