William Dunlap

William Dunlap is an artist, writer, arts advocate and commentator with a career spanning more than four decades. After first receiving the Danforth Award in the Visual Arts in 1969, Mr. Dunlap continued to garner acclaim for his work as an artist with numerous honors and awards including international artist fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation for residency at Bellagio, Italy and the Lila Wallace Foundation for residency in Bangkok, Thailand. He is also the recipient of grants and awards from the Warhol Foundation, Virginia Commission for the Arts, Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art/RJR Nabisco Visual Artists Awards, and the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

In a career spanning more than four decades, Dunlap has exhibited internationally and is included in numerous public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art. He has received awards and honors from the Danforth, Rockefeller, Lila Wallace and Warhol Foundations, as well as the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, and the Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Allegory is ever present in this work. The American landscape, its flora and fauna, are essential elements in Dunlap’s art, as are certain iconic Old Masters such as Rembrandt’s series of self-portraits, which he quotes in paintings and constructions. He calls what he does, Hypothetical Realism. Whether on the page or the picture plane, Dunlap expects the viewer to meet him halfway. There is nothing backward looking about narrative art. On the contrary, one can hardly contemplate something more contemporary or edgy.

William Dunlap maintains studios in Coral Gables, Florida; McLean, Virginia; and Mathiston, Mississippi. Now showing at 812 Royal Gallery