Artist Talks: Wade Guyton

Wade Guyton: Art, Machines, and Time
Hear the American artist on technology, process, and the evolving language of contemporary art.

In this wide-ranging conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries, American artist Wade Guyton reflects on his unconventional path to becoming an artist, his early influences, and the evolution of his practice.

As part of the Artist Talks series, co-presented by UBS and Fondation Beyeler, the discussion traces Guyton’s journey from a late introduction to art - initially through books and writing rather than traditional drawing - to his formative years in New York, where encounters with artists, writers, and curators shaped his outlook.

A central theme of the talk is Guyton’s pioneering use of technology, particularly his signature method of creating paintings by running canvas through inkjet printers. Guyton describes how this process emerged from a dissatisfaction with hand-drawing and a fascination with the possibilities - and limitations - of machines. The conversation delves into the idea of “détournement”: using technology in ways unintended by its inventors, and how this approach opens up new creative possibilities.

Obrist and Guyton also explore the physicality of painting and its relationship to architecture and the body. Guyton discusses his “stacks” of paintings, the importance of the edge and support in modernist painting, and how his works often blur the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and installation. The notion of time - both in the making of the work and in its ongoing life and interpretation - is another recurring topic, as is the role of chance and material contingency in his process.

That’s what art does, art manipulates you and you’re a willful participant in that manipulation. The conversation touches on Guyton’s deep engagement with books, both as a medium and as a source of inspiration, and his activities as a publisher and curator. The artist’s collaborative projects, his relationship to art history, and his ongoing dialogue with peers and predecessors - including figures like Robert Morris, Peter Fischli, and David Armstrong - are woven throughout the discussion.

Enjoy a rare insight into the thinking of an artist who continues to challenge and expand the possibilities of contemporary art, inviting viewers to consider not only what art is, but how it is made, displayed, and experienced.