WADE GUYTON (B. 1972)

X Poster (Untitled, 2007, Epson UltraChrome inkjet on linen, 84 x 69 inches, WG1208)

Signed and numbered 'Wade Guyton 2/100' (on a paper label affixed to the cardboard sleeve)

hand folded digital print with archival UV curable inks

84 x 69 inches (213.4 x 175.3 cm)

Executed in 2017. This work is number 2 from an edition of 100. Published by Printed Matter, Inc., New York. 

PROVENANCE:

Printed Matter, Inc., New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner

NOTES:

Born in Hammond, Indiana in 1972, Wade Guyton is a seminal figure in contemporary art whose work challenges traditional notions of authorship, process, and the role of technology in image-making. Rising to prominence in the early 2000s, Guyton became known for his deliberately glitchy abstract paintings made using consumer tools such as scanners, inkjet printers, and desktop software. His practice fuses digital and analog methods, often feeding folded, pre-primed linen through an Epson inkjet printer to produce large-scale works marked by streaks, creases, and irregularities—visual traces of mechanical failure embraced as aesthetic features.

Executed in 2017 and published by Printed Matter, Inc., this work exemplifies this approach. A bold black “X” dominates the composition, one of Guyton’s recurring motifs alongside flames, stripes, and fragmented letterforms. The use of the "X" serves as both a formal gesture and conceptual disruption—assertive, graphic, and charged with ambiguity. Printed with UltraChrome ink on linen and housed in its original labeled sleeve, the work blurs the boundaries between painting, printmaking, and digital reproduction. His influence is reflected in an impressive institutional footprint: his works are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, SFMOMA, the Tate, Centre Pompidou, and Kunsthaus Zürich, among others. Another version of this print is held in the collection of the Whitney Museum of Art.