Wade Guyton’s largest retrospective to date covers the entire range of his diverse work. Under the title WADE GUYTON: ZWEI DEKADEN MCMXCIX– MMXIX, the American artist’s exhibition brings together numerous large-scale paintings created with an inkjet printer as well as early photographs, sculptures, drawings, posters, and books. The laconic title, which almost seems to be from another time due to its use of Roman numerals, marks the period between 1999 and 2019 when the works were created. The artworks in the exhibition are arranged thematically, which reveals the artist’s numerous forward- and back- ward-looking references within his work.

Guyton draws his material from the endless and ever-expanding pool of images from art history and the Internet. References to Pop Art, Minimal Art, Conceptual Art, as well as the history of architecture and design can be found in his work along with newspaper websites and iPhone advertisements. He subjects his motifs to an artistic “sampling” by referring back to his own works and in some cases combining them with mass-reproduced images and forms. His works raise questions about artistic autonomy, authorship, and authenticity through the combination of analog and digital imaging technologies as well as processes of editing and reproduction, especially when chance plays a role in the creation of the works.

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