William Blake
American, 1991-
2014
Oil on linen
About the artist and piece
William Blake uses the techniques of classical representation in order to create his portraits. His beautifully rendered paintings are filled with figures taken from western history and from his own life. Using muted tones and direct gazes he creates the sense of stillness and reflection. Appropriating imagery from old masters, film, and contemporary art, he touches on ideas of nationality, dualism, politics, violence, and nostalgia.
Blake is a graduate of Hinsdale Central High School. He has painted with master painters such as David Leffel, Clayton J. Beck, Per Elof Nilsson Ricklund, and Jura Bedic. He studied at the Florence Academy of Art in the summer of 2012, the Glasgow School of Art in the spring of 2013, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 2014.
Blake, himself, started reenacting the Civil War at the age of twelve as a mounted cavalry bugle boy. Like many who enter into the populist subculture of war reenactment, his participation grew from a childhood fascination with the gear, the action, and the epic narrative.
About the piece
On March 30, 1981 John Hinckley, Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. Upon waking up after surgery, Reagan scribbled on a notepad Winston Churchill’s quote “there is no more exhilarating feeling than being shot at without result.” Hinckley had drawn inspiration from Travis Bickle, the title character in the film Taxi Driver. In this portrait, Civil War reenactor Dan Flora, the captain of the 20th Illinois Infantry, stands inside Bickle’s apartment. Blake juxtaposes Civil War living history with the story of Reagan’s assassination attempt.