Bill Fisher (American, B. 1957). "Untitled (Black Painting)". 2010.
Oil, oil stick and cold wax on panel. This work is unframed and in excellent condition. Signed and dated in black marker on the back.

"Untitled (Black Painting)" was exhibited in the artist's most recent six-month solo Museum exhibition "Bill Fisher: Recent Works", Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond VA, 2010-2011. Painting in a post-modern environment, American artist Bill Fisher (B. Buffalo, NY, US, 1957) is internationally exhibited and collected, known for his large-scale abstract paintings. This is a masterpiece by the artist that has already been recognized as a museum-level work for Fisher, having been recently included in a solo Museum exhibition on Fisher's work. This painting is one of Fisher's most visually arresting and important to-date, as it marks a new direction in the work of the artist especially the use of black as the primary color and is in fact the only black-based painting that the artist has painted to date. The appearance of bold series of script from lyrics and poems, such as the word 'wasted' that is scrawled top right, an admitted nod to the music of Tom Waits and his song 'Wasted and Wounded' which the artist often listens to while he paints, as well as 'tic-tac-toe' boxes, zig-zags and shapes reminiscent of a Phillip Guston, are new elements for the artist that are painted in white, yellow, orange and pop against the rich, black ground of the work.

The artist mixes his oil paints with cold wax so that he can layer many colors atop one another and shorten the drying time, often scraping areas away only to re-build in a new manner. The intensity of specific areas of this painting is tempered by the immutable black foundation of the painting. The result is a museum level-work by Fisher that is a rare offering on the secondary market. The artist tends to paints only on square wooden panels, here at 54 x 54 inches, but has now pushed his range from 18 x 18 inches to 96 x 96 inches.

Fisher is represented in New York by the prestigious O.K. Harris Gallery, and was signed by esteemed gallerist Ivan Karp, the legendary early director of the Leo Castelli Gallery, NY. It was Karp who discovered Fisher's work nearly 10 years ago and signed him immediately, recognizing that his abstract paintings are really a compilation of visual information, appropriated diagrams, icons and signage that were singular in their manner of expression and composition. The gallery has had massive success with Fisher ever since.

The work of the artist is in select Private, Museum and Corporate Collections including the Collection of Sidney and Frances Lewis, The Harry Thalhimer Collection, The Erie Museum of Fine Arts, The Federal Reserve Bank, and three paintings were selected to hang in the formal Washington D.C. office of Virginia State Senator Jim Webb to represent the art of all of Virginia. Fisher was awarded the V.M.F.A. Professional Fellowship Award in 2010. He received his M.F.A from Radford University, and lives and works in Richmond, VA.