Assignment 4

James Welling

From a young age, James Welling took great interest in art. Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1951, James would spend much of his childhood drawing. At 14, James began taking art classes at the Wadsworth Athenaeum. Welling gained a greater appreciation for art in these classes, falling in love with using water colors. As he grew older, he would often travel into New York City to visit art galleries and learn more about his craft. In 1969, James Welling began his collegiate career, attending Carnegie Melon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, his time studying drawing at Carnegie Melon was short and in 1971 he transferred to the California Institute for the Arts to study video. It was in college that James Welling began experimenting with photography. He would often take pictures of everyday objects such as the clock in the picture below. James’ ability to capture excellent scenes through his photography would greatly improve in just a few short years.

Dad and the Snow, 1968. James Welling’s early use of water colors

Clock, 1976

After college, James spent time in New York where he photographed many scenes of the city. He would also venture out to Pittsburgh and take black and white pictures of towns and landscapes. During this period Welling held numerous galleries displaying his photography. In 1995 Welling agreed to take over as the Head of Photography in UCLA’s Art Department. The move to Los Angeles seemed to inspire James’ career. It was eleven years later when Welling would begin his most famous project, Glass House.

West, 1987

The Glass House project would become James Welling’s most famous set of photographs. The photographs display famous architect Philip Johnson’s all glass home in New Canaan, Connecticut. The project began in 2006 and lasted three years, resulting in Welling’s most famous art. Welling introduces a wide variety of colors to the house by using filters. He used six different filters (red, green, blue, yellow, cyan and magenta) and placed them in front of his digital camera. The colors in the photos intensify the scenes, creating an abstract photo that captures the eye. The Glass House series has challenged my view of photography. Before seeing these photos I would never have thought to approach a subject in the way James Welling approached it. His use of cool, tranquil blues in certain images gives the scene a sense of peace and Zen. In these photos, the house seems to be a place of relaxation blending into a serene environment. On the other hand, Welling’s use of fiery reds and dark yellows create an image that appears chaotic and violent. The Glass House photos are just another great artistic achievement to the wonderful career of James Welling. Welling’s New Abstractions was awarded the 1999 DG Bank-Forderpreis in photography and in 2009 he won the AICA Award of Excellence for the Best Show in a Commercial Gallery Nationally for his exhibition at the Regen Projects.

Flowers, 2006