Generating content from an unlikely array of sources—including music subcultures and the visual vernaculars of cattle ranches and barrooms—Will Boone (b. 1982, Houston) makes works whose graphic power is matched by their palpable physicality. His technical processes are informed in equal measure by the DIY ethos of punk and the precision of industrial manufacturing, and give rise to paintings, sculptures, and immersive installations. Boone pays particular attention to forms that emerge from social contexts with no clear association to art historical narratives. Taken as a whole, his work serves as a repository for archetypal, if fragmentary, expressions of contemporary life. And despite the ephemeral nature of many of his sources, Boone’s work retains a formal timelessness and clarity that connect it to a wide range of art historical traditions.
Will Boone has been the subject of solo exhibitions at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles (2023); Karma, New York (2022); Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (2019); and Rubell Family Collection, Miami (2014). A major installation was featured in Desert X 2017, Coachella Valley, California (2017). Notable group shows include Looking Back / The 14th White Columns Annual – Selected by Randy Kennedy, White Columns, New York (2024); Zombies: Pay Attention!, Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2019); White Trash, Luhring Augustine Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York (2017); Prototypology, Gagosian, Rome (2016); Fétiche, Venus Over Manhattan, New York (2016); In Different Ways, Almine Rech, London (2016); and Love For Three Oranges, Gladstone Gallery, Brussels (2015). Boone lives and works in Houston and Comal County, Texas.
Will Boone
Disappearor, 2023
resin, automotive paint, metal flake, and cardboard cutout on canvas
73 1/4 x 54 x 2 inches
(186.1 x 137.2 x 5.1 cm)
Will Boone
Tire Kicker, 2022 - 2023
deer antler, soap, audio cassette tape, metal flake, automotive paint, enamel, and resin on canvas
48 x 36 x 4 1/4 inches
(121.9 x 91.4 x 10.8 cm)
Will Boone
The Three Fates, 2020
enamel on bronze
installation dimensions:
60 x 81 x 65 inches
(152.4 x 205.7 x 165.1 cm)
Edition of 1, with 1 AP
Installation view, Frieze Los Angeles 2020
Will Boone
Rake, 2019
acrylic on canvas over wood panel
73 x 48 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches
(185.4 x 122.6 x 3.2 cm)
Will Boone
Oleum 2, 2019
acrylic, enamel, resin, and nylon flag on canvas
74 1/8 x 36 1/8 x 2 inches
(188.3 x 91.8 x 5.1 cm)
Will Boone
Jaws, 2018
enamel on bronze, steel, and aluminum
39 3/4 x 35 x 33 1/4 inches
(101 x 88.9 x 84.5 cm)
Edition of 1, with 1 A P
Will Boone
CAR, 2016
customized Chevrolet Blazer, various materials
70 x 80 x 192 inches
(177.8 x 203.2 x 487.7 cm)
Will Boone
Underground Monument, 2016
bondo, plastic model, wood, cardboard, acrylic paint, and gap filler foam on wood panel
22 x 25 x 7 1/2 inches
(55.9 x 63.5 x 19.1 cm)
Will Boone
Born to Sleep in the Sun II, 2015
acrylic, magazine clippings, photos, bar top resin on wood
69 x 36 3/4 x 33 1/2 inches
(175.3 x 93.3 x 85.1 cm)
Will Boone
DOOR, 2015
acrylic on canvas
100 x 72 x 1 3/4 inches
(254 x 182.9 x 4.4 cm)
Will Boone
Untitled, 2014
gasoline can, concrete, rebar
48 x 6 1/2 x 4 inches
(121.9 x 16.5 x 10.2 cm)
Will Boone
GRACELAND, 2014
weight bench, carpet, acrylic on plywood, gate, Chevrolet Blazer car seat, quilt, pool table light, bottle opener, perfume, photographs, newspaper clippings, extension cord, steel rebar, concrete, wire glass window, USMC gasoline can
dimensions variable