Jake Watling spent his early childhood in central Florida, Ohio, and Minnesota. Having lived in many different places, he became interested in documenting his environment. He records his daily ideas and experiences through drawing, painting, photography, and writing. Watling is concerned about showing and experiencing life from different perspectives. He uses the different perspectives to open his eyes and the viewers’ eyes to new ideas about the world that we live in.

He forms his imagery by combining his recorded ideas and experiences with a personal language of signs and symbols. The signs and symbols take many forms, including: architecture, signage, people, animals, etc. His recent work investigates subjects such as fear, money, myth, and religion.

Watling utilizes a graphic style with a bright color palette that is formed by simplifying the given imagery and extracting colors used within the urban environment.

Watling has exhibited his artwork in Berlin, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York City, Oakland, San Francisco, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. He received his BFA from the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota and now lives in Oakland, California with his wife.

RESUME

B. 1973
Lives in Oakland, CA

SOLO SHOWS/TWO PERSON SHOWS
2009
Swarm Gallery with Jared Linsey Clark, Enter/Exit, Oakland, CA 02/09

2008
Foursided Gallery with Anna Kipervaser, Where the Buffalo Roam, Chicago, IL 02/08
Oakland International Airport with Jessica Dascher, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA 03/08

2007
Receiver Gallery with Bill Dunlap, Saved!, San Francisco, CA 03/07

2006
Buzz Gallery, Used Cars, Oakland, CA 02/06
diPietro Todd Salon, Slow Down, Palo Alto, CA 07/06

2002
Pass Gallery, BW/CMYK, Washington, DC 4/02

GROUP SHOWS
2010
Akron Art Museum, Full Deck: A Short History of Skate Art, Akron, OH TBD
Gallery at Penn College, Full Deck: A Short History of Skate Art, Williams Port, PA, 07/10
111Minna Gallery, Group Show, San Francisco, CA 05/10

2009
Swarm Gallery, Shop/Show, Oakland, CA 12/09
Anno Domini, Fresh Produce, San Jose, CA 12/09
Oakbook Gallery, Improvised Branches, Oakland, CA 09/09
Bedford Gallery, Full Deck: A Short History of Skate Art, Walnut Creek, CA 07/09
A Bitchin' Space, Make Art of Die, Sacramento, CA 06/09
Manifesto, Living City, Oakland, CA 02/09

2008
Anno Domini, Fresh Produce, San Jose, CA 12/08
Lobot Gallery, The Dead Show, Oakland, CA 10/08   
Swarm Gallery, Sum of Its Parts, Oakland, CA 08/08
A Bitchin' Space, The Circus Show, Sacramento, CA 09/08
Neddles and Pens, 5 years and 50 Shows, San Francisco, CA 06/08
Bedford Gallery, Local Voice Juried show, Walnut Creek, CA 06/08          

2007
Red Dot Art Fair wtih Swarm Gallery, Miami, FL 12/07
Urban Expressions, Swarm Gallery w/ East Bay Express, Oakland, CA 09/07
Blütenweiss,Anonymous Drawing 6, Berlin, Germany 06/07
Oakland Art Gallery, Ripples Fund Exhibition, Oakland, CA 05/07
Bucheon Gallery, Faithfully, San Francisco, CA 02/07
Red Dot Art Fair with Bucheon Gallery, New York, NY 02/07

2006
Richmond Art Center, Geographic Premonitions (70th Anniversary) , Richmond, CA 09/06
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Sampling Oakland, San Francisco, CA 07/06
Lobot Gallery, Virolology, Oakland, CA 07/06
Pass Gallery, Passtense (10th Anniversary), Washington, DC 05/06
Boontling Gallery, Overhung2: Hungover, Oakland, CA 03/06
Auto 3321, Untitled, Oakland, CA 02/06

2005
Mission 17, Truth and Lies, San Francisco, CA 12/05
Boontling Gallery, The Neighborhood Show, Oakland, CA 11/05
Lobot Gallery, 50 under 50, Oakland, CA 06/05
Stain Bar, Suitcase Release Party, Brooklyn, NY 06/05
GILD Gallery, G200, New York, NY 02/05

2004
ABCo Gallery, Oakland, CA 11/04
Linc Real Art, Star Mountain Art Benefit, San Francisco 09/04
Mama Buzz Gallery, Hot and Cold Issue 7, Oakland, CA 08/04
Art Explosion 2004, San Francisco 04/04

2003
MOCADC, Juried Show, Washington, DC 07/03
Pass Gallery, Photo Show, Washington, DC 3/03
District West Fine Art, Leesburg, VA 01/03–07/03

2002
MOCADC, Washington, DC 11/02
District West Fine Art, Leesburg, VA 06/02–12/02
Life Cafe, Brooklyn, NY 10/02
Eleven Bulls/Project Green, Brooklyn, NY 07/02

PRESS
"Critics' Best Bets for December", Contra Costa Times, December, 6, 2009
"Critic's Choice: Enter/Exit", East Bay Express By DeWitt Cheng, March 2009       
"Enter/Exit", KQED Arts, By Victoria Gannon, March 23, 2009
"Bedford's Local Voice Exhibition", Diablo Magazine, d-blog by Martha Ross, August 18,2008
"Profile: Jake Watling", Juxtapoz Magazine, February, 2008
“Richmond: Past, Present and Future", Oakland Tribune by Robert Taylor, September 17, 2006
“Richmond: Past, Present and Future", Contra Costa Times by Robert Taylor, September 9, 2006
“Local Artist”, SF Bay Guardian, September 13, 2006
"Calendar", Diablo Magazine, September 2006
“Inspiration Lies Outside Front Door”, Contra Costa Times, July 16, 2006
KQED Gallery Crawl (text and video of Used Cars at Buzz Gallery) Feb. 2006
"Used Cars", East Bay Express, Feb 22, 2006
"Leave Home", SF Bay Guardian, Feb. 8-14, 2006
“The Neighborhood Show", East Bay Express Nov. 23, 2005
“After the Gold Rush”, SF Bay Guardian, Nov. 9, 2005
“Common Stangers”, Mused Magazine, Winter Issue 2004
“Georgia on His Mind”, Washington City Paper, May 3-9, 2002

PUBLICATIONS
Swee(t)art Zine, 09/08
Geographic Premonitions, Richmond Art Center, 09/06
Zine Unbound: Kults, Werewolves, and Sarcastic Hippies 10/2005
Suitcase Magazine, Issue #1 06/05
Hot and Cold, Issue #07, 08/04
Slurry Magazine 04/04

PUBLIC/PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, Contributed artwork and my Common Strangers photo booklet to Hot and Cold Issue #7
Car Share, San Francisco, CA, Photographs
Diablo Publications, Walnut Creek, CA, Paintings