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The Making of an Unknown Artist
Frank Welles is a famous floorman and unknown artist from New York City. Born in Mexico City in 1937, the son of a playwright and a costume designer, he spent his earliest years in a coldwater flat on 26th Street in New York City's Irish neighborhood of Chelsea. After high school and a year of study in France, Welles went south to Duke University. It was there, during his sophomore year, that he decided to try his hand at painting. The resulting first work so impressed a friend that he showed it to Bob Broderson, the resident artist at Duke. Borderson invited Welles to sit in on his classes and soon became his mentor. During his junior year, Welles left for a period on the road, including time at the Art Students League of New York; he then returned to Duke, graduating in 1961 with a minor in art. The work Welles did during his early period was obviously heavily influenced by his exposure to Broderson's style. The etchings and paintings have a dark, brooding mood about them and often depict skeletal human figures and haunting bird-like creatures. These elements are no longer explicit in Welles' later works, but can be seen in his use of bones and other anatomical details from both humans and other organisms. After graduation, a short stay in the army resulted in a general discharge in 1962 "for failure to adjust to military life." Welles set up his painting studio in New York, supporting himself with a variety of jobs from running a handyman agency to serving as an occupational therapist in a mental institution..."The difference between them and me was that I had the keys." It was during this period that Welles "discovered" wood and began the self-education process which was to make him one of the country's experts on wood finishing as an art form. By 1969 he had established his own flooring and wood finishing business, which has supported him through the present. Meanwhile, Welles' painting progressed. Welles, studying the work of such divergent painters as Hieronymous Bosch, Max Beckman, and Francis Bacon, became interested in the ways these artists use space and perspective...how, for example, Bacon depicted figures within the bounded space of a room and how Bosch used perspective to imply infinite space. By 1972, Welles had developed a distinctive style of his own, including a treatment of space which he refers to as the creation of internal landscapes. Convinced now that he could make it as a full-time painter, Welles left New York for San Francisco, having arranged to have shipped ahead about 30 paintings in various stages of completion. Among them was a large, completed, three-panel canvas entitled Goat's Court, his most significant work at that time and his means of introduction to California's painting community. But Goat's Court disappeared, along with the rest of his paintings, never to be seen again; and Welles, dispirited, abandoned his plan. Although he does gouaches and etchings, his major works are oil paintings, some of which are large multi-sectional canvases. Welles envisioned these as a first step towards the modern triptychs--he is currently working on--three-section paintings which would normally be closed, the picture itself hidden by a gouache; the panels would have to be opened before the painting could be seen. The viewer would thus have to make a conscious decision to participate in the art; looking at the picture would not be a passive process, but an active one. The figurative style of Welles' earliest work became more allegorical in the early 1970's when he began painting his "internal landscapes." He was, however, unaffected by the minimal and intellectualized art of that period. Rather, his work was, and still is, highly personal and emotive. Perhaps, although it predated the movement, it can best be classified as being "Neo-expressionistic." Throughout the 1980's Welles continued to paint and become
more involved in the arts community. He juried in and joined Artspace
in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, he set up a combination of painting
and print studios. During early 2000, Welles' brainchild of creating a cooperative organization of local artists and artisans in the New York City area came to fruition. Welles spearheaded, organized, and developed the plan to create a guild-like organization of the many artists and artisans who are tenants at an old industrial complex on the Hudson River, north of Manhattan. This organization, the Garnerville Arts & Industrial Exchange, has blossomed. The Garnerville Arts & Industrial Exchange now holds a weekend-long annual arts festival with over 100 participating artists and artisans and over 3000 visitors yearly. The successes of the first two Arts Expos have been captured by local and regional press. In 2002, Welles embarked on a new theme for his paintings--the war and tragedy in Bosnia. His series of etchings, oil paintings, and a tryptich, as a group entitled A Modern War...a forgotten war, Bosnia Part I, Neighbor against Neighbor, had their premier exhibit at Artspace in Raleigh, NC where the tryptich was named Best in Show for New Work (click here to view winning piece). This, among other subject areas, is Welles' new focus. He aims to create subsequent parts to the Bosnia series in the coming months and years. Invigorated and inspired, Welles continues to paint. He
works out of two studios--one in Raleigh, North Carolina; and, the other,
his primary studio and gallery in Garnerville, New York (an old industrial
town north of New York City).
Frank Welles' Chronological Bio Frank Welles was born in Mexico City, Mexico. Brought up in the Chelsea district of NYC, at 311 W. 26th St., between 8th & 9th Avenues. Did not start to speak coherently until the age of five years. 1961 Graduated from Duke University - studied Sociology & Art. 1961-62 Served in the United States Army. 1963-66 Taught woodworking along with drawing & painting as an occupational therapist, at a NYS mental hospital. 1966-67 Apprenticed with upper east-side NYC picture framer. 1967-68 Demoted in pay from $2/hr to $1.75/hr …not fast enough at the art of gold leafing. Decided to move on & do my own thing. Started a handyman agency with an operation called Everything for Everybody, working in the Greenwich Village area. Ended up being the "Floorman", the beginning of a lasting career. This is where I discovered wood. 1968 Started Sutherland Welles, Ltd. floor finishing business. "Quality work at a reasonable price call, Frank Welles". 1969-72 Found abandoned, lower east side loft building. Rebuilt & transformed warehouse space into living space with painting studios & print shop. 1969-present Attended Art Student's League in NYC off & on, concentrating in drawing. Did more floors. Painted & drew. 1972 Moved to Falls Village, CT. Discovered patina, the aging process of wood. 1973 Moved to Bynum, NC. 1973-85 Restored & rebuilt NC farm house. Re-established floor business in Chapel Hill, NC. Continued to draw & paint. 1978-present Developed oil & wood finishing product line utilizing polymerized tung oil, that is considered the Rolls Royce of hand rubbed finishes. 1985-86 Established Wood Workers Square in Durham NC. 1986-90 Juried in & joined Artspace in Raleigh, NC setting up a combination of painting & print studios. 1987 Started side business called Amala Designs. Had to do with painted, pickled display furniture w/faux finishing. Didn't fly. 1990-92 Moved to West Coast to seek fame & fortune. Studied landscape painting & drawing at Academy of Realist Art in Seattle, Wash. Traveled & did floors up & down the West Coast. 1993 Back to Raleigh, NC. Established & built living loft studio in downtown, west side. Set up a wood working shop, utilizing the guild system. 1996-present Re-established ties to NYC. Back to the Art Students League for drawing. Developed a niche market in restoration & custom floor installation, utilizing the Swedish concept of plank flooring. 1998-present Started to explore the concept of incorporating three dimensional picture framing within a piece of furniture, called Enclosures Unlimited. Utilizing art (my paintings, drawings & mixed media) along with some faux finishing & tromp l'oeile. (Has to do with opening & closing.) More of a hands on experience, as opposed to hanging art on a wall. Moved into an industrial complex , 30 miles up the Hudson River from NYC, in Garnerville, NY creating a showroom, gallery, studio & workshop in this 1890's industrial complex (old dye factory) 1999-00 Designed & produced a period make-up trunk with an antique mirror that turns into a framing system incorporating the concept of a triptych with my artwork. One of the drawers contains more of my art work, while the other drawers contain various items of his trade.This became the beginning of Hendricke Bruegel's Make-up Trunk w/ Antique Mirror circa 1566-1630. See www.EnclosuresUnlimited.com 2000 Began work installing, planing & finishing 10,000 sq. ft. of plank flooring for Richard Gere, following the Swedish concept of perimeters, Referred to as the "The Leonardo of Floors" by R. Gere. 2001 Instrumental in organizing and developing a cooperative organization within the industrial complex in Garnerville, NY of over 50 local artists & artisans entitled Garnerville Arts & Industrial Exchange. Garnerville Arts & Industrial Exchange also holds an annual weekend-long arts festival with over 100 participating artists, and with over 2500 visitors. Exhibited Enclosures Unlimited's Hendricke Bruegel instillation at the 1st Annual Garnerville Arts & Inudstrial Exchange Art Expo (June 9 & 10, 2001) 2002 Premier exhibition in March of A Modern War…a forgotten war, Bosnia Part I, Neighbor against Neighbor at Artspace (Raleigh, NC). Awarded Best of Show for New Works (click here to view winning piece) Exhibited A Modern War…a forgotten war, Bosnia Part I, Neighbor against Neighbor at the 2nd Annual Garnerville Arts & Inudstrial Exchange Art Expo (June 8 & 9, 2002) 2003 Exhibited March 2-April 14 at the Rockland Center for the Arts show, "Rockland/Westchester Connection: 8 Extraordinary Artists Bridge the Hudson" (West Nyack, NY) Participating in the 3rd Annual Open Studio at the Garnerville Holding Company June 7-8 (Garnerville, NY) Scheduled to exhibit July 5-27 at The Edward Hopper House (Nyack, NY)
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