Meet William Norton

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful William Norton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

William, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

My generosity was developed from having been beaten down and abused and taking advantage of on too many occasions in my life. I truly empathize with others difficulties. I had my four year-old son kidnapped and disappeared in 1990. That destroyed me for years. I had another Loft that I built burned down by the landlord for insurance money. The next one I lost to the mafia. I had a good friend steal money from me.
I have started over six times already from nothing. So I feel for others. This last time I decided to start over again I decided I would just take my friends with me so I began curating. I have now curated 38 shows in the last 12 years. I know a lot of talented friends. They just don’t have the chutzpah that I do.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am basically a painter. I believe in the large scale, heroic style painting that I hope can change people’s attitudes and hearts. My work is mostly political in nature. I have done a series based strictly upon the protest for democracy in Hong Kong, and its umbrella movement. My last solo show is based upon my mixing of Japan sacred Mount Fuji with Picasso’s Guernica. I use Fujiyama as a symbol of peace as Japan is a country that has transformed from a brutal war like culture to one of peace. We Americans use the atomic bomb on the country. It’s the only country that has been affected that way..
by mixing Fujiyama with Guernica, I am adding two protest pieces together.
I am also a gallery director and a curator. I do this because I know so many talented artists that need to be seen. I tend to show a lot of Asian women artists because they never get enough visibility, even though they are unilaterally fierce in approaching their work. I have just reopened another gallery in Greenpoint Brooklyn with a co-curator Wade Bonds. We will be showing a lot of artists and also soon opening up to other curator to use as a lab. We are closing our first two shows tomorrow April 5, and then we will be installing our next two shows which will be open April 12.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

one of the first qualities I’ve always had is courage when it comes to facing what I’m not good at. I was always shy due to my history of having grown up in multiple countries. Multiple states never having a solid footing amongst friends as we moved every 2 to 4 years.So I was shy. so in 1980 I chose to become professional stripper. I did that for three years. If I could take my clothes off in public in New York City, nothing frightened me after that. It’s the same way. I got my job teaching a Columbia I taught Steel sculpture for 10 years simply because I said I could.
generosity has also always been a major skill. This was something I learned amongst my friends moving to New York in 1976. We were all very generous with one another. We shared a lot of time going from studio to studio helping each other. It wasn’t competitive it was communal strength. When I got a gallery in Tribeca, first thing I did was introduced the director to my friends. They did the same for me unfortunately it’s not the same in these days. I am still maintaining generosity as much as possible. Once or twice a year, I throw a dinner party for up to 100 of my creative friends so they can mingle and meet.
I would also say do not listen to negative thoughts in your head. I’ve had too many of those too often for too many years. When you finish a piece, don’t question whether it’s done. Set it aside. Look at it later. You can always come back to it.
don’t listen to the negative thoughts that make you question it. Learn to trust your instincts. You will find sometimes, it may be years later, but you will find quite often the pieces that you question the most are the ones that were putting you on the track you should stay with.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

I’m 72 right now. I figure I’ve probably got one decade left. And I’m gonna continue doing what I’m doing now which is work in my studio as much as possible. I’m gonna help my friends as much as possible. Keep my community going as much as possible.
It’s difficult now because having had everything stolen from me six times in the past, I don’t have any savings. So I still have to work a day job just to put food on the table and supplies in the studio. But if I only have a decade left, I might as well burn the candle not just at both ends but split it down the middle and just melt the whole thing at one time. I tend to work about 80 hours a week. This is now split between day job, studio, and curating for the galleries.
I’m making the best work of my life because I have no fear. I know what I’m doing. The painting that’s on my Instagram handle that’s part of everything. I do that 10’ x 24’ painting. I did in two days nonstop because I know I’m good.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nortonart.net. www.nortonartists.com
• Instagram: @norton_william
• Facebook: Norton WR
• Other: Threads : @norton_william

Image Credits

Photo by the artist