William Conger's paintings blend fascinating arrangements of color and form, some geometrically precise, others smoothly haunting. Conger grew up in the Chicago area before heading to the University of New Mexico for his BFA, where he worked closely with abstract painters Raymond Jonson and Elaine de Kooning. He then returned to Chicago for post-graduate study and a varied career as both artist and educator.
Conger's themes range from the fanfare of Chinatown parades to the collective souls within cemeteries, to the vast socio-economic-industrial energy of Chicago itself. He offers Suite101 some insights into his life and unique vision:
As a child, you often visited the Art Institute of Chicago with your mother. What paintings most intrigued you then?
Manfredi's Cupid Chastised, Martorell's St. George Killing the Dragon, and Rembrandt's Young Woman at an Open Half-Door. At that age I was struck by more realist work...images a child could like.
What was the first abstract work you ever saw?
I vividly recall the Van Gogh show in 1949-50...that led me to look at the modern and abstract work of all kinds. I didn't become interested in fully abstract art until I saw a Jackson Pollock in the early 1950s. I hated it — but couldn't forget it.
You earned your BFA from the University of New Mexico in 1960. Coming from an urban Midwestern background, what did you think of that complete change of landscape?
The New Mexico landscape was overwhelming. I'd already been to the Rockies and Yellowstone and loved the big spaces of the west but was unprepared for the hundred mile vistas of New Mexico and the geological and archaeological richness in all directions.
Chicago has had a great influence on your work and shows up in many paintings. How has the city changed during your lifetime?
The Chicago of my youth was clearly a product of its day-to-day work and manufacturing character. A city to be used…[with] a raw and unkempt look to everything. If it was a sidewalk, it was wide and broken; if it was an empty lot it was sandy and weedy. Everything was blackened by coal soot in winter and blowing dirt in summer…[t]he night sky was red with glow, from the Gary steel mills I was told…all completely magical and scary at the same time.
Lake Michigan also seems to be a major influence.
Mostly I've lived near the lake. The lake horizon is the mystical edge we never reach. The flat lake contrasts with the vertical materiality of the built city facing it: the one watery and permeable, the other stony and dense.
Is your use of color more emotional or primarily visual/chromatic?
My use of color is essentially subjective and intuitive. I know the basics of color theory but I rely on feeling to make color decisions.
What is your creative process? Do you paint for long stretches of time or at daily intervals?
Mostly I work on a painting for four or five hours at a time or until I've used all my clean brushes or made my work tables too messy. Sometimes I work on two or even three paintings during the day and have a separate easel and work area up for each one.
Any upcoming major projects or new drifts of inspiration?
I've just begun working with a press on a set of color lithographs based on the small sketches I've made every day for many years. These prints will be more graphic, looser and more like drawings than my rigorously finished paintings. It's a new direction for me.
Find more information on and works by the artist at Williamconger.com.
