WK
WK (aka WK Interact) was born in 1969 in Caen, France. He has lived and worked in New York since the early 1990s. WK is interested with the human body in motion, his paintings of figures frozen in a flight of movement reflects this infatuation. The artist’s unique process involves a technique of twisting an original drawing or photograph while it’s being photocopied, resulting in the monochromatic palette and streamlined moment-in-time appearance of his finished work. WK site-determines his placements by finding an appropriate location first, then his imagery is chosen specifically with a concern for encounters in an urban environment or “interactions” (as the artist indicates in his pseudonym). In the late 1990s his images began appearing on building facades in downtown Manhattan, complimenting the constant stir of bodies and the perpetual motion of contemporary urban life in the fast-paced city.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
2019 2018 2018 |
WK/IMPACT, +81 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
WK/TRESPASS, Montana Gallery, Barcelona, Spain WK/TRESPASS, Adda & Taxie Gallery, Paris, France WK/Act and Process, Underdogs Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal |
2017 | BLACK BOOK GALLERY exhibition, Denver, CO |
2017 | WK/EXIT at DE-RE GALLERY Los Angeles |
2015 | WK/KALLENBACH gallery Kallenbach Gallery Raamstraat 7-9 1016XL Amsterdam Amsterdam |
2013 | WK-360 mid-career survey documenting 25 years at Jonathan Levine Gallery NYC |
2009 | How to Blow Yourself Up. Subliminal Projects. Los Angeles, CA |
2009 | Motion Portrait. Jonathan LeVine Gallery. New York, NY |
2008 | Aqua Art Fair. Jonathan LeVine Gallery exhibitor booth. Miami-Wynwood, FL |
2007 | WK/MXLT. Maxalot Gallery. Barcelona, Spain |
2007 | The Trail. Espies Archetype Gallery. Brooklyn, NY |
2006 | Impact, in collaboration with Kobe Bryant. Nike Showroom. Los Angeles, CA |
2005 | Medicom Toy Life. Logos Gallery. Tokyo, Japan |
2002 | Installation. BLK/MRKT Gallery. Los Angeles, CA |
2002 | Sony Installation and Outdoor Gallery. Sydney, Australia |
2002 | Techniques. Studio 101. New York, NY |
2001 | Installation. Dazed and Confused Gallery. London, UK |
2001 | Installation. Patricia Dorfman Gallery. Paris, France |
2001 | Art Works of WK Interact. Parco Museum. Tokyo, Japan |
2001 | Opening. Studio 101. New York, NY |
2001 | Tool Man. Studio 101. New York, NY |
1998 | 17-Painting Installation. Colette Gallery. Paris, France |
1998 | 3-Painting Installation. Yohji Yamamoto Gallery. New York, NY |
1997 | 11-Painting Installation. Cooper Hewitt Museum. New York, NY |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
2020 2019 2019 2019 2018 2018 2018 2018 2017 2017 |
THE TERRORDOME, Black Book Gallery, Englewood, CO
RIGHT NOW, online group exhibition, Underdogs Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal CAPTURE THE STREET, Oberhessisches Museum, Giessen, Germany MONIKER ART FAIR, Interior installation, New York FROM THE WORLD, MADE IN LISBOA, Underdogs Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal ALL THE RAGE, Urban Art Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan ARTRIUM MOSCOW, 55 m high mural, Moscow, Russia WOMANKIND, Nonprofit Organization, One Art Space, New York The 20×21 EUG Mural Project, Exterior Mural, Eugene, OR CROSS THE STREET, group show, MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Roma, Rome, Italy URBAN-NATION Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, group show, Berlin |
2014 | ART Alliance Chicago |
2014 | SCOOPE Kallenbach Gallery |
2014 | West 12th NYC WK/KLINIK collaboration installation |
2011 | The Emergence of the Pop Imagist. Campo de la Madonna de L’Orto. Venice, Italy |
2010 | Urban Alchemists. Curated by Jonathan LeVine and Tony Goldman. Wynwood Walls. Miami, FL |
2010 | Five Year Anniversary. Jonathan LeVine Gallery. New York, NY |
2010 | Re:Form School. Lets Redu project promoting education reform. St. Patrick’s School. New York, NY |
2008 | WK – LISTER, 2 person show with Anthony Lister. Elms Lesters Painting Rooms. London, UK |
2006 | Beautiful Losers. Agnès B. Galleries. Paris, France |
2004 | Streetwise 3. The LAB 101 Gallery. Los Angeles, CA |
2003 | Backjumps. Kunstraum Kreuzberg. Berlin, Germany |
SELECTED PROJECTS
2022
2019 2019 2019 2019 2018 2018 2017 2016 |
WK/BLADE RUNNER, MANA Contemporary, installation
WK/JOHN WICK 3, Poster and billboard WK/MISSION (RED), Nonprofit Organization, Exterior Mural Paris, and 30 paste-up – New York, Paris, and Lyon RIVERTALES, Exterior Mural, Marburg, Germany DROPP, collaboration: Griffin studio, Ecco, Mystery Ranch, and Master & Dynamic, Interior Installation, The Borderlands, Munich, Germany NOISEMAKER, Exterior Mural and Album Cover, Tokyo, Japan WK/REEBOK Boston HQ, installation interior stairway WK/REEBOK Boston HQ, installation interior LIVING COMPUTER MUSEUM Seattle full installation interior |
2016 | WK/lumine japan interior installation store elevator |
2015 | Exterior mural JERSEY CITY Race |
2015 | WK/REEBOK Boston CROSSFIT |
2015 | WK/NIKE Widen kennedy agency SHANGHAI Marathon |
2015 | WK/AMSTERDAM mural installation RACE 45 meter long |
2014 | Belgium 25 meter high BIRDY exterior |
2014 | D-DAY 70 anniversary Paris Geode 130 meter |
2014 | METS/Citibank – Time square and subway |
2014 | Hunger Games POSTER and exterior facade in WEST COAST |
2014 | DANCE the monopoly game STOP PLAY REWIND poster |
2012 | project installation (40 years anniversary) for TBWA |
2012 | Oscar Pistorius installation for OAKLEY at the Olympic UK |
2011 | Project Brave. Collaboration with NYC Firefighters, commemorating 10th Anniversary of 9/11 (100 meters wide). Brooklyn, NY |
2011 | Black Palace. Mural commemorating 100th Anniversary of Mexican Revolution (200 meters wide). General National Archives. Mexico City, Mexico |
2010 | Mural representing immigration, coming by boat (300 feet wide, 40 feet high). Ancona, Italy |
2007 | East vs. West Propaganda Project, Obey Giant vs. WK Interact. Agnès B. Galleries. Paris, France |
2007 | East vs. West Propaganda Project, Obey Giant vs. WK Interact. Tokyo Wonder Site. Tokyo, Japan |
2005 | Project Fox. Fox Hotel. Copenhagen, Denmark. |
2004 | Window Display, interior and subway station. Galeries Lafayette. Paris, France |
2004 | Kitty Kit Spy, collaboration for Hello Kitty. Tokyo, Japan |
2004 | Installation. JFK Airport. New York, NY |
2002 | Rescue 2002. Lafayette and Prince St. New York, NY |
2000 | 24’ x 12’ Canvas Window Installation. Henry Bendel Store. New York, NY |
1999 | Adidas 154-meter outdoor billboard featuring Prince Naseem. London, UK |
1999 | Visionaire Magazine Opening, 65-meter murl featuring Kiara. Visionaire Gallery. New York, NY |
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
WK/ACT AND PROCESS, +81 Gallery, 2022
WK/Compilation, Edition by Underdogs Gallery, 2018 |
WK-Gear 148 pages Publisher Drago 2016 |
Plus 81 Street Creative Culture Issue, Japan Magazine 16 pages and cover, Vol.69 Autumn 2015 |
WK/ACT 4 – 1989-2014, 320 pages Publisher DRAGO, 2014 |
WK/360 mid-career survey, 2013 PARIS – De la rue à la galerie, Pyramyd NTCV, 2011 |
TRESPASS, A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art, Taschen, 2010 WK Interact-2.5 New York Street Life. Published by Drago, 2009 |
WK – LISTER, Elms Lesters, 2008 STREET WORLD – Urban Art and Culture from five continents, 2007 WK Interact: Exterior – Interior Act 2. Hardcover. Published by Gestalten Verlag, 2005. |
WK Interact: Act 1. Published by Little More. Japan, 2001. |