Bill Saylor (b. 1960, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania) is an American painter who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His practice emerged from the Brooklyn painting scene of the 1990s and is rooted in a lineage that spans German Expressionism and Neo-Expressionism, drawing on the psychic intensity of artists such as Joseph Beuys and George Baselitz alongside the visceral mark-making of Julian Schnabel and subsequent generations of painters working intuitively with material and gesture.

Saylor’s paintings combine gestural abstraction with a personal iconography populated by hybrid creatures, organic forms, and totemic symbols. Drawing inspiration from meteorological maps, marine biology, natural history, and the elemental forces of the environment, Saylor’s imagery remains grounded in the physicality of paint itself. Mainly working on unprimed canvas, often on the floor, Saylor builds his compositions through spontaneous, explosive gestures that allow images to emerge organically. Flames, jellyfish, suns, eyes, tentacles, and skeletal figures appear and dissolve within layered surfaces of poured, sprayed, splattered, and drawn marks.

The tension between chaos and structure is central to Saylor’s work. His paintings evoke both the vitality and fragility of the natural world, reflecting on ecological instability, climate change, and the impact of human intervention on living systems. References to ancient mythologies and primordial symbolism coexist with contemporary concerns, creating visual fields that feel at once timeless and urgently present. Materiality is paramount, as Saylor often incorporates charcoal, collage, and salvaged elements, allowing the surface to retain evidence of process, weather, and physicality.

Having grown up in the Pennsylvania wilderness amid encroaching industrial landscapes and later working as a diver in California waters, Saylor’s relationship to nature is both experiential and psychological. His work resists fixed narratives, favoring instead an instinctive, open-ended approach in which painting itself takes precedence over representation. The resulting canvases operate as immersive environments, spaces where wilderness and industry, creation and destruction, intuition and control converge.

Saylor has held solo exhibitions at Magenta Plains (New York), cadet capela and Galerie Julien Cadet (Paris), The Journal Gallery (Brooklyn), Leo Koenig Inc. (New York), and Loyal Gallery (Stockholm). His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as the Brant Foundation, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Colby College Museum of Art, and the Chinati Foundation, where he was an artist-in-residence.

Education

BFA, California State University, Long Beach, CA and Santa Barbara City College, CA

Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions

2025
A.K.A. PSYCHOPOMP, Bremond Capela, Paris, France

2024
Snow Paintings, Magenta Plains, New York, NY

2023
Air Like Wine, with Rob McLeish, Neon Parc, Brunswick, Australia
Brussels Art Fair, Galerie Julien Cadet, Brussels, Belgium
LOW LEVEL HIGH, Magenta Plains, New York, NY

2022
The Freaks Are Stealing Our Sunshine, Galerie Julien Cadet, Paris, France
Intersect Aspen, Magenta Plains, Aspen, CO

2020
Le Deuce Deuce, with Mason Saltarrelli, The Arts Center at Duck Creek, East Hampton, NY

2019
Neptune’s Machine, Magenta Plains, New York, NY

2017
Shadow Ballers, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
Mason Saltarrelli and Bill Saylor: Le Deuce, Shrine Gallery, New York, NY

2015
Bill Saylor, Makebish, New York, NY

2014
Solo Booth, NADA New York, Peter Makebish Gallery, New York, NY

2012
Liquidy Split, Makebish, New York, NY
Bill Saylor & Aidas Bareikis, Shoot The Lobster, New York, NY

2011
Audio Tuna Sunshine, Leo Koenig Inc, New York, NY

2010
Ghost Light Junkie, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Artist in Residence Bill Saylor, Chianti Foundation, Marfa, TX

2009
If fantasies came by the gallon, this baby could run forever, Leo Koenig Inc. New York, NY

2007
No Confusion, Big Mistakes, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden

2003
Softail Project, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY

2002
Espontaneo, Spokane Falls College, Spokane, WA

2001
Why Go Anywhere?, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY

1999
Bill Saylor, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY

Group Exhibitions

2025
Tear Drop or Tidal Wave, Curated by Jordy Kerwick, Piermarq, Sydney, Australia
Tomorrow The Ocean?, Curated by Elodie Antoine, Salle d’Exposition du Quai Antoine Ier, Monaco

2024
Mastering Disorder, Bremond Capela, Paris, France

2022
Paperworks+ III, NBB Gallery, Berlin, Germany
To make me forget about now…,curated by Jordy Kerwick, Galerie Julien Cadet, Paris, France

2021
Unearthed By JC, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL
Friends & Family, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
Path of the Storm, Sunny NY, New York, NY
NADA House, New York, NY
NBB Paperworks Vol. 1, NBB, Berlin, Germay

2020
The Hundredth Exhibition, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden

2019
Way Off Somewhere, Marvin Gardens, Queens, NY
Lexus of Inglewood, organized by Alex Becerra, Inglewood, CA

2018
Carry the Bend, Brennan & Griffin, New York, NY
Nada Miami (with Magenta Plains), Miami, FL
Upstairs Art Fair (with Magenta Plains) Amagansett NY
Bombay Beach Biennial, Bombay Beach, California

2017
Feed the Meter, Volume II, Galerie Ceysson & Bénétière, Luxembourg
Animal Farm curated by Sadie Laska, The Brant Foundation, Greenwich, CT
Drawing Island, The Journal Gallery, New York, NY

2016
The Great Figure Part 2, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Bill Saylor, Aidas Bareikis, Kim Dorland, MIER Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Lightshow 1968: Donald Baechler & Bill Saylor, Makebish, New York, NY
CANADA Gallery Booth curated by Katherine Bernhardt, Frieze, New York NY

2015
Charmed, Shoot The Lobster, New York, NY
I ♥ Paint II, Angell Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Whats Wrong With We?, Martos Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Negative Hand, Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City, MX
Ubiquity, Ille Arts, Amagansett, NY

2014
Volatile, Galleri Jacob Bjørn, Aarhus, Denmark
LIFE, Curated by The Journal Gallery, Venus Over Manhattan, New York, NY
Paintings From Paris, Makebish, New York, NY
Other Weather, Vilnius Art Academy, Vilnius, Latvia

2013
Draw Gym, Organized by Brian Belott, 247365 and No More Games, Brooklyn, NY

2012
The Double Dirty Dozen, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
Bill Saylor & Aidas Bareikis, Shoot The Lobster, New York, NY
Dangerous Curve Ahead, Ober Gallery, Kent, CT
Casa de Empeño, Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY

2011
Make, White Flag Projects, Saint Louis, MO
MAKE Skateboards, I-20 Gallery, New York, NY
Immanent Domain, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

2010
Salad Days, Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
De-Nature, Jolie Laide Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
In Dialogue, Four Generations of Painting, curated by Peter Makebish, Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY

2009
Jr. and Sons, curated by Joe Bradley, Zach Feuer Gallery, New York, NY
Get It Right Back To Where We Started From…, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY
Sneak Peek, Loyal, Malmö, Sweden

2008
Peanut Gallery, curated by Joe Bradley, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Faxination, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden
Between Us…, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY
The Ice Cream Show, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden
Lily Ludlow, Bill Saylor and Anke Weyer, Aaron Brewer, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY

2006
Bill Saylor & Josh Smith, Hiromi Yoshii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Kamp K48, Curated by Scott Hug, John Connelly Presents (JCP), New York, NY
Searching for Love & Fire, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, FL

2005
The Zine UnBound: Kults, Werewolves and Sarcastic Hippies, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
is there anybody out there?, Hiromi Yoshii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
New York´s Finest, CANADA, New York, NY
Monster Painting, McClain Gallery, Houston, TX
Hope Auction for Amina Tastini, Passerby, New York, NY

2004
K48 Launch Auction, Agnes B Store, Soho, New York, NY
Contemporary Painting, Curated by Alex Katz, with Elizabeth Peyton, Cecily Brown, Laura Owens, Peter Doig, Merlyn James, Bill Saylor, Richard Bosman, and Maureen Cavanaugh, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME (cat.)
So Little Time, So Many Mistakes, curated by Josh Smith, Champion Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY
Stop & Store, Luxe Gallery, New York, NY

2003
Age of Unreason, M.O.C.A. D.C., Washington DC

2002
Proper Villians, curated by David Hunt, Untitled Space, New Haven, CT
Leo Koenig Las Vegas, Neonopolis, Las Vegas, NV

2001
Aidas Bareikis • Torben Giehler • Bill Saylor - Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens, Greece
Come on Feel the Noise, Asbaek Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Strictly Painting 2, Voges & Deisen, Frankfurt, Germany
Escape Velocity, Miller Durazo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Burglar, Curated by Elizabeth Balogh, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York, NY
Leo Koenig, Inc., Brooklyn, NY
You Are Now Leaving the Goldie-Locks Zone, M.O.C.A. D.C., Washington, DC
Machine Gun Etiquette, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York, NY
Pets, Bronwyn Keenan Gallery, New York, NY
Solar Perplexus, Spanish Kitchen, Los Angeles, CA
Gramercy Art Fair, Miami, FL

1996
X-Mess, The American Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1995
Taking Stock, curated by Kenny Schachter, The Exchange Building, New York, NY

1993
Phone Dooley La Cappelane Gallery, New York, NY

1992
The Real Thing, curated by Erik Oppenheim, New York, NY

1991
Unlearning, curated by Kenny Schachter, 142 Greene Street, New York, NY

Curated Projects

2010
In There, Out Here, artists include Aidas Bareikis, Joe Bradley, Sarah Braman, Brendan Cass, Bjorn Copeland, Jim Drain, Sadie Laska, Jonas Mekas, A.R. Penck, Joyce Pensato, Chloe Piene, Julian Schnabel and Michael Williams, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY

2008
Faxination, artists include Aiko, Rico Anderson, Fia Backström, Aidas Bareikis, Joe Bradley, Yasuke Bandai, Greg Bogin, Sarah Braman, Jeff Elrod, Nicole Eisenman, Phil Grauer, Claire Keller, Eunice Kim, Toney Matelli, Bjarne Melgaard, Soshiro Matsubara, Elena Pankova, Erik Parker, Les Rogers, Anke Weyer and Tyler Waxman, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden