Bex Wilkinson — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography
Rebecca Wilkinson (Bex) was born in Chicago, Illinois, to parents who were avid art collectors. Her childhood was spent surrounded by works by The Hairy Who (1966-69), and Surrealists such as Paul Delvaux & Joan Miro, as well as artists without quite as much recognition like Polish artist "Maryan" (1927-1977.) Her parents also collected local Chicago and New York artists such as Seymour Rosofsky (1924-1981,) Leon Golub (1922-2004,) and Irving Petlin (1934-2018) who also influenced her work.
As Bex grew into her creative mind she became obsessed with the German and French Expressionists. Max Beckman, George Groz, Kathe Kollwitz, and Vincent Van Gogh gave her a map of how to express the mixed emotions she felt growing up. These artists and their works helped her express the paradox of what she observed as the human condition. As Bex began to look for outlets of education that would support her creativity beyond grade school, the great feminist and creative mind of Frida Khalo became her idol. The way Frida expressed and defined the complicated duality of “love and pain” through art was informative in both Bex’s early and later works.
She currently lives and works in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Artist Statement

I am a multimedia artist working mostly in acrylic, gouache and pastel, as well as plaster casting, encaustic, and glass. I am always exploring complex global topics, including the transgender movement, health care systems, and recently the pandemic. These topics have fueled my emotional and expressionist creation.
I am influenced by the early German and Neo-expressionist movement and the surrealists. The former inspire a deeper investigation of the nuances of contemporary society, the latter to translate personal and societal struggles onto canvas. I take on the topics of death and mortality in my work. However, I do not want to get stuck in the narrative of negativity, but hope to transcend, through expression the beauty, and sometimes the comedy, the terror of such grim circumstances.
I work towards having the viewer question that which is "normal." Things that are taken for granted as cultural standards need to be questioned and seen out of their context. Modern-day living is a bombardment of news, advertisements, protocols, and information with is constantly being drilled into the American psyche. I ask the viewer to look beyond these "typical" appearances and dig deeper into the matters of the soul.

Website www.bexwilkinson.com

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