Post 4 - Works Exhibited

"Backdoor Pipeline"

BACKDOOR PIPELINE 32" ROUND Giclee on Canvas (2012)

Artist

Robert Wyland - known simply as Wyland, is an artist best known for painting large, outdoor murals of whales and other ocean life.

Bio

  Renowned marine life artist Wyland changed the way people think about our environment when he started painting life-size whales on the sides of buildings in the 1980s. Wyland always thought big. And he never stopped.
 

  Today, the Wyland name has become synonymous with the new generation of awareness about environmental conservation. Through his unique marine life paintings, sculptures, and photography, Wyland has inspired a generation about the importance of marine life conservation. His life – like his art – can find him anywhere around the world, at any time, from the Antarctic ice shelf on a photo expedition to document climate change to a grassroots journey down the Mississippi River on a mission of conservation.
 

  The multi-faceted artist, scuba diver, educator, and explorer has hosted several television programs, including, “Wyland’s Ocean World” series on the Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet Network, “Wyland: A Brush With Giants” and “Wyland’s Art Studio,” a series for national public television. His mission of engaging people through nature-themed art and a more environmentally friendly lifestyle has led to strategic alliances with such notable organizations as the United States Olympic Team, United Nation Environment Program, and Walt Disney Studios, to name a few.
 

  Wyland’s 100th and final Monumental Marine Life Mural, Hands Across the Oceans, a 24,000-square-foot, half-mile-long series of canvas murals with student artists from 110 countries, was displayed in October 2008 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and honored by the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. In May 2010, the United Nations released six Wyland images for an international stamp issue celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
 

  Since 1993, the non-profit Wyland Foundation has set the standard for environmental outreach. In partnership with the United States Forest Service and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Wyland is actively engaged in teaching millions of students around the world to become caring, informed stewards of our ocean, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands.
 

  The enormous extent of Wyland public artworks (it is estimated that his murals are viewed by more than a billion people every year), his award-winning art galleries, and community service projects have made him one of the most recognized and beloved artists in the nation.He is considered one of the most influential artists of the 21st Century, with artwork in museums, corporate collections, and private homes in more than one hundred countries.

  As a child, Wyland started to have interest in painting dinosaurs and jurassic beings. He became an artist at the age of 3. One of the people who influenced Wyland was Captain Jacques Cousteau. Wyland (as a child) also wanted to be a scientist wanting to study marine life just like Captain Cousteau, which he is also doing today. Captain Cousteau is still the main influence in Wyland’s belief in caring for the environment. Wyland first encountered the adoration of whales when he saw a TV show hosted by Captain Cousteau about whales.

Wyland currently lives in California, Hawaii, and Florida when he is not traveling.

 

Character Statement

Your organization is making an invaluable contribution to effort to promote environmental awareness among our youth and to encourage them to continue their own efforts.

- Al Gore

 

Background

  Wyland and collaborator Steven Power give us a seldom seen glimpse into the other side of the surfing mecca known as Pipeline. But instead of showing world-class surfers pitting themselves against one of the world's most renowned breaks, Wyland reminds us that a kaleidoscope of life flourishes just below the surface.
  In "Backdoor Pipeline," Wyland presents two sea turtles cruising over the famed reef that has long spelled danger to unlucky surfers. "I spend a lot of time on the North Shore of Oahu," Wyland says. "The waves at Pipeline are among the most sought after in the world. But most people don't realize that underneath all that power is a pristine ecosystem teeming with life."

Connection

My connection with Wyland goes back to living in Hawaii. Robert Wyland has made Hawaii so dreamy with his paintings and murals that he has done all over the world. Wyland is one of the most sought out painters of our times and by looking at his work, one knows exactly why.

I just love his painitngs and sculptures...what a great artist!!