Wegman's use of domestic props or personal items found at home has long been evident in his practice, dating back to the 1970s when he lived and worked in Southern California for a few years. Closely associated with Los Angeles artists such as Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman, and Allen Ruppersberg, Wegman and his peers shared both a sense of irreverence towards conceptual art and maybe even more importantly, a sense of humor. Wegman turned to video, drawing, and photography, using each medium in ironic ways that poked fun at the academic, East Coast version of conceptualism, deflating the pretensions of Conceptual Art at a time when it was being codified and institutionalized. 

Staging short vignettes, Wegman relied on everyday items for props and subjects. His key early collaborator for most of these works was his pet Weimaraner, Man Ray, who enthusiastically participates. For many, expectations are reversed, and puns and homonyms are pursued to absurd conclusions. Other videos and photographs explored sameness vs. difference, where the artist compares superficially identical items, twins, or scenes, to emphasize the enormous subtle differences that are naturally present.

Speaking about a later reel, Wegman explained, "When I’m painting, my dogs have a disconcerting way of questioning me about my suspect use of time and space.  'What’s going on with the wall?' That is the subject of Installed Guitar, a piece from 1990 with Batty, my most often photographed dog."

Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1943, William Wegman received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston and an MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His work has been exhibited extensively in both the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1982); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1988); Whitney Museum of American Art (1992); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2001); and The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2002). The retrospective “William Wegman: Funney/Strange” was held at the Brooklyn Museum, and traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach; the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover; and Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2006-07). The Bowdoin College Museum of Art presented “William Wegman: Hello Nature,” a major survey of over 100 nature-related works by the artist in various media (2012), which traveled to Artipelag, Värmdö, Stockholm, Sweden (2013). “William Wegman: Improved Photographs,” a survey exhibition, was held at the Jepson Center, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA (2017). In 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized “Before/On/After: William Wegman and California Conceptualism,” an exhibition of the early 70s work of Wegman and his fellow Los Angeles artists. "William Wegman: Being Human,” a traveling exhibition of his large-format Polaroids, is scheduled to open at Fotomuseum Den Haag in September 2020. Wegman’s work is in many important public collections including Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Wegman had a solo show at 121 Greene Street, an alternative space in SoHo, in 1990 and solo exhibitions at Sperone Westwater in 1992, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2016, and 2017. 

For additional works, exhibitions and press, click here.