Roger Welch American, 1946-2022

Biography
Artist Roger Welch kneels over a wood and ink map that he creates from the memory of a seated participant nearby
Roger Welch, Laura Connor 'Memory Map' Performance, John Gibson Gallery, 1973. Courtesy the artist and Westwood Gallery NYC.
I see memory as a sculpture created when the totality of an experience is partially forgotten as if carved away.
- Roger Welch

American Conceptual artist Roger Welch (b. 1946) is known for his multidimensional practice in Installation, Video, and Narrative Art.

 

From the beginning of his career in 1970 as a performance artist, Welch has explored the theme of memory across past, present, and future time as it relates to identity, recollection, and personal experience. His idea of “memory as sculpture” led him to focus on a complex conceptual framework, presenting the mind as an excavation of artworks. As Welch moved away from performance into photo, video, and works on paper, he maintained the importance of narrative throughout his life’s work creating a discourse on the importance of memory as an artistic medium. When Welch moved to New York City in 1970, he co-founded the Narrative Art movement alongside John Baldessari, William Wegman, and others.

 

Welch is best known for his works Memory Maps (1973), Niagara Falls (1974), O.J. Simpson Project (1977), and Drive In: Second Feature (1982). He holds his BFA from Miami University in Oxford, OH, his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and participated in the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program.

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Welch has been the subject of solo exhibitions at numerous, global institutions including 112 Greene Street, NY, NY (1971), Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY (1972), John Gibson Gallery, New York, NY (1973), Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI (1974), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (1977), Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico (1980), P.S.1 Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Long Island City, NY (1980), Whitney Museum of American Art, NY (1982), and many more. He has participated in group shows in documenta Kassel (1972), Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium (1974), Galerie Daniel Templon (1976), Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX (1978), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1980), New Museum (1981), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (1987), among others. In addition to his rich exhibition history, Welch has also been the recipient of awards from the New York State Council on the Arts, C.A.P.S. (1973, 1976) and the National Endowment for the Arts (1974, 1980).

Roger Welch, CV (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
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  • Three photographs and ink on museum board, each has a small black and white photo with writing surrounding them
    Automotives, 1972
  • Installation view of two photographs and eight pages of white text on black paper next to a map drawing on plywood
    Ruth Elliott Memory Map, 1973
  • Black and white photograph of the Mississippi river with a darkened figure in the center and dark trees in the distance, surrounded by black and writing on the bottom
    Mississippi River Measure, 1970
  • Black and White photograph of a man on the floor placing marks on a large map with a man sitting behind him looking at what he is doing.
    Ruth Elliot Memory Map, 1973
  • Black and White photograph from the show “Laura Connor: Memory Map” showing two men at a table with one’s hand projected onto the wall behind him for the audience at the right to see
    Laura Connor Memory Map, 1973
  • Photograph of two men working at a desk in a room with primitive house drawings on the wall and a model on the floor
    Harry Lieberman Memory Map, 1973
  • Two photographs and ink on museum board, both are photos in black and white on beige paper with black writing below
    Bunker Hill, 1972
  • Two photographs and ink on museum board, both having small black and white photographs, one has writing surrounding it
    Echo Lake Park, 1972
  • Two photographs and ink on museum board, both having small black and white photographs, one has writing in blocks surrounding it
    Family Reunion, 1972
  • Three side by side vintage photographs of a man, beneath is a timeline with writing and smaller pictures, ink on board
    Interpretation, Disintegration, Transformation I, 1973
  • Three side by side photographs, beneath is a diagram with black ink and beside is a large black block
    Interpretation, Disintegration, Transformation II, 1973
  • Installation of two videoes, one of a man speaking on a small television and one projected on a mirrored platform
    Niagara Falls Project, 1975
  • Three gelatin silver print images, left a portrait of Larry Lee, right Clyde Vaugn, center a black and white image of the two boxing. Underneath the portraits are interview transcripts.
    Preliminaries, first round: Larry Lee vs Clyde Vaughn, 1976
  • Video still of two football players running onto the field
    O.J. Simpson Project, 1977
  • Three chromogenic color prints alternating between a crowd and a close up of a soccer player, underneath each image is a white panel containing a red circle attached to a thin black line which circles a crowd member or player
    Romantic Dialogues, Pele Part B, 1977
  • Three chromogenic color prints alternating between a crowd and a close up of a soccer player mounted on board with handwritten text in pastel
    Romantic Dialogues: Chinaglia Part A, 1977
  • Five chromogenic color prints alternating between a crowd and a close up of a soccer player, mounted on board with handwritten text in pastel
    Romantic Dialogues: Pele Part A, 1977
  • Four chromogenic color prints alternating between a crowd and a close up of a soccer player, mounted on board with handwritten text in pastel
    Romantic Dialouges, Beckenbauer, 1977
  • Collaged image of the interior of two identical subway cars with passengers, one sepia toned and one blue.
    Subway Cars, 1980
  • Sculpture of a car made of twigs, tree branches, bamboo, twine, adhesive to bind knots
    Drive In, 1980
  • Sculpture of a car made of twigs tree branches, bamboo, twine and adhesive to bind knots, with a black and white film playing in the background
    Drive-In: Second Feature, 1982
  • Two photographs on a black board, one is black and white of a street, the other is a young boy with a machine, the words “When I grow up, I would like to be a jet designer.” written in silver pen on the top and bottom of the page
    When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Jet Designer, 1990-91
  • Two photographs on a black board, one is black and white of a street with white child-like doodles on top of it, the other is a young boy holding a book, the words “When I grow up, I would like to be a novelist.” written in silver pen on the top and bottom of the page
    When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Novelist, 1990-91
  • Two photographs on a black board, one is black and white of a street, the other is a young boy, the words “When I grow up, I want to be a pianist” written in silver pen on the top and bottom of the page
    When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Pianist, 1990-91
  • Two photographs on a black board, one is black and white of a street, the other is a young boy, the words “When I grow up, I want to be a Scientist.” written in silver pen on the top and bottom of the page
    When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Scientist, 1990-91
  • Two photographs on a black board, one is black and white of a street with white child-like doodles on top of it, the other is a young boy holding a book, the words “When I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian or a scientist on animals,” written in silver pen on the top and bottom of the page
    When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Vet, 1990-91
  • archival color inkjet photographs mounted on corrugated acid free board, wood, masonite, wall paper, mixed media
    History of Design, 2006
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