Building color layer by layer to a rich burnish, Adler creates his images of beasts, angelic beings and human forms in simple and mythic settings with prickly-sweet abandon…. A fresh vibrant colorist; raw, evocative canvasses.
Finding passion in music and art while coming of age, Willy Adler was fortunate to study at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, at a time when Ms. DeMazia conducted class with all her original vision and eccentricity.
Adler trained at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Academia Della Bella Arte in Florence, and in Paris in the early 1960’s. Later, he was invited to the graduate arts program at University of Pennsylvania by Piero Dorazio. Dorazio appreciated Adler’s discerning nature, reverence for the masters, and vituperating disdain for gimmick that still belie Adler’s naïve and untainted practice of painting.
By 1966, Adler staked out the first artist studio/storefront/living space of the South Street Renaissance in Philadelphia. When his first son was born, home was 224 South Street, a wild space filled with found objects, excitement and expectation. When the Painted Bride Gallery (originally at 527 South Street) was created in June of 1969, Adler’s paintings hung in the first opening there. More family, road trips across the country, West Coast living, global travel and then work with animals and historic gardens eventually anchored Adler back in the Philadelphia region. Resolve to paint anchored him as well.
Adler paints for himself. His adoration of the natural world, his life observing trees, birds, all manner of clouds and sky and surrounding light are so stirring that for him, little solace is found in a world apathetic to its demise. Solace is delivered in the intimate garden setting of his studio where three very different and dynamic feline muses visit and nap with him, where he may see hawks, hummingbirds and woodpeckers, and dream of his children, grandchildren, and the many works in progress.
“Willy Adler offers a world of people, plants and animals seen and imagined. His brushwork and colors are a harmony of his feelings for his subject matter.” – Gerry Givnish, artist and Founder of The Painted Bride.
Local and global connections:Adler and Philadelphia photographer Laurence Salzmann have traveled to Cuba more than once, and the last trip they made together was in 2000. Salzmann filmed painters, wrestlers, dancers, musicians, old cars, lunatics, the distinct persona of Cuba, and Willy. The resulting mix is captivating; it is clear that Willy and Cuba belong to another time, another way of being. VHS copies are available from Blue Flower Press. |