James Welling (b. 1951, Hartford, Connecticut) received both his BFA and MFA from California Institute of the Arts.
Working primarily in photography, Welling manipulates traditional methods in order to question the norms of representation. He utilizes a variety of technologies and processes including gelatin silver prints, chromogenic prints, Polaroids, and digital pigment prints using different types of digital cameras. In his photograms, he abandons the camera altogether, using light and color filters to imprint images directly on to film and create otherworldly, surreal pictures of natural and architectural subjects. In addition to challenging convention, Welling also explores themes of memory, both personal and collective, through his lush, captivating images that pulsate with an ethereal, contemplative energy.
Welling’s work has been exhibited at numerous museums and galleries including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), and the 2008 Whitney Biennial (New York). He lives and works in Los Angeles.
In April 2012, RxART installed fourteen beautiful photographs by James Welling in the department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital.