Local Painter’s New Show “SF Made in China” Is Pure “Trash”

San Francisco, CA., September 19, 2018 – Artist Timothy Wells, 56, casually refers to his new collection as his “trash paintings.” “SF Made In China” – Wells’ first solo show – features 13 ultra-realistic representations of cardboard remnants and metal wire found on sidewalks surrounding his Chinatown-adjacent apartment. “My watercolors focus on the history of these discarded objects," Wells says. "Shipped overseas, tossed from truck to truck, ripped apart, and even burned, I like to allow the handling and abuse of the cardboard to be visible.”

Each piece averages 22 inches by 30 inches with Wells primarily using watercolor and gouache, along with bits of pigment ink, on paper mounted to archival boards. Generally we experience watercolors as light, airy, and ethereal. Not these. Wells’ are tight and constrained, solid.

Do paintings of urban waste “mean” anything? While Wells says he paints only with aesthetics in mind, he admits people tend to apply their own observations of consumerism, globalization, Chinese manufacturing and our reliance upon disposable objects onto these works.

Timothy Wells is a self-taught tromp l’oeil, landscape and postage stamp artist specializing in representational subject matter and creating illusions on paper. As a freelance architectural illustrator he’s worked for clients such as UC Berkeley, Perkins + Will and SOM. Wells' work hangs in private and corporate collections throughout the United States, as well as the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. 

Connect with the artist at timothywellsfineart.com
or call 415-677-8957.

For Media Inquities, contact Michael Jortner:
weho digital 323-637-7180 michael@wehodigital.com