Visual Descriptions & Wall Text

Portrait of Bill Porter

Framed photograph of Bill Porter sitting on a green couch in a studio environment. He is wearing a dark blue long-sleeve shirt, light blue jeans, and a baseball cap with a bear logo on it. He has a short, reddish-brown beard and is smiling gently. In the background, a large painting with a yellow background and red, green, and blue vertical stripes. A window is visible beside a workspace with various tools and art supplies, including brushes and jars. To the right, there is a black tool chest with multiple drawers, and a small yellow caution sign stands on the wooden floor.

Wall Text (presented under portrait)

I make because I feel compelled to do it, and that’s been since childhood, as early as I can remember. I remember watching Sesame Street or reading the Sunday comics and I’m compelled by the unique ability of art to communicate complex ideas in tangible ways. The aesthetics are interesting but I connect with how art can communicate and has throughout history.

I’m inspired by comics but particularly the ones that can do it in a single frame, the Far Side or The New Yorker, I love those things…The ability of one frame one image to convey an idea and painting can do that as well. Comics in particular has its own visual language. There’s no referent in the real world to some of the action lines and thought bubbles and different things you can do. It’s something that hand cartoon style or illustrated images are very approachable for people to view but the subject matter can be complex. It’s a good way for dealing with a lot of different kinds of subjects.

I’m really interested in the way images tell a story, I’ve worked in a lot of different mediums, but it always comes down to story. Maybe not even a direct story but something that conjures a narrative. By putting different pieces together, the viewer can create their own story or narrative.

—Bill Porter, Illustrator & Painter

Work

Consequences of an Internalized Quimby. Acrylic house paint on wood. 11″ x 14″. 2024.

The painting features a stylized comic-like illustration on a grey background. In the center, a rectangular mirror is depicted. The mirror reflects a cartoonish face with exaggerated, closed eyes and a large, round nose resembling Mr. Magoo. A plume of spray foam emerges from a blue aerosol can held by an illustrated hand, aiming directly at the mirror surface. The foam creates a dynamic, cloud-like pattern with lines suggesting motion. The entire composition uses thick black outlines to emphasize the shapes, typical of comic strip art.