To view image click on "Access Content Now" above John Will works in a variety of mediums: printmaking, painting, performance, photography, and video. Often incorporating text, his art engages with philosophical questions around mortality, politics, and religion, and points to the absurdities of contemporary life. Always irreverent, Will creates artworks that range from the poignant to the perverse, and reflect his distinct sense of humour: mixing political satire with sardonic commentary on pop culture and biting observations. This etching print, entitled “Old Number 36’s Last Time at Bat, Great Moments in Sports VI” is an early work, more whimsical and absurd than political. The image takes the form of a single panel cartoon with text and sound effects. The game is baseball, and a potted tulip is ready to swing as the ball flies past in a giant “WOOOSH!” Text around the image reads: “A Called Strike Three, and the Tulip is Out.” John Arnold Will RCA (1939 - ) was born in the city of Waterloo in Iowa, USA. Will earned his BA from University of Northern Iowa (1961) and his MFA from University of Iowa (1963). He studied at the Rijsakademie in Amsterdam on a Fulbright Fellowship grant (1963-64), and at the Tamarind Institute as a Ford Foundation Printer Fellow (1969-71). Will taught at the University of Wisconsin-Stout from 1965-70, before moving to Canada in 1971 with his wife, the artist Mary Shannon Will. Appointed professor in art at University of Calgary, Will taught until retirement in 1997, and became Professor Emeritus. In 2009 Will was elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. As a visiting artist, Will has taught at several institutions: Yale University, NSCAD (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design), Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and Keyano College (Ft. McMurray). Will’s artwork is held in numerous public and private collections, including Vancouver Art Gallery, Alberta Foundation for the Arts (Edmonton), Winnipeg Art Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, Art Gallery of Ontario, New York Public Library, and Museum of New Mexico
