Andy Woll: New Paintings

Exhibition Dates: May 1 - June 15, 2024

Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 1st @ 6PM-8PM

39 White Street, Tribeca

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1969 Gallery is pleased to present Andy Woll: New Paintings, his first solo exhibition with the gallery.
Q+A with 1969 Gallery owner Quang Bao and the artist Andy Woll.

QB: You’re obsessed with Velazquez’s Las Meninas -- discuss.

AW: My obsessions are the motivating force of my life, and yes my work. I can’t separate my obsessions from my perceptual consciousness, so I would just say my obsession with las meninas is part of the way I know my world exists. 

QB: Figuration and abstraction are important to your work but you hide your figures, usually art historical references, inside the colorful brush work --- are you a closet case representational painter?

AW: I am the kind of abstract painter that thinks “things look like things” and this too is obviously based in my consciousness. I’m pretty out as a representational painter. I’m closeted about my identity as either a conceptual artist or a minimalist, but I won’t say which, because obviously I’m keeping that a secret.

QB: Is there a relationship between your life with horses and your artmaking -- if yes, how do the two connect?

AW: Yes; the daily practice of my horsemanship and painting are totally intertwined. We find problems and resolve them. There is a concept in riding called “feel.” This feel is based on the connection between you and your horses consciousness’. It is never perfect and rarely good, but this connection between consciousness’ is the direct relationship between my painting and my horsemanship. I’m also writing this sitting on tack trunk between two of my favorite horses, Hamilton and Coolmore

QB: Horses are one of the hardest subjects to paint -- do you struggle with all that bone and structure and volume?

AW: I do not, but I spend 7 days a week caring for, grooming riding and tending to about 30 horses, so I’m VERY familiar with them

QB: How are the works on paper different from the canvas in terms of the energy that you bring to them?

AW: The works on paper are made HOROZONTALLY and concurrently with the canvas’ which are made VERTICALLY. I’m careful to not say that the paper is a preparation for the canvas, because the paper work tends to be complete after the canvas. But the papers do have unconscious forms which lend to me finding new ideas for future work.

QB: If I bought you a plane ticket to Madrid, would you go to see Velazquez or is that painting so outsized in your imagination that part of you might never want to stand in front of it. It has ended the ambitions of so many artists....

AW: Yes I would go see it. I am ambivalent about ambition. My obsessions are the only path I have forward, if that path leads to Madrid, I would go.


Andy Woll (b. 1984, Los Angeles, California) has had recent solo exhibitions at Night Gallery, Los Angeles, and Denny Dimin Gallery, New York. He has also exhibited work in Los Angeles at Blum and Poe, Wilding Cran Gallery, Bonelli Contemporary, Gallery 3209, and Monte Vista Projects. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

For inquiries, please contact: 
Madeline Ehrlich | e: madeline@1969gallery.com

About 1969 Gallery

Founded in September 2016, 1969 is a contemporary art gallery in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. Through solo / group / external exhibitions and art fair presentations, the Gallery has cultivated the careers of its represented artists and a broader community of artists primarily devoted to painting.

Follow 1969 Gallery on Instagram via @1969gallery.