Retrospective Exhibition to Celebrate Key West Photographer Richard Watherwax Opening at the Key West Museum of Art & History

August 26, 2024 – (KEY WEST, FL).  The Key West Museum of Art & History will celebrate the opening of its newest temporary exhibition, “The Antic Humor of Richard Watherwax” on Friday, September 13.  The exhibition was first imagined by Erika Biddle, co-curator of the installation and a close friend of the photographer, motivated by his 90th birthday later this year.  A reception to mark the opening is scheduled to take place from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. that evening in the Bryan Gallery, which is free and open to the public.

Watherwax spent years in New York City, first as a journalism and photography major in college who then settled into commercial and advertising photography, living what he described a “Mad Men” lifestyle.  High profile clients included Coca-Cola, Revlon, and AT&T.  In 1985, Watherwax relocated to Key West where he quickly took to the island’s free-spirited, artistic, and intellectual vibe.  Freed from the Manhattan ad agency lifestyle and its pressures, he cultivated a notably droll signature style.

“During the course of his Key West career, Richard photographed scores of “shakers, makers, and characters,” some depicted in character portraits, others, such as his “Saturday Night Baby Fights” classic, in over-the-top story-telling scenes or tableaux cooked up in his singularly quirky cinematographic imagination,” says Biddle.  “In the years before digital cameras made professional caliber photography accessible to the wider public, with his unmistakable personal style, Watherwax stood out as a luminary among a very few top tier Key West-based photographers.”

Watherwax is perhaps known best for his triptych “Fat Cat Capsizing” which has been reproduced worldwide in the form of prints, t-shirts, tote bags, towels, and coffee mugs.  Among his other accomplishments are authoring several books including “Cat Tales” (1978), “The Cat Who Drank Too Much” (1979) and “Tales of Old Key West” (1989), a farcical history of the island.  In true Watherwax whimsy, he entered his cat Willoughby in the 1989 Key West mayoral race where she received an impressive 37 votes!

The retrospective will feature a mixture of Watherwax’s Key West works including his witty cat series, amusing postcards, portraits of the island’s unique characters, his profound artist series, and his posed works that will tickle visitors as they gain a deeper understanding of the photographer’s satire and farcicality.

“The Antic Humor of Richard Watherwax” runs through November 24, 2024, in the Bryan Gallery and is sponsored by the Florida Keys Council of the Arts.  For more information, visit kwahs.org/watherwax, call Cori Convertito at 305-295-6616 x 507 or [email protected].