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"I thought in the work I sang of
Ireland; but, the song I avow
was of me."
–Bill Freeland
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In his work, Bill Freeland offers metaphors to reorient the viewer to nature, environment, and the basic rituals of living.
Freeland works both two and three dimensionally to create forms that hover between artifacts and abstraction. He has described himself as "an abstract realist, searching for a new form of realism," and his pieces reflect this vision.
Freeland began as a painter, having studied with Hans Hoffman in the 1950’s and gradually moved into dimensional wall constructions and sculpture. Over the years, his work has been inspired by farming tools, windmills, boats, and Native American masks.
Freeland divides his time between Chester County, Pennsylvania, and County Mayo, Ireland. He has had numerous one-person exhibitions at distinguished venues including the Royal Hibernian Academy of Art, Dublin; Taylor Galleries, Dublin; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; the Delaware Art Museum; and Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, New York.
Freeland’s work has been included in numerous public collections including: Allied Irish Bank, the American Express Company, the ARCO Company, the Delaware Art Museum, ITT, the Lannan Foundation, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
- Selected Solo Exhibitions
2006 List Gallery, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
2005 Taylor Galleries, Dublin, Ireland
2004 Garrubbo Bazan Gallery, West Chester, PA
2001 West Chester University, West Chester, PA
1999 Ashford Gallery, Royal Hibernian Academy of Art, Dublin, Ireland
1991 Dolan/Maxwell, Philadelphia, PA
1989 Dolan/Maxwell, New York, NY
1986 Oscarsson-Siegeltuch Gallery, New York, NY
1985 Morris Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1981 Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
1980 Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY
1978 Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY
1972 Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
1967 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
1959 Little Gallery, Princeton, NJ
- Selected Group Exhibitions
2008 183rd Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary American Art,
National Academy Museum, New York, NY
2007 RHA Annual, Dublin, Ireland
2005 Sculpture, Mullan Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2004 RHA Annual, Dublin, Ireland
2001 Recent Irish Art – AIB, Ulster Mueum, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2000 Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin, Irelannd
1997 Iontas '97, Royal Hibernian Academy, Gallagher Gallery, Dublin, Ireland, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, Ireland, West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen, Ireland
1997 Bucks County Sculpture, James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA
1997 The Ballinglen Experience, Royal Hibernian Academy, Gallagher Gallery, Dublin Ireland
1994 Model School, Sligo, Ireland
1994 American Artists in Ireland, The American Embassy, Dublin, Ireland
1992 Art '92, Dolan/Maxwell, London, UK
1991 National Sculpture, Deland Art Museum, Deland, FL
1988 Sculpture from the Permanent Collection, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1987 Black, Siegeltuch Gallery, New York, NY, Center for Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
1987 Perspectives from Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon Univeristy Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1984 Sculptural Ideas, Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, NY
1984 Wind and Water, Quebec, Canada
1983 Students Select, Yale Univeristy, New Haven, CT
1982 Gallery Group, Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, NY
2008 Agop Agopoff Award, Sculpture Prize, National Academy Museum, New York, NY
1992 Ballinglen Arts Fellowship (residency), Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
1991 1991 National Sculpture Award of Merit, by Donald Kuspit, Deland Art Museum, Deland, FL
1991 Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellowship Award
1989 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
1986 South Street Development Company Commission, Philadelphia, PA
1984 University of Delaware Purchase Prize, Newark, DE
1981 Moore College of Art Faculty Development Research Grant, Philadelphia, PA
1978 Hereward Lester Cooke Foundation Grant
1973 Delaware Art Museum, Multiple Edition Sculpture Commission, Wilmington, DE
- Selected Public Collections
Allied Irish Bank, Dublin, Ireland
American Express Company, New York, NY
ARCO Company, Philadelphia, PA
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
Hawkwell Theater, Sligo, Ireland
ITT, New York, NY
Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Montclair Museum, Montclair, NJ
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Ballinglen Foundation, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
- Selected Bibliography: Exhibition Catalogs
1999 Fallon, Conor, Patrick Murphy, Bill Freeland and Ritual. RHA Ashford Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
1989 Murdock, Robert M., Bill Freeland. Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, New York, NY
1987 King, Elaine, Perspectives from Pennsylvania. Carnegie Mellon Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1982 Graves, Nancy, Margot De Wit and Marsha Moss, Sculpture 300, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
1980 Hennessey, William and Lydia Winston-Malbin, From the Winston-Malbin Collection, Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY, Art Museum of Princeton University, Princeton, NJ and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1980 Siegeltuch, Eric, Bill Freeland, Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY
1978 St. John, Bruce, Bill Freeland, Touchstone Gallery, New York, NY
- Selected Bibliography: Articles and Reviews
2004 Donohoe, Victoria, "Bill Freeland at Garrubbo Bazan Gallery," Philadelphia Inquirer, October 31
2001 Donohoe, Victoria, "Bill Freeland at West Chester Univerisity," Philadelphia Inquirer, November 25
1999 Sheridan, Noel,Circa 90 winter review
1999 Fallon, Brian. "Home is Where the Art Is," Irish Times, August 14. Dublin, Ireland
1999 Wieczorek, Ian, "Process and Ritual: An Interview," Arts West Magazine, Ireland
1985 Sozanski, Edward, "With Restrainst He Uses Stone to Evoke Ireland," Philadelphia Inquirer, March 19
1984 Wolff, Theodore F., "Sculptural Ideas," Christian Science Monitor, January 16
1983 Madoff, Steven H., "Collectibles," Money Magazine, September, p. 85
1981 Blau, Douglas, "New York Reviews," New York Times, October 24
1981 Wolff, Theodore F., "The Many Masks of Modern Art," Christian Science Monitor, March 24. pp. 24-25
1980 Russell, John, "Art Reviews," New York Times, October 24
1980 Wolff, Theodore F., "Discovering a World of Galleries – In One Building," Christian Science Monitor, October 29, p.19
1978 Buonagurio, Edgar, "Reviews," Arts Magazine, May, pp. 180-191.
1978 "Bill Freeland and David Phillips," Village Voice, April 24.
- Biographical Information:
1992- Living and working in Ireland
1990 Professor Emeritus, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA
1969-90 Professor, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA
1957 Attended, Hans Hofmann School, Provincetown, MA
1955 Graduated, University of the Arts (Museum School), Philadelphia, PA
1929 Born, Pittsburgh, PA
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