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Institute of Contemporary Art Miami

Publications

William N. Copley: The Coffin They Carry You Off In

Year
2019
Cover
Paperback
editors
Stephanie Seidel
authors
Stephanie Seidel, Manuela Ammer, and a conversation between Kasper König and Stephanie Seidel
designer
Eric Wrenn Office, New York
publisher
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
isbn
978-0-9966906-8-3
pages
132
dimensions
9 x 6 inches
credits
Cover: Willian N. Copley, The Coffin They Carry You Off In, 1957 (detail). Oil on canvas, 21 1/4 x 25 3/4 in. Courtesy Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Berlin. Photo: Courtesy Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Berlin

William N. Copley (b. 1919, New York; d. 1996, Sugarloaf Key, Florida), a self-taught artist, came to painting following and alongside his famed work as a gallerist and collector of Surrealist art. A crucial connecting figure between Surrealism and Pop art, Copley developed a unique style and iconography that made use of cartoonlike motifs to critically and humorously explore topics such as nationalism, eroticism, and art history. This publication and related exhibition bring together works from Copley’s first New York exhibition “Paintings by William Copley” at the Alexander Iolas Gallery in 1958 alongside other examples of the artist’s early work, highlighting his critical yet humorous perspective on both European and American culture.