Biography

Will Gorlitz

Will Gorlitz was born in Buenos Aires in 1952 and currently lives in Guelph, ON. He studied art at the University of Manitoba School of Art as well as the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design and was a Professor in Studio Art at the University of Guelph.

As a representational painter, Gorlitz deploys an engaged painterly approach that foregrounds visuality just as it critically pursues a discourse with other media technologies. His metaphorical subjects entwine personal experience with broader cultural matters.

Gorlitz has exhibited widely since the early 1980s, with major solo/survey exhibitions at Chromazone, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, the Art Gallery of Ontario, 49th Parallel (Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art), Centre culturel canadien Paris, Artspeak, Oakville Galleries, Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. Solo commercial exhibitions of his work have been held at the Sable-Castelli Gallery, Galerie René Blouin, Birch Libralato and Michael Gibson Gallery.

His artwork is in numerous public permanent collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Museum London, University of Toronto Art Centre, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Glenbow Museum, Art Gallery of Guelph, Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, MacLaren Art Centre, Hamilton Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Seeking Artworks by Will Gorlitz

MGG specializes in the acquisition and sale of artwork by Will Gorlitz.  If you own a Will Gorlitz and would like assistance in determining its value, please contact Michael directly HERE or call 519.439.0451.

Selected Works

Exhibitions

Chroma VI

March 2 - March 30 - 2024

“Chroma VI”

March group show celebrating the multiple contrasting elements of colour.

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Art Toronto

October 27 - October 30 - 2022

Art Toronto 2022

We are honoured to return to Art Toronto 2022 taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre between October 27 - 30, 2022.

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Curriculum Vitae

BORN

1952 Buenos Aires, Lives in Guelph, ON

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Concordia University Art Gallery, Montréal, Québec
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
Hamilton Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario
Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinberg, Ontario
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Montreal, Québec
Museum London, London, Ontario
National Gallery of Canada
Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario
University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

EDUCATION

1977 B.F.A., Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Halifax, N.S.
1972 – 1975 University of Manitoba. Winnipeg, Man.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017 Canadian and Indigenous Art: 1968 to Present, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
2017 Canadian Mosaic, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB
2016 New to You, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB
2016 Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971-1989, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
2016 Stilled Lives, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
2015 Masterworks Now!, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB
2014 Jared Sable Collection, Barbara Edwards Contemporary, Toronto, Ontario
2013 Landscape, Still Life & Portrait, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, Ontario
2013 1, Boarding House Gallery, Guelph, Ontario
2013 Art and Value, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario
2012 Builders: Canadian Biennale 2012, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
2012 The McMichael Tree Project – Form and Substance, McMichael Art Gallery, Kleinburg, Ontario
2012 60 Painters, Humber College, Toronto, ON
2012 Janice Gurney: Credits (extended), Museum London, London, Ontario
2012 The Tree: Form and Substance, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
2011-15 Grassfire (in permanent collection galleries), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, QC
2011 Art from Calgary Collections, Museum of Contemporary Art Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
2011 Figure Out of Place, MacLaren Art Centre
2011 5th KWAG Biennial – The Black and the White: An Allegory of Colour, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery
2010 Sudden Frost, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2010 Behind the Curtain II, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2010 Twentieth Anniversary Show, Birch Libralato, Toronto, Ontario
2008 The Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta, The Big Gift: Calgary Celebrates Art
from Canadians
2006 Elora Centre for the Arts, Elora, Ontario, Road Trip
2006 Birch Libralato Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, The Essential Works Show
2005 Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, From New Image to New
Wave: Legacy of NSCAD in the Seventies
2004 Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario, Bloom (Will Gorlitz, Henri Fantin-Latour, Gerhard Richter)
2004 McMichael, Canadian Art Collection, Kleinberg, Ontario, Identities: Canadian
Portraits
2004 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Skies
2003 Galerie de l’UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Épreuve de Distance
2003 Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario, 1st Annual KW|AG Biennale
2003 Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Painters 15
2002 Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China, Painters 15
2002 Art Gallery of North York, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and the Koffler Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Regarding Landscape
2002 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Guelph 2002: A Celebration of
Guelph and its Artists
2000 London Regional Art and Historical Museums, London, Ontario, The Single Tree
1999 Galerie René Blouin / Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montréal, Québec, Les peintures
1999 MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, Ontario, Re-imagining Modernisim
1997 Trépanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Painting in the 90’s Part I: Sandra
Meigs/ Suzanna Heller/Will Gorlitz
1995 S. L. Simpson Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Milieu: of the order of presentation
1993 Galerie René Blouin, Montréal, Québec, Pierre Dorion/Charles Gagnon/Will
Gorlitz
1992 The Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, Ontario, Tree Designations
1991 Extension Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, A Public Room
1989 The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canadian Biennial of
Contemporary Art
1987 Hallwalls, Buffalo, N. Y., Toronto Exchange
1987 Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Written Images
1986 Sable-Castelli Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Will Gorlitz/Douglas Kirton
1985 Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sao Paulo Bienal
1985 Plug In Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Plug In Redux
1985 Galerie Walcheturm, Binz 39, Zurich, Switzerland, Fire and Ice
1985 Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario, Late Capitalism
1985 Aorta, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Doppelgänger
1985 Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, The Allegorical Image
1984 Mercer Union, Toronto, Ontario (circulating)
Open Space, Victoria, B.C.
Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C., 80/1/2/3/4 Toronto:
Content/Context

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017 Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario
2012 A Difference of Distance, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario
2012 Birch Libralato, Toronto, Ontario
2009 Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario
2009 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario
2009 Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia
2008 Birch Libralato, Toronto, Ontario
2008 Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
2007 Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
2007 Harbinger Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario
2005 Birch Libralato, Toronto, Ontario
2004 Galerie René Blouin, Montréal, Québec
(1999, 1996, 1991)
2002 Sable-Castelli Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
(1998, 1996, 1994, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1983)
1994 The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1991 Centre culturel canadien, Paris, France
1991 Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario
1991 McIntosh Gallery, London, Ontario
1990 Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario
1989 Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
1988 Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1988 Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1988 Concordia University Art Gallery, Montréal, Québec
1987 49th Parallel, New York, N.Y.
1987 K.A.A.I., Kingston, Ontario
1986 The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
1984 YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Toronto, Ontario
1983 Plug In Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba (1980, 1978)
1983 ChromaZone, Toronto, Ontario

EXHIBITION PUBLICATIONS

2017  Mayer, Marc. Art in Canada, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
2012  Shaughnessy, Jonathan. Builders: Canadian Biennial 2012, National Gallery of Canada
2011  Sawtell, Scott.  60 Painters. Humber Arts and Media Studios, Toronto
2010 Borys, Stephen. Winnipeg Art Gallery: Guide to the Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg.
2010 Smith, Pete. Sudden Frost. Vancouver, British Columbia: Elissa Cristall Gallery
2010 Donovan, Daniel. The Donovan Collection, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto
2009 Green, Art, Will Gorlitz New Paintings, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario
2009 Ferguson, B., Gale, P., Spalding, J., Urban, D., Will Gorlitz nowhere if not here, Wilfrid
Laurier University Press, Waterloo, Ontario
2005 Falconer, S., Finn, C., Freybe, A. L., Identities: Canadian Portraits, McMichael
Canadian Art Collection
2000 Millard, Laura. The Single Tree, London Regional Art & Historical Museums, London, Ontario
1997 Willson, Kevin. “Will Gorlitz: Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexual Theorie”, University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto
1994 Keziere, Russel. “The Troubled Mirror: Will Gorlitz’s Real Time”, Real Time, The Power
Plant Art Gallery, Toronto
1993 Bell, Michael. Empowering the Word, Carleton University Art Gallery
1990 Bell Farrell, Carolyn. The Three Essays Trilogy, Oakville Galleries, Oakville
1989 McGrath, Jerry. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality – at Home with Freud, Artspeak
Gallery, Vancouver
1989 Nemiroff, Diana. Canadian Biennial of Contemporary Art, the National Gallery, Ottawa
1987 Wood, William. Will Gorlitz, 49th Parallel, New York
1986 Fischer, Barbara. “Will Gorlitz / Nancy Johnson” Perspective 86, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
1985 Grenville, Bruce. The Allegorical Image in Recent Canadian Painting, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston
1985 Guest, Tim. Late Capitalism, Toronto: the Art Gallery at Harbourfront, Toronto
1985 Wood, William. Fire and Ice, Galerie Walcheturm, Binz 39, Zurich, Switzerland
1985 Rhodes, Richard. Fractura Narrativa Propria, Sâo Paulo Bienal, Sâo Paulo, Brazil
1985 Sigurdson, D., Gillies, S., “Plug in Redux”, Plug In Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba
1985 Groot, Paul. Doppelgänger, Aorta, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

SELECTED ARTICLES AND REVIEWS

Aquin, Stéphane. “Will Gorlitz”, VOIR, Montréal, du 21 au 27 mars 1996, p. 50
Cooper, Rachelle. “Inspiration is Not Enough”, Guelph Alumnus, summer 2003
Dault, Gary Michael. “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life”, C Magazine,March, 1988,
no.17, p.70
Dault, Julia “Will Gorlitz”, Border Crossings, March 2006, vol. 25, no.1
Dumont, Jean. “Arts Visuels”, Le Devoir, Montréal, 2 février 1991, p. C 9
Duncan, Ann. “Brooding images…”, The Gazette, Montreal, February 20, 1988,p.D5
Enright, Robert. “The Visual Gate Entering the Place of Painting”. Border Crossings, Fall 2009,
vol.28, no.3, p.38-51
Enright, Robert. “The Miss of Sisyphus”. Border Crossings, Fall 2002, vol.21, no.4
Enright, Robert. “Ethics of Uncertainty”. Border Crossings, Fall 1988, vol.7, no.4
Fones, Robert. “Will Gorlitz, Sable-Castelli Gallery”, Vanguard, Dec-Jan 1986-87, vol.15, no.6, p.29
Guest, Tim. “80/1/2/3/4, Mercer Union, Toronto”, Vanguard, May 1984, vol.13, No.4, p.43-44
Hakim, Mona. “Le glissement entre l’absence et la présence”. Le Devoir, Montréal, 2 Mai 1993, p. C 15
Klucinakas, Jean. “Will Gorlitz, Galerie René Blouin”, Parachute, no.63, juillet-aout-septembre 1991, pp.33-34
Lebredt, Gordon. “After-Affects: a small matter of some face”, C Magazine, Summer1985, no.6,
pp.16-19
Liss, David. “Painting and seeing”, The Gazette, Montreal, March 23, 1996 p. H 6
Loughery, John. “Will Gorlitz, 49th Parallel”, Arts Magazine, Dec. 1987, vol.62, no.4, p.10
Lypchuk, Donna. “Famous Lies and Illustrious Disguises”, Parallelogramme, Fall 1985, vol.II, no.1, pp.21-26
MacKay, Gillian. “Will Gorlitz: The Sable-Castelli Gallery/The Power Plant”, Canadian Art, Spring 1994, vol.II, no.1, pp.75-77
McFadden, David. “Late Capitalism”, Canadian Art, Summer/June 1985, vol.2, no.3, p.18
McGrath, Jerry. “Will Gorlitz – Axis Mundi”, C Magazine, no.12, pp.70-71
McGrath, Jerry. “Will Gorlitz” Vanguard, February, 1984
McIlroy, Randal. “Gorlitz exhibit documents…”, Winnipeg Free Press, September 24, 1988, p.24
Murray, Joan. Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century, Toronto/Oxford, Dundurn Press, 1999
Nind, Sarah. “Will Gorlitz”, Canadian Art, Winter 2002, vol.19, no.4, p.82
O’Brien, Peter. “Consumed with that which it was nourished by: Will Gorlitz’s Literary
Landscapes”, University of Toronto Quarterly, Spring 1997, vol.66, no.2, pp.403-410
Punter, Jennie. “The mundane made strange”, The Whig Standard Magazine, Kingston, Ontario,
September 19, 1987
Rhodes, Richard. “Will Gorlitz”, Montréal, Fall 1998, pp 18-19
Scott, Melanie. “A New Group…”, Saturday Night, July/August 1997, pp.52-60
Sigurdson, Doug. “Axis Mundi”, On The Arts, CJRT- FM, September 10, 1986
Taylor, Kate. “Odd couple stands art on its head”, The Globe and Mail, January 29, 1994
Towne, Elke. “Fast Forward”, Canadian Art, Winter 1989, p.32
Wylie, Liz. “Bad Faith”, Canadian Art, Spring 1988, Vol. 5 No. 1, p. 96
Wylie, Liz. “Will Gorlitz’s illumination of the shadows of doubt”, NOW Magazine, Dec.10-16,
1987

PUBLICATION ARTIST PROJECTS

“Will Gorlitz”, Notebook Projects, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 1996
“Intersections: NOW Magazine Media Project”, NOW Magazine, May 28, 1992
“Cover”, Border/Lines, No. 7/8, Spring/Summer 1987
“Excerpt”, C Magazine, Winter 1985, no.4, pp.46-49
“Left”, Impulse Magazine, Vol.16, no.1

PUBLISHED WRITING

“Alienation, Painting and Polemics, London Regional Art & Historical Museum, London, ON, 1999 (Doug Kirton exhibition catalogue)
“The Grandiose Concocted Plan”, Stride Gallery, Calgary, 2008 (Art Green exhibition brochure)

HONOURS

Elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art 2005
Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Waterloo 2001

PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS

1996 Whitby Psychiatric Hospital; Whitby, Ontario
1995 Simcoe Place; Toronto, Ontario
1989 Cineplex Odeon Theatres, Toronto, Ontario

News

Gorlitz & Kirton Video

WATCH "Two Friends | Two Painters", a conversation with Will Gorlitz and Doug Kirton.

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Border Crossings

Will Gorlitz review in new Border Crossings

Border Crossings magazine includes a review of Will Gorlitz's May 2017 exhibition at the gallery.

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Press

Border Crossings

Will Gorlitz

Crossovers: Will Gorlitz

September 2017, Volume 36, Number 3, Issue no. 143

by Carling Spinney

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Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Will Gorlitz Exhibition Announcement

June 2009

AGNS

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Eye Weekly

Will Gorlitz: Nowhere if not here and always ready

Feburary 24, 2010

David Balzer

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The Toronto Star

Still Life with Menace

February 18, 2010

Murray Whyte

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Publications

Will Gorlitz nowhere if not here

Bruce W. Ferguson, Peggy Gale, Jeffrey Spalding

Macdonald Stewart Art Centre

May 2009

120 Pages, colour illustrations, 9 x 10 inch softcover

$40.00

"Will Gorlitz: nowhere if not here" examines the art, background, and theoretical concerns of contemporary Canadian artist Will Gorlitz. Appreciated especially for his painting and drawing, Gorlitz produces imaginative and highly visual artwork that is further distinguished by its fundamentally restructured and critically extended approach to representational painting. With differing emphases from several contributing writers, this book identifies the contexts, methodologies, and motivations that comprise the artist's practice over the past 25 years. The book is co-published with the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery in conjunction with a major circulating survey exhibition of Gorlitz's work organized by Allan MacKay for the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery in partnership with the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre.

Will Gorlitz New Paintings

Introduction by Art Green

Michael Gibson Gallery

November 2009

32 pages, colour illustrations, 8 x 9 inches softcover

$15.00

Catalogue of an exhibition of new paintings at the Michael Gibson Gallery November 2009.

Videos

ACI Visits “Chroma” Exhibit

Sara Angel, Founder and Executive Director of the Art Canada Institute recently spent a morning at the Michael Gibson Gallery. Join Angel as she receives a tour of the exhibit "Chroma" and discusses with Michael Gibson and Jennie Kraehling the many artists exploring glorious colour through their artworks.

Will Gorlitz tour of “Lie of the Land” Exhibit

Will Gorlitz gives a talk and tour of his May 2017 exhibit "Lie of the Land" at Michael Gibson Gallery.