CV

Solo Exhibitions:

I’m an Amateur Adult, Jackson Junge Gallery | Chicago, IL May - July 2024

Media and brands:

WGN Feature by Sean Lewis | Chicago, IL | 2024

Lottie’s Pub Limited Edition Hat | Chicago, IL | 2024

Group Exhibitions:

The Cardboard Jungle | Chicago, IL | 2024

The Other Art Fair | Chicago, IL | 2024

Design at the Tracks | Chicago, IL | 2023

Jackson Junge Gallery | Chicago, IL | 2023

Bridgeport Art Center | Chicago, IL | 2023

Jackson Junge Gallery | Chicago, IL | 2023

Spot! | Chicago, IL | 2023

The Other Art Fair | Chicago, IL 2023

Dragonfly Gallery | Chicago, IL 2022

The Other Art Fair | Chicago, IL 2022

Fulton Street Collective | Chicago, IL 2022

HealthTrack | Glen Ellyn, IL | 2022

The Other Art Fair | Chicago, IL 2021

Reitter Design Studio | Los Angeles 2021

Czong Institute for Contemporary Art | South Korea 2021

treat gallery | New York, NY 2021

Gallery 40 | Poughkeepsie, NY 2020

J Mane Gallery | Online 2020

Gallery Cafe | Chicago, IL 2020

Greenpoint Gallery | Brooklyn, NY 2020

Art for Life | DIFAA - Online | Chicago, IL 2020

Great Central Brewing Company | Chicago, IL | 2019

Bumpy Wilson | Touch of Modern | Online, United States 2019

Art By Bumpy in Bucktown | Firecat Projects | Chicago, IL 2019

KU Senior Show | University of Kansas | Lawrence, KS 2018

Art Emergency | Lawrence, KS 2018

Statement:

Bumpy Wilson is known for a combination of abstract and bright minimal acrylic paintings, the subject of which vary from basketball hoops to ambiguous landscapes. Made quickly with patience, his work invites the viewer to make connections and sustain attention: these, he says, “are simple and appealing, sure. But there’s more to them, there are layers and purpose, I don’t want that to be lost in my work.”

In Bumpy’s paintings, the subject serves as his foundational structure, holding color, form, and light; his compositions are characterized by chaos and subtleness in precise spatial and proportional relationships. The visual experience that the artist fights for is heightened by his use of color and contrasting matte planes, shiny movement, and areas in which are at times never touched. His varied imagery attempts to engage you with current events, he has noted, “Once you see an issue or subject from another angle, you’ll have a hard time ignoring it or viewing it unilaterally. I prefer to see the world autonomously.” Through his art, Bumpy blurs the boundaries between different art movements that command an awareness of the compositions that inspired his body of work.

Bumpy was born in 1995 in the Chicagoland area. Following a hard fought degree in Visual Arts with a focus in Expanded Media at The University of Kansas in 2018, he spent almost four years working at Hindman Auctions viewing and handling Antiquities, Fine Art, Sports Memorabilia, and Fine Furniture. The artist has exhibited in many group shows, art fairs, and has most recently been working on commission and building rapport with local galleries.

Collections & Clients:

NBA Hall of Famer and Current Coach

NFL Player

Infamous Street Artist

CEO’s in Logistics, Finance, and Fashion

Top Executives in Construction, Data, Business Management and Software

Numerous Chicagoland Interior Designers

Numerous Art Consultants, Auctioneers, and Artists

German Art Collector

South Korean Art Collector

Parisian Art Collector

Ivy League Football Player

A New York Model Management Model

Brock Lane Mettz Design

Maria Topper Design

Flashner Fitzgerald Design Group

Lydia Henry Design

“American artist Bumpy Wilson's artworks express his unique and quirky personality. His passion for environmental sustainability and to inspire self improvement in himself and others are key drivers behind his works. Working with acrylics and utilizing a broad color palette Bumpy's artworks and their witty titles instantly capture the attention of the viewer. Bumpy has displayed his artworks in solo and group exhibitions in the USA.”

-Singulart

“Considered a little more of a classical scape, Frisky Free Throws by Bumpy Wilson has a clear, linear horizon and one singular tree. However, the striking black background flattens out the painting and turns the piece into a stage for your imagination. There’s a blue basketball backboard that floats in the composition, as if the pole blended into the dark background. When you think of a landscape, strong detail and texture tends to be required to capture the reality of what we see. For Wilson, his goal is to flatten that reality and still make it feel believable that you’ve been there before. Just like with Lee’s Holding Light, Wilson is invoking memories that viewers may have of playing outside at night with the harsh streetlight illuminating the closet tree.”

-Jackson junge gallery

BIO:

Bumpy Wilson (b. 1995) is a Chicago based Contemporary Artist who creates highly personal paintings that assert his unique style somewhere between minimalism and surrealism. His oeuvre is subtly culled from the art world itself and most notably depicts cows, basketball hoops, and beer cans. Through his art, he is able to evoke puns as art forms, providing a play on words for his ever-expanding discursive material.

Bumpy graduated from the University of Kansas with a BFA in Visual Arts, with a focus in Painting and Expanded Media. While working for Hindman Auctions, he participated in many group exhibitions and art fairs before showcasing his inaugural 2024 Solo Exhibition, I’m an Amateur Adult, at The Jackson Junge Gallery. This show garnered the attention of WGN anchor Sean Lewis and Lottie’s Pub, resulting in a "Chicago's Very Own" feature story and a limited-edition Lottie's hat release.

BUMPY WILSON

Chicago, IL 60640

708.921.2917

BWILSON824@GMAIL.COM