Bilhenry Walker

www.bilhenrygallery.com        bilhenry1@gmail.com

I began making art in 1968 while living in Los Angeles, moved to Milwaukee in 1972, and rented my first studio where I began working exclusively as a sculptor. I have continued this path to the present and have developed my artistic sensibility while building acrylic sculptures in the seventies, casting monumental polyester resin sculptures in the eighties, and fabricating aluminum monumental
sculptures over the last twenty years. (See www.bilhenrygallery.com)

I have recently ventured into LED lighting of my outdoor sculptures and am exhibiting several medium scaled works at Spectrum-Miami during Art Basel.

The most recent “Deadman” series is a three-dimensional rendition of the two-dimensional chalk outlines of dead bodies found on the streets of our urban environments. I, however, give these outlines new life by making them three-dimensional and giving them vertical standing.

These new “lives” arising from the chalked symbols of death, remind us of what these representations are dead to (i.e. running, dancing, falling, diving) and the living that has been stolen from them.
Curiously, when the image of “Deadman’s Demise” is resurrected from its prone position, it becomes an image of joy and celebration, dancing and hopping with abandonment.

A social statement is herein being made against the easy violence that guns provide. In our urban centers, death has rained down on the just, unjust and innocent alike, claiming its victims with the impartiality that only chalk-lines can finally describe. It is a commentary on the will of our society to do nothing so long as it occurs in someone else’s backyard.

 


Dead Man Series

Dead Man Falling

Dead Man Running

Dead Man's Demise

Dead Man's Dive

Dead Man Dancing

Biologicals

Ebola Hey Baby

Ecolichette

Petrie Dish Party

Plasmo-Play

Spyro Splash

Trypanasoma Florida

LED Sculptures - “Solo Spyro” has an overall shape which is quite figurative in contrast to its interior constructivist elements which serve as background for a series of hieroglyphs cascading down its sides. The
interior is bathed in a thick light of cobalt-blue which adds to its mystery.


“Spyrochete Tweet” is 85” tall and is based on a shape right out of the Petrie dish. It is long and attenuated with a subtle cobalt-blue halo around its head.

 “Cosmic Slot” is 8.5’ tall and has a cobalt-blue sliver of light separating the two basic elements. This creates both tension between the elements and reveals an inner life which crackles with energy.

Solo Spyro front

Solo Spyro side

Spyrochette Tweet

Spyrochette Tweet side

Cosmic Slot

 EDUCATION:

Wheaton College BA

Fuller Theological Seminary MA


MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:

Museum of Wisconsin Art           Westbend, WI                                      2012


PUBLIC  COMMISSIONS:


Village of Biscayne Park Biscayne Park, FL 2010

Providence Parks Dept Providence, RI 2003

Providence Parks Dept Providence, RI 1998

Providence Parks Dept Providence, RI 1996

Milwaukee Riverwalk Milwaukee, WI 1998


EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATIONS:

Sculpture Walk 2013                  (Sculpture installation)  Sioux Falls, SD          Lease   2013

Museum of Wisconsin Art         (sculpture to be installed)  Westbend, WI            Loan   2013

360 Downtown Clearwater        (sculpture installation)      Clearwater, FL   Lease                  2012

Sculpture Walk 2012                 (sculpture installation)  Sioux Falls, SD   Lease     2012

Cardinal Stritch University       (sculpture installation )  Milwaukee WI   Lease         2010-2013

Village of Biscayne Park          (sculpture installation)  Florida   Purchase       2010

Leicester University                  “Heart, Head, Hands” (sculpt Installation) Leicester, England
                                                   Group    2010

Cardinal Stritch University      (sculpture installation)  Milwaukee WI   Lease      2009

Art Rouge Gallery   “Sculpt Miami”     (sculpture installation)  Miami  FL   Group     2009

Art on the River                       (sculpture installation) Dubuque IA     Lease     2009

Quad City Arts                         (sculpture installation) Davenport IA     Lease     2009

Milwaukee Riverwalk              (sculpture installation) Milwaukee WI     Lease     2008

Art Rouge Gallery   “Sculpt Miami”     (sculpture installation) Miami FL   Group     2008

Sandra Neustadter Gallery        Delray Beach, FL   Group     2008

Salem  Sculpture                       (sculpture installation) Salem, NY   Group     2008

Downtown  Sculpture Partnership         (sculpture installation)  Colorado Springs       Lease     2007

Flossmore Art Downtown installation   (sculpture installation)  Flossmore, Il     Lease     2007

Catalano Park Installation                      (sculpture installation)Milwaukee, WI     Invitation     2004

Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL     Invitation     2006

Niemi Sculpture Gallery Kenosha, WI       Group     2005

Old Dominion Sculpture Expo           (sculpture installation) San Antonio, TX       Invitation     2003

Bethel University Olson Gallery St. Paul, MN     20 Year Retro    2003

Cima Gallery West Palm Beach , Fl     Group     2002

Art in Downtown Installation            (sculpture installation)Ft. Lauderdale, FL     Lease     2001

Pierwalk 2000 Maquette Show Chicago, IL     Invitation     2000

Vedanta Gallery Chicago, IL            Juried     1999

Wood Street Gallery Chicago, IL     Juried     1998

Rockville Civic Center Park            (sculpture installation) Rockville, MD     Lease     1997

Pierwalk ’97 (International)            (sculpture installation) Chicago, IL     Juried     1997

Wood Street Gallery                        (maquette exhibition) Chicago, IL     Invitation     1997

Convergence IX International        (sculpture installation) Providence, RI     Lease     1996

Fine Art Celebration                      (sculpture installation) Scottsdale, AZ     Juried     1996

West Palm Beach Armory             (sculpture installation)West Palm Beach, FL   Lease     1995

Ann Norton Sculpture Garden       (sculpture installation)West Palm Beach, FL   Juried     1995

Royal Palm Sculpture Garden        (sculpture installation)Vero Beach. FL     Juried     1993

South Bend Reg. Art Museum (Best Of Show) (sculpt install) South Bend, IN     Juried     1992

St John’s Uihlein Peter’s Gallery      (sculpture installation) Milwaukee, WI     Juried     1992

Edgewood Orchard Gallery       (sculpture installation) Fish Creek, WI     Invitation     1988

Chicago International Expo (Struve Gallery) (sculpture install) Chicago, IL     Invitation     1988

Chicago International Expo (Struve Gallery) (sculpture install )Chicago, IL     Invitation     1987

Michael Lord Gallery Milwaukee, WI     Invitation     1984

Beasley Gallery San Diego, CA     Two-Person     1981

Dubbins Gallery Los Angeles, CA     Two-Person     1980

Hokin Gallery Palm Beach, FL     Two- Person      1979

Art Expo ’79 New York, NY     Group     1979

Wheaton College Wheaton, IL   10 Year Retro     1977

Gilman Gallery Chicago, IL   Group     1977

Milwaukee Cudahy Gallery (Milwaukee Art Museum) Milwaukee, WI   Juried     1976

Benjamin Gallery Chicago, IL   Group     1975


CORPORATE COLLECTIONS:


Allen Bradley Corp Milwaukee

Arthur Anderson & Co. Milwaukee

Andrae Electric Milwaukee

ASEA Corp Milwaukee

Arthur Young  Accountants Los Angeles

Bank of America Denver

Del Corp Chicago

G.A. Larson Co Milwaukee

General Electric Milwaukee

Pfister & Vogel Corp Milwaukee

Softworks Development Corp Milwaukee


BOOKS AND CATALOGUES


2010 University of Leicester/England “Heart Head and Hands” Sculpture Exhibition

2009 Art Rouge Gallery/ Miami          “Sculpt Miami”   Sculpture Exhibition

2009 The Guild Sourcebook of Art #24

2008 Art Rouge Gallery/ Miami          “Sculpt Miami”   Sculpture Exhibition

2008 The Guild Sourcebook of Residential Art #6

2007 The Guild Sourcebook of Residential Art #5

2006 Sculpture in the Park , 23rd annual sculpture exhibition, Loveland, CO

1999 The Guild: Architectural Arts & Sculpture #14

1997 The Guild: Architectural Arts & Sculpture #12

1997 Pierwalk ‘97/ Chicago Sculpture Exhibition

1984 The Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia       p.17

ARTICLES AND REVIEWS


2010 The Miami Herald              “Biscayne Park to unveil statue”  by Thomas Johnson

2008 City Magazine/New York   “Furniture Fair Round-up”  by Alex Garinger

2008 Daily Herald/ Chicago        “Does Aluminum mix with cherry wood”  by Deborah Donovan

2008 The New York Times          “Chairs with talking points”  by Sarah Barrett

1986 The Milwaukee Journal      “Chicago’s Navy Pier art show an exercise”     by James Auer

1986 The Milwaukee Journal      “Opening our eyes and sense of space”by James Auer

1985 The Milwaukee Journal      “High tech”  photo  by Jack Orton

1984 The Milwaukee Journal      “Group appeal at gallery” by James Auer

1985 Milwaukee City Guide       “Le Petite Louvre and Benjamin’s Too”  by Barbara Behm

1981 Milwaukee Review           “ Bilhenry Walker, a Profile”  by Ann Tracey

1981 The San Diego Union        “Home is where the art is”  by Richard Reilly

1980 The Los Angeles Times     “The Galleries: Brentwood  by William Wilson

1980 The Milwaukee Journal     “Sculptor says it in acrylic”  by James Auer

1974 The Milwaukee Journal     “Gallery Gazing”  by James Auer

1973 The Milwaukee Journal     “ Accent on art: Walker paintings"  by James Auer