Nicholas Wilton
Wilton’s atmospheric, richly layered paintings function like visual poems, hinting at underlying dialogues and striking a delicate balance between spontaneous action and careful gesture. Rendered in a unique, intuitive color palette ranging from bold blues and blacks to soft pastels, his paintings manage to seem at once ephemeral and structured, loosely woven and tightly conceived. Their graphic and rhythmic compositions seize our attention, while their subtle patterns and details—innovative textures, paint drips, embedded symbols—invite quiet examination. Looking at them, we have the sense that we’re reading a private visual language, the result of years of development and introspection on the artist’s part.
Biography
Nicholas Wilton creates paintings from a place of freedom, optimism and intuition, with dynamic compositions that reflect a liberating personal journey. “In life,” he says, “it sometimes is necessary to just let go of everything and simply leave. To go off to sea...At best this is slightly daunting, and at worst it is extremely frightening. It is in this difficulty, however, this letting go, that has informed and galvanized this new series of paintings.”
Like the expressionist painter Kandinsky, who believed deeply in the spiritual power and content of art, Wilton charges his canvases with the energy of thought. His atmospheric paintings are visual poems that hint at underlying dialogues. Their graphic, rhythmic compositions seize our attention, while their unexpected textures, paint drips, and embedded symbols invite close examination.
Made during a period of courageous personal and creative exploration, Wilton’s latest works push his private visual language and color palette further into innovative territory. As he says, they “hold within them both darkness and lightness, as well as tremendous optimism and joy. Joy in re-finding my faith, not just in intuition and spontaneity, but also in life itself.”
Born in San Francisco, Wilton was educated at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and studied as a teenager with contemporary glass artist Ludwig Schaffrath—a design influence that manifests in the fluid yet ordered nature of his artwork. His paintings have been included in gallery exhibitions around the U.S., placed in numerous collections, and featured on book covers, a U.S. postage stamp, and elsewhere in the public sphere. He lives and works in Northern California.
Born
1961 San Francisco, CA.
Education
1983-86 College of Creative Studies, University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA.
1979-83 BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2017 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2015 The Color of Chance, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2014 Off To Sea, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2013 Campton Gallery, New York City, NY.
2012 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2011 Costello Childs Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ.
2010 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Gallery Jones, Vancouver, Canada.
2009 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
2008 Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
2007 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
2006 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
2005 Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Kyobashi Center, Tokyo, Japan.
2000 Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Kyobashi Center, Tokyo, Japan.
1996 Olga Dolar Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Collections
Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA.
Wheeler Farms Winery, St. Helena, CA.
Press
PRESS
Selected Artworks
Born
1961 San Francisco, CA.
Education
1983-86 College of Creative Studies, University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA.
1979-83 BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2017 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2016 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2015 The Color of Chance, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2014 Off To Sea, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2013 Campton Gallery, New York City, NY.
2012 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2011 Costello Childs Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ.
2010 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Gallery Jones, Vancouver, Canada.
2009 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
2008 Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
2007 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
2006 Gallatin River Gallery, Big Sky, MO.
2005 Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Kyobashi Center, Tokyo, Japan.
2000 Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Kyobashi Center, Tokyo, Japan.
1996 Olga Dolar Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Collections
Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA.
Wheeler Farms Winery, St. Helena, CA.
Biography
Nicholas Wilton creates paintings from a place of freedom, optimism and intuition, with dynamic compositions that reflect a liberating personal journey. “In life,” he says, “it sometimes is necessary to just let go of everything and simply leave. To go off to sea...At best this is slightly daunting, and at worst it is extremely frightening. It is in this difficulty, however, this letting go, that has informed and galvanized this new series of paintings.”
Like the expressionist painter Kandinsky, who believed deeply in the spiritual power and content of art, Wilton charges his canvases with the energy of thought. His atmospheric paintings are visual poems that hint at underlying dialogues. Their graphic, rhythmic compositions seize our attention, while their unexpected textures, paint drips, and embedded symbols invite close examination.
Made during a period of courageous personal and creative exploration, Wilton’s latest works push his private visual language and color palette further into innovative territory. As he says, they “hold within them both darkness and lightness, as well as tremendous optimism and joy. Joy in re-finding my faith, not just in intuition and spontaneity, but also in life itself.”
Born in San Francisco, Wilton was educated at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and studied as a teenager with contemporary glass artist Ludwig Schaffrath—a design influence that manifests in the fluid yet ordered nature of his artwork. His paintings have been included in gallery exhibitions around the U.S., placed in numerous collections, and featured on book covers, a U.S. postage stamp, and elsewhere in the public sphere. He lives and works in Northern California.
Press
Nicholas Wilton
Wilton’s atmospheric, richly layered paintings function like visual poems, hinting at underlying dialogues and striking a delicate balance between spontaneous action and careful gesture. Rendered in a unique, intuitive color palette ranging from bold blues and blacks to soft pastels, his paintings manage to seem at once ephemeral and structured, loosely woven and tightly conceived. Their graphic and rhythmic compositions seize our attention, while their subtle patterns and details—innovative textures, paint drips, embedded symbols—invite quiet examination. Looking at them, we have the sense that we’re reading a private visual language, the result of years of development and introspection on the artist’s part.