Brian Wills (b. 1970) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA

He received his BA from Denison University, his MA from Harvard University, and JD from Harvard Law School. His work has been exhibited in numerous gallery exhibitions including TOTAH, New York; Quint Gallery, La Jolla; Ochi Gallery, Idaho; and was included in the group show Swells of Californian Light and Space artists held between Petzel Gallery and Metro Pictures.

Brian has been included in exhibitions at museums and institutions that include the Underground Museum, Los Angeles; Torrance Art Museum, Torrance; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles. Wills’ work is part of numerous public and private collections including The Jarl Mohn Family Foundation, Los Angeles; Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs; The Estee Lauder Collection, New York; and Fundación/Colección Jumex, Mexico City.

Selected Press

Education

1996
  • JD, SSP, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, US
1992
  • BA, Denison University, Granville, OH, US
1966
  • AM, SSP, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts and Science, Cambridge, MA, US

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022
  • Ochi Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2018
  • Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
  • Untitled SF Art Fair, Ochi Projects, San Francisco, CA
2017
  • Texture/Pattern, Quint gallery, San Diego, CA
  • Line + Light, Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • Praz-Delavallade solo booth, Armory Show, New York, NY, US
  • Transient, TOTAH, New York, NY, US (with Helen Pashgian)
2016
  • Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA, US (with John McLaughlin) New Works, Praz-Delavallade, Paris, FR
2015
  • Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID, US (with Molly Larkey)
2014
  • Seemingly, Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA, US
  • Strength of Illusion: Line and Light, Dominique Fiat, Paris, FR (with Laddie John Dill)
2013
  • Oscillations, Nye + Brown, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID, US
2012
  • Unwound, Nye + Brown, Los Angeles, CA, US
2011
  • New Works, Karl Hutter Fine Art, Beverly Hills, CA, US
  • Nyehaus, New York, NY, US
  • Karl Hutter Fine Art, Beverly Hills, CA, US
2009
  • Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, TX, US
2008
  • Gallery Min Min, Tokyo, JP
  • String Theory, The Happy Lion, Los Angeles, CA, US
2006
  • The Happy Lion, Los Angeles, CA, US

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019
  • The Edge of Light: Historic and Contemporary Perspectives on California Abstraction, curated by Peter Blake,Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA, US
  • The Sound of Silence, Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • Inclined to Blur at the Edges, Ochi Gallery, Sun Valley, ID, US
2018
  • Does It Make Sound, Ochi Gallery, Sun Valley, ID, US
  • I Dream My Painting and Then I Paint My Dream, UNIT 5, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY, US
2017
  • I Love L.A., Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles, CA, US
2016
  • Un-Structure, Ochi Projects, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • Cosmic Connections, Totah Gallery, New York, NY, US
  • What’s Up? (curated by Lawrence Van Hagen), Soho Review, London, UK
2015
  • Tenth Anniversary Show, Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles/Palm Beach, CA, US
  • Up to and Including the Horizon, Ochi Projects, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • An Aesthetics of Slowness, Dorsky Curatorial, New York, NY, US
2014
  • Blessed Oblivion, Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach, FL, US
  • Veils, The Underground Museum, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • The Value of a Line, Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID, US
2012
  • Summer of Jack: Jack Brogan, Catherine Cone Gallery, Culver City, CA, US
  • Veils, The Underground Museum, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • California Art: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA, US
2012
  • Lords & The New Creatures, Nye + Brown, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • I Don’t Know Where But She Sends Me There, Royale Projects, Indian Wells, CA, US
  • What’s New Pussycat?, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA, US
  • Gray Day, Roberts and Tilton, Culver City, CA, US
  • Swell: Art 1950-2010, Friedrich Petzel Gallery / Metro Pictures / Nyehaus, New York, NY, US
  • Bubble and Squeak, The Happy Lion, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • Paintings and Sculpture, Marine, Venice, CA, US
2007
  • Themes and Variations: New Abstraction in Los Angeles, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA, US
  • Fleeing the Scene, The Happy Lion, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • alifornia Art: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Bel-Air, CA, US
  • Consequence, Museum 52, London, UK
2005
  • Sight Lines: Recent Work from Los Angeles, Galerie Michael Janssen, Köln, DE
2004
  • Sight Lines, The Happy Lion, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • Scope Los Angeles, Scope Circle Committee for Emerging Art, Christies, Beverly Hills, CA, US
2003
  • What a Painting Can Do, Hayworth Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, US
2002
  • Optics, Gensler, Los Angeles, CA, US MOCA, San Diego, CA, US

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2017
  • Nys Dambrot, Shana, Artillery, 2017
  • Hudson, Suzanne, Artforum, 2017
  • Madlener, Adrian, Brian Wills’ Line + Light, TL Magazine, September 2017
  • The 20 Best Booths at The Armory Show, Booth 712, Artsy.com, March 2017
2015
  • Schreil, Christina, Illusions of Grandeur, QBoro Magazine, 2015
2014
  • Buscemi, Lauren, Brian Wills: Artist Profile, Art Ltd Magazine, July-August 2014
2013
  • Knight, Christopher, Brian Wills Shows His Invigorating Stripes at Nye + Brown, LA Times, December 5, 2013
  • Shaw, Michael, Brian Wills, Artscene, December 2013
2012
  • Peter Alexander, Brian Wills, Modern Painters, April 2012
  • Frank, Peter, Brian Wills, Huffington Post, February 2012 2011
  • Turvey, Lisa, Brian Wills, Artforum, February 2011
2010
  • Knight, Christopher, A Gray Area Marks the Mood, LA Times, November 26, 2010
2009
  • Klaasmeyer, Kelly, Cool Threads, Houston Press, December 2009
2008
  • Vansiel B., Art Scene: West Coast Artists Brighten Dog Days of Summer at Providence’s 5 Traverse Gallery, The Providence Journal, August 14, 2008
  • Nys Dambrot, Shana, Brian Wills: String Theory, ArtReview, June 2008
2007
  • Knight, Christopher, 45 Painters Under 45, LA Times, December 2, 2007
  • Frank, Peter, Themes and Variations at the Torrance Art Museum, Artweek, December 2007
2006
  • Buckley, Annie, Brian Wills at The Happy Lion, Artweek, September 2006
  • Myers, Holly, Complexity from a Familiar Formula, LA Times, July 14, 2006 The Art Universe, Vanity Fair, 2006
2005
  • Funke, Claudia, Neues von der Westküste, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, n°64, 2005
2004
  • McGovern, Thomas, Sightlines at The Happy Lion, Artweek, September 2004
  • Myers, Holly, Extending off into the Horizon, LA Times, June 18, 2004

SELECT COLLECTIONS

  • Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA, US
  • Fundacion/Coleccion Jumex, Mexico, MX
  • Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • The Estee Lauder Collection, New York, NY, US
  • The Jarl Mohn Family Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, US
  • The Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, OH, US