Charles Wish
Encyclopedia
Charles Wish is an American artist best known for visually fusing Regionalism
imagery with 16th - 19th century South Asian, Tantra
& Buddhist symbolism and motifs - debut show CPop Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
, 2005.
Confronting the information age
challenges of extreme cultural contrariety and cross-cultural interaction, as well as America’s own internal culture war
, Wish draws from a diverse range of influences to deliver his style of "surregional" paintings. Citing various artists of the far-east along with American painters, including Grant Wood
and Thomas Hart Benton, Wish thoughtfully combines the ontological symbolism of an esoteric philosophy with some of rural-America’s most selfsame figures and scenes.
After spending four years (1999-2003) at a Ramakrishna
, Hindu
monastery, as a student of South-Asian symbolism/iconography and personal assistant to Swami Swahananda
, Wish would return to the San Fernando Valley
, California. It would be here, not far from where he spent his formative years, were he would set up his first studio and launch his art career. Wish now maintains two studios, the original in Southern California and one in Elk County, PA, where he and his wife are restoring and converting a large Federal
-style building into a cultural center and community creative space.
Regionalism (art)
Regionalism is an American realist modern art movement that was popular during the 1930s. The artistic focus was from artists who shunned city life, and rapidly developing technological advances, to create scenes of rural life...
imagery with 16th - 19th century South Asian, Tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
& Buddhist symbolism and motifs - debut show CPop Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, 2005.
Confronting the information age
Information Age
The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Digital Age, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously...
challenges of extreme cultural contrariety and cross-cultural interaction, as well as America’s own internal culture war
Culture war
The culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
, Wish draws from a diverse range of influences to deliver his style of "surregional" paintings. Citing various artists of the far-east along with American painters, including Grant Wood
Grant Wood
Grant DeVolson Wood was an American painter, born four miles east of Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.- Life and career :His family moved to Cedar Rapids after his...
and Thomas Hart Benton, Wish thoughtfully combines the ontological symbolism of an esoteric philosophy with some of rural-America’s most selfsame figures and scenes.
After spending four years (1999-2003) at a Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
, Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
monastery, as a student of South-Asian symbolism/iconography and personal assistant to Swami Swahananda
Swami Swahananda
Swami Swahananda , a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, is the minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California since 1976. He also leads the Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, and the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, DC...
, Wish would return to the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, California. It would be here, not far from where he spent his formative years, were he would set up his first studio and launch his art career. Wish now maintains two studios, the original in Southern California and one in Elk County, PA, where he and his wife are restoring and converting a large Federal
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
-style building into a cultural center and community creative space.
Collections
- Gary Pressman
- Tom Thewes
- Nederlander OrganizationNederlander OrganizationThe Nederlander Organization, founded in 1912 by David T. Nederlander and based in Detroit, Michigan, is one of the largest operators of legitimate theatres and music venuesin the United States. Its first acquisition was a lease on the Detroit Opera House in 1912. The building was demolished in...
- Debi Jacobson
- Greg Escalante
- Lee VingLee VingLee Ving Lee Ving Lee Ving (born Lee James Capellaro; April 10, 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an American musician, most famous for his role as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Los Angeles-based punk rock band Fear, and actor. In the late 1960s Ving joined Sweet Stavin Chain Blues Band...
- Vedanta Society of Southern California
- Topher Crowder
- Dead MeadowDead MeadowDead Meadow is an American hard rock band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1998. Currently comprising vocalist and guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille and drummer Mark Laughlin, the band has released five studio albums and one live album.-Biography:...
- Robert Evans (photographer)
Sources
- The Detroit News Joy Hakanson Colby (Art Critic, jcolby@detnews.com), July 2, 2005.
- St. Marys Daily Press, July 7, 2007.
- Charles Wish Bio: "Charles Wish and “Surregionalism” Unbound", Kristy Raine (Librarian/Archivist, Mount Mercy College, IA, kraine@mtmercy.edu) May 18, 2006.