William Bock is an interdisciplinary artist exploring the connections between people and the environments they inhabit. He uses photography, painting, sound recording, performance and installation to delve into the experiences of living between cultures, landscapes and identities. Collaboration and responsive approaches to working with materials, particular sites and with communities are central to his process as an artist.
Bock’s work encompasses the production and curation of public events, workshops, exhibitions and residencies. He is member of the Wilderness Art Collective and a founding member of award winning artist group Dig Collective producing projects commissioned by Art Safiental Biennale for Land and Environment Art (2018) in Switzerland and PEER Gallery for Real Estates (2015) in London. He was co-director of Strangeworks (2006 – 2012) theatre collective, producing projects for the Barbican and New Walsall Art Gallery in the UK and internationally at Leewardan Pop Academy, Netherlands. Bock have a BA in Performance Design and Practise at Central St Martins and MA Fine Art at the City and Guilds School of Art.
1982 Born Cork, Ireland
2002 – 2005 BA Hons Performance Design and Practise Central St Martins
2012 – 2013 MA Fine Art, City and Guilds School of Art
2021/22 River Residency Commission, Ormston House & Clare Co. Council 2019/20 Land Walks Project, Arts Council Ireland, WCDP & Create
2018 A Hole in the Alps, Art Safiental commission, Switzerland
2018 Beech Bark Book – Baby Forest Art Festival Commission, Ireland
2018 ReWilders, Skibbereen Arts Festival Commission, Ireland
2016 Blow In, Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre, Ireland
2015 Hoarding: A fiction of accelerated urban development..(DC) PEER Gallery
2014 Hole Story Project, St Johns Old Rectory, London
2012 The Last Bock, The Cube Microplex, Bristol
2010 Head in the Box (Strangeworks), Barbican Commission, London
2020 Wilderness of the Mind, Wilderness Art Collective, Sidney Nolan Trust, UK (online)
2020 Land Walks Land Talks Land Marks, Uillinn Gallery, Ireland
2018 ReWilders – Sign of Times, Skibbereen Arts Festival, Ireland
2017 Still Life, St Joseph’s Hospice, London
2017 Members Show, Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre, Ireland
2015 – 2017 E20 Foyer Exhibition, Stratford, London
2017 London Pinhole Festival, Four Corners Gallery, London
2016 Whithurst Park Art Fair, UK
2016 Post It, Darnley Road Gallery, London
2015 Figur[e]ation, GalleryELL. Online Show
2014 Group Show, Gallery 286, London
2020 First Prize, Sustainability First Art Award
2016 Shortlisted Artist (Dig Collective) Volksschule Kleefeld, Bern
2014 Winner (Dig Collective) ArtLicks Weekender, ArtQuest Workweek Prize
2012 Fenton Arts Trust
2021 River Residency Commissioned by Ormston House, Ireland
2020 Butler Gallery Seed Fund Residency
2020 Land Walks Land Talks Land Mark West Cork Arts Centre, Ireland
2018 Acts of Leaving, West Cork Arts Centre, Ireland
2016 Blow In, West Cork Arts Centre, Ireland
2011 University of Guadalajara, Mexico