Aaron Wilder
I am a curator and interdisciplinary artist who blurs boundaries between the analog and the digital, the public and the private, and the unassuming and the instigative. I use my own experiences and sense of identity as a lens through which I explore the introspective and social processes of contemporary culture. Through an analytical deconstruction of these processes, my artistic approach is akin to that of an anthropologist, sociologist, and psychologist combined. My concept-driven projects all incorporate the core belief that art can and should be used as a tool for generating critical thinking, dialogue, knowledge sharing, and understanding between individuals with divergent world perspectives.
Originally from Arizona, I have also lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and France and currently reside in Roswell, New Mexico. I have been creating art since 2002 from the first person experience of a self-taught artist. I have been exhibiting my work since 2005 across the United States and internationally at venues including Adeline's Lab in Berkeley, ARC Gallery in Chicago, Arizona State University Mercado Galleria in Phoenix, the Attleboro Arts Museum in Massachusetts, Bass & Reiner in San Francisco, Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas, the Boston Society of Architects, the Brand Library & Art Center in California, Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago, Con Artist Collective in New York, Core New Art Space in Colorado, the District of Columbia Arts Center, Ellington-White Contemporary in North Carolina, Evolve Urban Arts Project at the Pierce School in Washington, DC, Fireplace Gallery at Mount Hood Community College in Oregon, the Foundry Art Centre in Missouri, Fridge Gallery in Washington, DC, GearBox Gallery in Oakland, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art in Georgia, Gilbert Public Library in Arizona, HC West Gallery in Phoenix, Hera Gallery in Rhode Island, the InsideOut in Sacramento, Intersect Arts Center in St. Louis, the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Millepiani Exhibition Space in Rome, Northern Arizona University Art Museum in Flagstaff, the Museum of Northern California Art in Chico, Off-Rhode Gallery in Washington, DC, the Petaluma Arts Center in California, Reece Museum in Tennessee, the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts in Providence, Root Division in San Francisco, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art in California, Santa Paula Art Museum in California, Site:Brooklyn in New York, SPACEWOMb Gallery in New York, the Studio Door in San Diego, and Wanderlife Gallery in Philadelphia. In 2017, I completed an MFA degree at the San Francisco Art Institute and I was selected as an Artist-in-Residence by High Concept Labs 2020-2022.
In 2009, my curatorial practice grew organically out of my artistic practice and I currently serve as the Curator of Collections & Exhibitions at the Roswell Museum. I have been so fortunate to have had the experience of working with and/or curating the work of so many amazing artists, including Sebastian Alvarez, Garo Antreasian, Karel Appel, Michael Arcega, Ebitenyefa Baralaye, Terry Berlier, Libby Black, Andrew Blanton, Ken Botto, Michele Bourque Sewards, Colleen Browning, Byron Burford, Eric Carson, Eliana Cetto, Doris Cross, Binh Danh, Roy De Forest, Woody De Othello, Kira Dominguez, David Dugoncevic, Jorge Fick, Audrey Flack, Jonathan Fung, R.C. Gorman, Guta Galli, Harmony Hammond, Victoria Heilweil, Luis Jimenez, Rhonda Holberton, Carrie Hott, Yannick Jacquet, Jasper Johns, Jun Kaneko, Alexander Kosolapov, Hope Kroll, Robin Lasser, Barbara Latham, Jacob Lawrence, Izidora Leber LETHE, Paula Levine, Beverly K. Magennis, Darrin Martin, James Thomas Mattingly, Aspen Mays, Valerie Mendoza, Liliana Porter, Lucy Puls, Josh Reames, Kevin Red Star, Sherwin Rio, Desiree Rios, Georges Rouault, Edward Ruscha, Fritz Scholder, Dread Scott, John Sims, Shirley Stark, Supermrin, Michio Takayama, Rufino Tamayo, Lark VCR, Charles F. Venrick, June Wayne, Minor White, Victor Yañez-Lazcano, and Alexis Zachhuber.