William Powhida Unretrospective

May 1 to June 7, 2025
Artist’s Reception, Saturday, May 3, 11AM to 5PM

IMAGES FROM THE EXHIBITION
LINK TO REVIEW IN THE STRANGER

Platform Gallery is pleased to present our third solo exhibition of works by William Powhida. It has been six years since Powhida’s last solo show at Platform. In that time he has continued his critique and dissection of both the art world and the financial world through text-based drawings and works on canvas including lists, charts, diagrams, instructions for the fabrication of “sculptures” and “paintings,” both as the persona “Powhida” as well as the actual artist William Powhida. His most recent exhibitions in New York (Derivatives and Overculture) and Los Angeles (Bill by Bill) have focused on the causes and effects of the financial crisis; the idea of artistic originality and outsourced fabrication of artworks in contemporary art; and the current frenzied art market flooded with oligarchs' abundance of money.

Along with new drawings for the exhibition, Powhida is making republications of his past work available as original oil paintings made in a painting village in Shenzhen, China, to be painted in oil on canvas. Nods toward globalization, reproducibility, and the fabrication of artworks of an artist by other (anonymous) artists point to the discussion that at least one of the two Powhidas want the viewer (and collector) to consider. From his piece titled "Dear Seattle": "After discussing a show where nothing would be for sale . . . we were informed that would be pretty . . . stupid. I'm all for some self sabotage but running a gallery isn't FREE because RENT, LABOR, TIME, etc. Then Stephen told me about his trip to China and the painting village. We decided it would be great to do a kind of "Greatest Hits" show or a unRetrospective (the museums aren't exactly lining up offers). Through the MAGIC of exploitive globalization we are able to offer "original" POWHIDA republications at PRICES you might be able to afford for a limited time (OR our inventory runs out in decades days). For your viewing pleasure and instant gratification, we've pre-ordered 5 BRILLIANT LISTS reflecting the trajectory of my artistic . . . GROWTH. You can also order ANYTHING off my website while the show is open following simple instructions. Please, just BUY something."

William Powhida earned his MFA from Hunter College in New York in 2002. He has recently exhibited at Postmasters (New York, NY), Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Galerie Poulsen (Copenhagen, Denmark), the McKinney Avenue Contemporary (Dallas, TX), and Marlborough Chelsea (New York, NY).