January 8–February 5, 2022
Steve Turner is pleased to present Loss, Healing & Restoration, a solo exhibition of recent drawings by Los Angeles-based Richard Wyatt Jr. The drawings are deeply personal to Wyatt and include depictions of himself, his eighty-eight year-old father, his wife of forty-three years, his youngest daughter and Kobe Bryant, the talented former basketball player who was tragically killed in a helicopter accident in January 2020. There also are two drawings that depict “Paul’s Work Clothes,” a reference to the Apostle and his story of redemption and healing. For Wyatt, drawing has been a way of life for over fifty years, beginning with his studies with the legendary Charles White when he was a teenager. He describes his process as one of observation, not copying, and uses abstract lines and marks to interpret his subjects. As his drawings require months of work, he only chooses subjects that are important to him so that his drive and interest will not diminish. Big themes always motivate Wyatt, and in this case, his drawings relate to the unavoidability of loss, the possibility of healing and the inevitability of a new day.
Richard Wyatt Jr. (born 1955, Los Angeles) has been a presence in the Los Angeles art scene since the 1960s when he studied at the Watts Towers Art Center and attended the Saturday Tutor Art Program at the Otis Art Institute. Wyatt later obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles (1978) and has taught drawing and painting at the University of California, Irvine; Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles and the Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles. His work has been regularly exhibited since 1971 with solo exhibitions at Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles (2005); Santa Monica Museum of Art (1991) and group exhibitions at LACMA, (2022, 2019 & 1972); Salon 94, New York (2020); Frye Art Museum, Seattle (2001); California African American Museum, Los Angeles (2016, 2011, 2006 & 1992) and Santa Monica Museum of Art (1992). Wyatt has also created notable public art works including those at the Robert F. Kennedy Monument, Los Angeles (collaboration with May Sun); Capitol Records Building, Hollywood and Spike’s Joint, Los Angeles.
Born 1955, Lynwood, California
Lives and works in Los Angeles
Education
1978 BFA, University of California, Los Angeles
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Loss, Healing & Restoration, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2005
About Face, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
1998
Family Collections and Recollections, Cal-State University Dominguez Hills Art Gallery, Carsons
1991
Richard Wyatt: Central Avenue Jazz, Santa Monica Museum of Art
1988
Current Thoughts, Robert Berman Gallery, Los Angeles
Group Exhibition
2022
Black American Portraits, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (upcoming)
2020
Frieze, London (with Salon 94)
Portraiture: A Private Room, Salon 94, New York
2019
Life Model: Charles White and His Students, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
2016
Reflections of the Self: Selections from the Permanent Collection, California African American Museum, Los Angeles
2015
Collectors’ Legacy, Selections from the Sandra and Lloyd Baccus Collection, The David C. Driskell Center, College Park, Maryland
L.A. Muralists: In Their Studios II, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles
Black SoCal: Art and Practice in an Evolving Landscape, Palazzo Querini Stampalia, Venice, Italy
2012
Places of Validation, Art & Progression, California African American Museum, Los Angeles
Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and The Watts Towers Art Center, Watts Tower Art Center, Los Angeles
2010
Art, Activism, Access: 40 Years of Ethnic Studies at UCLA, Fowler Museum, Los Angeles The Arthur Primas Collection, 200 Years of African American Art, Irving Arts Center
2009
Distinctly Los Angeles: An African American Perspective, M. Hanks Gallery, Santa Monica
2008
Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection, Muskegon Museum of Art, Michigan
Visions: Selections from the James T. Dyke Collection of Contemporary Drawings, Naples Museum of Art, Florida
2006
Looking Back, Looking Black, African American, African and Latino Images, From the Robert E. Holmes Collection, Kansas African American Museum, Wichita
More Than Meets the Eye, Perspective from the Robert E. Holmes Collection, California African American Museum, Los Angeles
2005
Affirming a Legacy, North Carolina Central University Museum, Durham
2004
Affirming a Legacy, North Carolina A&T State University Museum, Greensboro
2002
Drawings VI, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles
Representing L.A., The Laguna Art Museum
2001
Representing L.A., Corpus Christi Art Museum
2000
Representing L.A., Frye Art Museum, Seattle
1999
Figure This, Cal State Los Angeles Fine Arts Gallery
1994
LAX Los Angeles Biennial (with Armory Center for the Arts)
1993
Dress Codes; Urban Folk Fashion, Smithsonian Institution Experimental Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Drawings III, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica
Venice Art Walk (with Docent Tours)
Six Los Angeles Muralists, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica
1992
Breaking Barriers, Santa Monica Museum of Art
No Justice, No Peace? Resolutions…, California African American Museum of Art, Los Angeles
1990
L.A. Muralists: In Their Studios, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles
1989
Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica
1986
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe
Western College Art Gallery, Yuma
1985
Gemini G.E.L. Gallery, Los Angeles
1983
Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles
1982
Ankrum Gallery, Los Angeles
Heidelberger Kunstverein Gallery, Heidelberg, Germany
1979
Vision of a Spirit, California African American Museum of Art, Los Angeles
1977
Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles
1976
Brand Art Gallery, Glendale
1972
Panorama of Black Artists, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1971
Jewish Community Center Art Gallery, Los Angeles
Security Pacific National Bank Traveling Exhibition
Grants and Awards
1989
Dewar’s Young Artist Recognition Award for Painting, Los Angeles
1986
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York
1975
Municipal Gallery Purchase Aware, Los Angeles
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